I went outside tonight and checked out Comet 17P/Holmes. I found it just a little south of α Persei. With my 7×35 binoculars I observed a dimly glowing ball roughly a half degree in diameter. I reckon I just wanted to be able to say I saw it.
I also observed Comet Kohoutek back in 1973; but I needed a much larger instrument to see that since it was partially lost in the evening twilight. Using an 8 inch richest field telescope I was able to clearly make out the tail; so I knew with certainty that it was indeed the comet. Kohoutek was so spectacularly unimpressive compared to expectations that I didn’t dare miss it. And yes, over the years I have had many people ask me if I saw Comet Kohoutek.
4 comments:
My comet experience is woefully limited. Haley's I believe, but little else. Hope to see another sometime.
I love how excited you get when you observe these specks of light out there in the night sky. It's like my excitement when viewing cool Christmas light displays... ~:^)
Thanks for the comments except the one I deleted. It was obviously spam. A check indicates that the exact comment was sent to hundreds or maybe thousands of blogs worldwide.
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