Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
Hi,
Today evening weather was a lot better, but still can't find it.... I think the main problem is that the comet is dim behind the hazy horizon sky and there is no reference where it is (no star is visible)...
Anyway, I think tomorrow (13 Mar) evening might be the best chance if the weather is good as the Comet will be just 5 degree beside the waxing crescent moon... Will be able to use the Moon as a reference to locate the Comet.
Have a nice day and hope tomorrow evening has a clear west sky!
Yang Weixing "The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
Nice photos Gavin, JiaHao and Rlow! Thanks for sharing.
There is comet PanSTARRS report in yesterday's WanBao chinese newspaper 13 March 2012. Forum member Kensou's comet photo shot in Toa Payoh was featured in it. Congrats to Kensou and thanks to the rest of the Toa Payoh / Bishan gang for making that photo/observing experience a memorable one!
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
I managed to see Comet Panstarrs again today (15 Mar, T+5). I went up to the 50th floor SkyPark at Pinnacle@Duxton (Cantonment Rd) after work; my 5th time there in the past two weeks. The prospects were quite good today as it was the sunniest in the west we've had at sunset since last Sat. I saw a muted disc of the Sun sink down to about a degree above the horizon.
I saw the comet through my 15x50 IS bino on a tripod at around 7.45pm. Would you believe it, the view lasted about only 30 seconds! That came after about 15 mins of looking out for it; I knew almost exactly where to look as I had obtained bearings of some landmarks in the distance using Google Earth. The comet then sank into clouds and I didn't manage to see it again.
It had a classical comet-like appearance. Its coma was small and almost stellar-like (again), and surrounded by a fuzz. The tail pointed up in the 2 o'clock direction and was perhaps a quarter of a degree long. The comet was fairly bright and distinct overall, I would say brighter (and the tail was clearer) than when I first saw it last Sat (probably due to better sky conditions). Again it appeared whitish, but with a tinge of cream/yellow this time.
Let me see: each trip up the SkyPark costs $5. So that works out to $25 for 30 seconds' worth of comet, or $50 per minute's view of the comet.
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
There is a photo at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 65152.html which gives an approximation of what I saw for that 20-30 seconds on Fri 15th March through my 15x50 bino. Scroll down the webpage to the 14 March update where it says: "This photo by UK amateur Jamie Cooper approximates the view through a small telescope perfectly. It looked exactly like this in my 70mm f/5 spotting scope:"
Main difference is that I recall that the comet's tail was brighter, narrower and more distinct, and the background sky was greyer and brighter. And of course also the orientation was different: the tail was pointing in the 2 o'clock direction.
Wish the view had lasted for at least a few minutes instead! On the other hand, think of a splendid meteor streak that lasts all but a few seconds, and 20-30 seconds of a classical comet isn't that brief I suppose.
![[smilie=bad-atmosphere.gif]](./images/smilies/bad-atmosphere.gif "bad-atmosphere")
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." 
