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(meteorobs) OT - Get a look at Ikeya-Zhang!
Greetings all,
For those of you who haven't had a good look at Comet Ikeya-Zhang yet....
it's now a very easy naked eye object in the morning sky!
I drove to a clear horizon last night, just after it got dark, and tried for
the comet, close to M31, low in the western sky. No luck... too low, and
got skyglow and... aurora of all things.
Woke up at 4.15 this morning... looked out my bedroom window... and there
was Ikeya-Zhang naked eye. Grabbed binoculars and camera and tripod, and
dashed outside for photos and a better view. Easy naked eye, very nice in
binoculars, even my modest 7x35's. Nice bright tail....
Recommendation though... the sky is getting bright real fast at that time.
Get outside about 3.15, and the comet will be much better in a darker sky.
Lower, but better view. Note that this is standard time right now in
N.America... this coming Sunday April 7th we change to daylight time...
For more information on Ikeya-Zhang - and the other 4 comets brighter than
mag. 10 in the sky right now, check out Seiichi Yoshida's 'Weekly
Information About Bright Comets'
http://www.aerithdot net/comet/weekly/current.html
and his 'Comet Rendezvous Calendar', giving details of close passes of
comets to other interesting objects in the sky:
http://www.aerithdot net/comet/rendezvous/current.html
Clear skies,
- Cathy Hall
Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada
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