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(meteorobs) Hale/Bopp Observation Jan 18
At 5:15 this morning (Jan 18), I had a relatively decent look at Comet
Hale/Boipp from my workplace. I had to climb up on the roof and hope like
heck nobody needed me. I used my 7X50 and 14X100 binoculars. Under clear
skies with a sky limiting Magnitude near 5.0 I was able to see the comet low
to the east in Aquila. Since my last viewing in early December, the then
short very wide fan tail has noticeably narrowed. With the tail pointing
towards the north, it appeared to be a little longer...about 1 1/2 degrees.
As to Hale/Bopp's magnitude...compared to Zeta Aql, the coma appeared to be
a little less as bright. But mentally compacting the comet's fuzziness into a
star-like point, I would have to say Hale/Bopp is about 3.0 or maybe even a
hair brighter to around +2.9. I was able to see the comet with the naked eye
fairly good, but to me it looked like a star.
George Zay