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(meteorobs) Hale-Bopp March 8/9

Date: March 8/9, 1997 
 
Time: 0730 to 0850 UT
 
Location: Lawrencetown Beach ( about 30Km from City ), Nova Scotia, CANADA

Observer: Michael Boschat, Tatsuya Ikeda

Latitude: N 44d 39'

Longitude: W 63d 36'

Height above sea level: 58 meters

Limiting mag.: 6.1

Seeing (1 to 5 - best to worst): 2 1/2, Very windy, -25C ( with windchill )

Instrument: Tento ( USSR made ) 10x50 binoculars, 10" Dobsonian

Magnification: 48x wide field

Object(s): Comet Hale-Bopp
 
                         
                         Description:

Well, checking the weather data at work it showed we would probally clear
a bit but there would be some cloudy periods.
 Tatsuya and myself drove to Lawrencetown Beach, were upon arriving we
were greeted with STRONG N winds and -25C temperatures!
 Comet Hale-Bopp with the unaided eye was nice, I could see 6 degrees of 
tail. With the 10x50's I saw a bright nucleus and 2 tails, one dust was
about 10 degrees long while the other was 8 degrees long. They were split
one curved the other a bit straight, I noticed a star close to the comet
itself embedded in the dust tail. The coma was big, about 1 1/2 degrees
across. I set my camera up and fired off 5 or 6 shots at 30 to 40 seconds
on 400 ASA film. I had to fight the wind also.
 Tatsuya had set up his 10" Dobsonian and the wind was moving it about
good, we managed to see a bit of the comet briefly, I noticed a curved
section off the nucleus and the streamer like details of the tails.
 But the wind got to both of us after 1/2 hour and we decided to pack things
away.
 Bad idea to go there, I would have suggested a place off the main highway,
since the comet would have still been seen and we would have been shielded
from the wind.
 The Milky Way was visible, but just, the area was NOT as good as someone
suggested, I have seen the Milky Way better than this at another site.

 In all I put the comet at -0.5 and very nice, not spectular but nice.

It is "supposed" to be clear tonight, so I may try an evening observation,
then the ultimate, looking for it in the daytime sky...more later on that.


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