>From Flagstaff, AZ
I finally saw it in broad daylight! (Would have been easier yesterday,
and or the day before but it was cloudy).
First spotted it at 10:00 AM MST with no other aid except my bad eyes
(and they are bad). But it was faint and I was not sure that I had
actually seen it.
I then went to work and at 11:00 AM, standing outside the building I
held up my hand to block out the sun, and searched. Again, at first I
saw nothing, though the sky was much bluer than an hour before. My
eyes were trying to focus into the void. Then some blowing snow from
the roof flew by, by eyes focused on that and there it was, standing
out beyond it! Not moving! Against the blue sky I saw a faint fan
shaped cloud with a faint concentration of white toward the front. No
more than a degree, maybe a bit more in extent.
I went out several times and took a look. One had to really look, as
it was not easy to see. But as soon as the snow from the roof blew
by, my eyes focused and there it was again. A fuzzy dot with a very
faint cloudl like tail.
Not as bright or as conspicuous as I would have hoped, but certainly
worth the experience as I had missed the Great Comet Ikea Seki in 1965
(I had much better eyes then and can you be live it I missed it). No
one explained that you needed a building to block out the sun, and
stupid me I used a solar filter.
All my friends saw it, but not me :-<
Steve Schoner
Re:[meteorite-list] Comet McNaught report from the Rhein-Main Area
Sterling K. Webb
Sun, 14 Jan 2007 12:35:02 -0800
Hi, Bernd, and all Comet Hopefuls
This brightening to daylight status was forecast
first by Joseph Marcus and published on the Astrosite
Groningen: http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/
It will only last up through the day of January 16th.
The super-brightening is caused by "forward scatter"
of light off the dust tail during this period of time
(Jan. 12-16) when the tail is in the right position for
we Earthlings to benefit from the effect.
"His [Marcus's] study shows that an increase in
brightness of about 2.5 magnitudes can be expected
at the time that the minimum scattering angle θ is
reached on January 14.3. As a consequence it is well
possible that this comet can be observed in broad
daylight close to the sun for several days around
that time. Probably binoculars or small telescopes
will be needed if sky conditions are less than optimal,
but naked eye visiblity should be easy under clear
transparant skies."
His latest predictions can be found at:
http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/C2006P1.doc
They suggest a maximum brightness of magnitude
-5.7, or FIVE TIMES brighter than Venus. This would
make Comet McNaught a very remarkable daylight
object indeed.
If so and your skies are clear, Bernd, just walk
out into your garden!
I've been searching satellite imagery for the US,
thinking in my hopeful way that perhaps I could
drive 200 kilometers to find clear skies. The entire
comtinental US, at this moment, is blanketed with
thick clouds except for California, Oregon, half
of Arizona, parts of Florida, and the mountains
of North Carolina. (They're "only" 2000 kilometers
away from me.)
Thus, I expect few US observers will have much
luck with the daylight comet. Anyone fortunate
enough to have clear skies should give it a try.
Sterling K. Webb
-------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 12:31 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Comet McNaught report from the Rhein-Main Area
> Hello Cometaries,
>
> Well, we finally had a sunny Sunday and a beautiful sunset to look
forward
> to after several days of rain and drizzle. I drove out into the fields
> where
> I was able to enjoy an unobstructed view of the western sky but my
efforts
> to locate and observe McNaught came to naught. Mr McNaught was n a u
g h t
> seen ... too close to the horizon, too close to the Sun :-((
>
> Bernd
>
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