[X] My Assistant

[Gladstoner]

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[Gladstoner]

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[stevesliva]

So it's another Kreutz?

[Gladstoner]

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[TheAnt]

If the comet holds up, it may be similar in appearance to Ikeya-Seki of 1965, as seen here next to the coronagraph-blocked sun:

That comet reached an estimated -10 or -11 magnitude.

Aha then it could be nearly as great as comet Hyakutake then, amazing to have the potential chance to see two really great comets in a lifetime.

[Mongo]

Aha then it could be nearly as great as comet Hyakutake then, amazing to have the potential chance to see two really great comets in a lifetime.

The recent run of Great Comets has been incredible, after the long drought of well-known bright comets before them. What bright comets there were, were almost unknown to the general public. I blame the Kohoutek disappointment for the lack of media attention. I did not find out about comet West, for example, until it was long gone.

Comets Hyakutake (1996), Hale-Bopp (1997), McNaught (2007), Lovejoy (2011), and next year's PANSTARRS and ISON constitute up to six Great Comets in eighteen years (and four in seven years), if the two 2013 comets perform up to (possibly inflated) expectations. This surely is a remarkably prolific time for Great Comets.

[nprev]

Nice to be lucky, isn't it?

These upcoming events present unique, engaging opportunities for outreach for those of us inclined & able to do so. In particular, there will be a great many young people fascinated by the spectacle(s) should they come to pass.

[dvandorn]

For me, Ikeya-Seki was the first contemporary comet of which I was aware (I was 9 years old at the time), and for us in the northern hemisphere, I recall it to be an unviewable bust. I never did see it with my own eyes.

The very first comet I recall seeing was Comet Bennet in 1970. By that time I had a small reflector telescope, and I recall setting it up in the back yard on a cold March or April morning at like 3am and looking at the coma and streaming tail through my little 'scope. Didn't look like much, just a fuzzy patch with no definition near the core, but with my naked eye I could see the tail covering about 30 degrees of the sky. Faint, but rather impressive.

Kohoutek was a bust as well, never even spotted a fuzzy patch in the sky. Hyakutake was the next comet I saw, and I never saw a lot of a tail from it, just an elongated fuzzy patch in the sky. Really not that impressive.

Hale-Bopp was very impressive to me, the near-in tail was very bright and the comet was very clearly visible in the daylight sky. I flew to England while Hale-Bopp was in the northern sky, and I recall out my window seeing the tails (H-B had that cool spiked double tail) rising out of the pale green glow of the aurora borealis as we sped along from the U.S. to England along the great circle route.

I never saw anything but pictures of McNaught, though I understand it was impressive to those in the southern hemisphere.

I'm really hoping that ISON will out-perform Hale-Bopp. All we can do, I suppose is wait. And watch the skies!



-the other Doug

[Stu]

Want to know where to look for Comet ISON in late 2013..?

Here ya go...

http://waitingforison.wordpress.com/

[Gladstoner]

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[Ant103]

But… What do we got there ??

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[Gladstoner]

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[ups]

Ok... STARRY NIGHT is now updating...

The November 29th view is something i've dreamed of seeing since I learned that such things were possible -- we'll see what happens.

[Gladstoner]

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[Gladstoner]

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