Comet Swann

[Superluminal]

Just finished a backyard observing session with Comet Swann. Through my classic C-8, my first impression was of a globular star cluster with no stars resolved, just a misty patch of light. It was about 6th mag. but there was no tail visible, probably because of the light pollution around here. Its located about halfway between the handle of the big dipper and Arcturus and visible through binoculars as a slightly fuzzy 6th mag. star. Good luck to anyone trying to find it.

I'll bet Umop has already seen it.

[umop ap!sdn]

I'll bet Umop has already seen it.

I haven't been out to observe the sky much at all lately, but now that you mention it I'll go take a look.

Thanks for the heads up! :D

ETA: I forgot the Big Dipper actually rises and sets down this latitude. Ain't gonna see anything this late at night. :(

[Superluminal]

Best right after sunset. Low in the west, close to Gamma Bootis for the next 2 or 3 nights.

Happy hunting.

[umop ap!sdn]

Thanks - but unfortunately, magnitude 6 right after sunset probably won't be easy to see with only binoculars.

There'll be others I s'pose.

[Lance]

There'll be others I s'pose.

Just check GLP... There is always a massive one, inbound, about to impact and destroy all life on Earth.

[umop ap!sdn]

This is true... but they're lousy at giving out any manner of ephemerides.

[Lance]

Good point.

[Enzo]

Ephemerides? The opposites of testosterides? Or maybe virilorides?

had surgery on my ephemeral artery. Circulation would come and go...

[umop ap!sdn]

Maybe the opposite of masculides.

Conversation about a pair of pants in an ancient Greek tailor shop:
"Euripides?"
"Eumenides?"

I actually used to misread "ephemerides" as "ephemer-ides" (to rhyme with lanthanides) but lately thought well gee how might one pluralize "ephemeris". Words ending in -is pluralize to either -ites, -ides, or -ithes. Ohh! Ephemerid-es! :D

[Enzo]

Like that most masculine of Greeks - Testicles.

TEST-uh-CLEEZ.

[umop ap!sdn]

And his twin, Paratesthes. (Makes more sense in the ancient pronunciation: the accent would be on the penult and the TH were separate sounds.)

Paratesthes is a name I've been known to call things/people I don't like. Nobody seems to "get" it if I Anglicise it to puh-RAHT-uh-stheez.

[Lonewulf]

The only homer you guys make me think of is homer simpson.

But don't worry, our friendship is purely Platonic.

[Superluminal]

Just got through with another session with comet Swan. It's getting higher in the sky. Its now just east of gamma Bootis. Seems a little brighter than the other night. It was next to a 5th mag. star and appeared to be the same brightness. It was showing just a hint of a tail. Having passed perihelion last month, it is getting farther from the sun but is getting closer to Earth. But don't panic, closest approach is on the 27th, at a distance of 0.997 AU, over 90 million miles.

So give it a shot Umop.

[umop ap!sdn]

Cool! :D

Just have to remember early enough.

[umop ap!sdn]

OK, I just looked now, and was having trouble making out HD132736 which is a magnitude 6.69 star. Have to try again a little later when it's darker out.

I thought I saw an indistinct blob between Gamma Bootis and 33 Bootis, but it was real real faint if it was even there at all.

[Superluminal]

Swan is getting higher each night and has faded a little each night. But is still a fairly easy object in binoculars. I notice that its appearance tonight is nearly identical to M-13, the globular cluster in Hercules. In a few days it will be passing M-13, should be interesting to compare the two. Especially if Swan doesn't fade too much.

Goto http://www.heavens-above.com they have some pretty good finder charts there.

[umop ap!sdn]

Thanks! :) I must have been looking in the wrong part of the sky, as the trajectory I thought it was taking doesn't lead to where it is now. But, it's down to magnitude 8.1 which is out of range - best I could ever see with binoculars was 7.2 in Grants Pass, OR which was quite a bit less light polluted than it is here.

There'll be others.

Although there's a small observatory that just opened not far from where I live and it's very likely that the comet can still be seen through their 'scope for the next several days. I'll bet it's currently their main target for public viewing too.

[Superluminal]

I don't think that Heavens above updates their mag. Last night it seemed as if were at least 6th mag.

[Lance]

BRIGHTENING COMET: "Comet Swan appears to have
brightened," reports astrophotographer Pete Lawrence of Selsey,
UK. "On the evening of Oct. 24th, I estimated it to be magnitude
+4.6--a fairly easy naked eye comet!" He took this photo using
his 3-inch telescope:



The comet has a sinuous tail as long as three full Moons and a
beautiful emerald-green coma. Green is a sign that the comet
contains cyanogen (CN), a poison gas, and diatomic carbon
(C2)--both glow green when exposed to sunlight.

Ready to see for yourself? Look west after sunset. Comet Swan
is about halfway up the sky gliding through the constellation
Corona Borealis. [sky map] [ephemeris]

[Superluminal]

Cloudy here tonight. And if Umop doesn't get out and start looking, I'm gonna have to drive out west and severely discipline her.

[Superluminal]

Some very recent pictures of the comet.

http://cometography.com/lcomets/2006m4.html

[umop ap!sdn]

And if Umop doesn't get out and start looking, I'm gonna have to drive out west and severely discipline her.

It's been partly cloudy here most of the day, and there's a bank of 'em in just the right place to block visibility at the moment.

Well, if your plans are to make a trip out this way and drag my butt to a telescope, I sure can't stop ya.

[Superluminal]

Swan was interesting tonight. It was in the same binocular field of view as M-13. It was brighter than M-13, which is listed in Burnham's as 5.7th mag. Hope you got to see it.

[umop ap!sdn]

Should make it easy to find tonight if these clouds go away.

[umop ap!sdn]

I saw it I saw it!!!!!!!11eleventy

I checked Heavens-Above quick then went outside to have a look, and there's still some clouds rolling through but they're the really broken up kind, and there was a gap that gave me enough time to find a diffuse thing in roughly the right part of the sky. I came back in, looked at the chart again, and the pattern of stars looked about right for what I saw. I wanted to double check that I was looking in the right place so I went back out to locate Corona Borealis (it's in Hercules which is about halfway between CrB and Lyra)and not only was I looking in the right part of the sky but the surrounding stars match the chart.

Squeeee! :D

I tried to see if I could make out any kind of tail on it, but wasn't able to see it well enough through the binoculars to tell for sure. I wish I could set up my telescope; it's been packed up for maybe half a year now in anticipation of a move that stil hasn't happened, but an opportunity like this would be a shame to pass up.