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(meteorobs) Comet Hale-Bopp Naked eye in Evening sky Feb.28 @ 2245 UT
Date: Feb.28, 1997
Time: 2230 to 2255 UT
Location: 5th Floor apt, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA
Observer: Michael Boschat
Latitude: N 44d 39'
Longitude: W 63d 36'
Height above sea level: 58 meters
Limiting mag.: 2.0
Seeing (1 to 5 - best to worst): 2 with middle cloud
Instrument: Tento ( USSR made ) 10x50 binoculars, 80mm refractor f/11
Magnification: 48x
Object(s): Comet Hale-Bopp
Description:
At 2245 UT I saw the comet with my unaided eye as a bright white starlike
object in the NNW sky.
Using my 10x50's I observed the nucleus to be a bright white color, and a
backward "comma" like tail about 1/2 degrees long with the longest part
running almost parallel to the horizion. This was amazing to see a curve
like this in a comet tail ( for me anyway ).
The coma was a fuzzy area about a Moon's diameter wide. Again remember
this is an evening observation.
Using the 80mm refractor at 48x the comet was not as impressive, the nucleus
looked white and was elongated like looking at a very close double star at
a telescopes limit of resolution.
Estimate of nucleus magnitude I put it at about 0.0 mag. as compared to
Deneb.
The comet was about 15 degrees or so off the NNW horizion.
Sorry for the crude ascii drawing.
* Deneb
@ --nucleus HB ---
tail- ``` |
|
|
|
+/- 15 degrees |
|
|
=========================================== horizion========================
NNW N
Comet Hale-Bopp is NOW visible in the evening sky in binoculars AND with
the naked-eye as a bright star.
Clear skies
__________________________________________________________________
Michael Boschat ( Astronomer ) E-mail: andromed@atm.daldot ca
Atmospheric Sciences Phone: (902) 494-7060
Dept. of Oceanography FAX: (902) 494-2885
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia
CANADA, B3H 4J1 ASTRONOMY Web Page: http://www.atm.daldot ca/~andromed