Comet SWAN...Finally....

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.
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jiahao1986
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Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:59 pm
Location: Clementi

Comet SWAN...Finally....

Post by jiahao1986 »

Tonight the sky is ultra clear! Unfortunately I have exams tomorrow so I can't make a formal ob session. Anyway I still have the time to try out comet SWAN though it has fainted.

I checked Starry Night Pro 5 and roughly remeber its position, to the west of Epsilon Aquilae. I looked for the comet with our school club's Celestron 10X50 bino. At the beginning, a big piece of altocumulus covered the whole summer triangle area and moved v~e~r~y slowly :cry: ... I tried some other objects like M31, M15, M22 etc. with the bino, just great, I didn't expect to see much using binos in Singapore before due to light pollution, but today the transparency perfect! I could even glimpse NGC253 in the bino!

After 40 minutes' waiting, sky in the Aquila direction cleared, I pointed my bino to Epsilon Aquilae, immediately I saw a small fuzzy below Epsilon Aquilae with averted vision. It was faint, close to the limit of my bino under such sky condition; with direct vision, I could see a mag. 7.5 star but the comet disappeared; then with averted vision, I saw them both, very close. Compared to that star, I estimated the total mag. of the comet should be around 7, brighter than that star; and the angular diameter is around 10'; besides, the comet didn't appeared round shape, but rather elliptic, but it could also be an illusion due to the star nearby.

Well, not very spectacular, just like comet 73P this May, but anyway I always love observing comets, those close to my scope's limit also. If tomorrow is still so clear, I suggest you folks have a try, it will be easy to locate as it's now close to bright stars. Wish all of you good luck in your obs~~~!
Clear skies please...
tungkian
Posts: 321
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:14 am

Post by tungkian »

yes..tonite is ultra clear...just back from an observation session..all major constellations 360 degrees round visible from 15 degrees upwards and were well defined..orion nebula was exceptional and showed wispiness and actual nebulosity..pleaides was a splendid region with like around 10 times more (this is only my most underestimated estimation) stars seen than on normal days...

anyone reading this thread should grab their scopes and go out now!!!
tungkian
Posts: 321
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:14 am

Post by tungkian »

ok checked a planeterium program..tonite's sky has a visual limiting magnitude of 4.5 to 5
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jermng
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Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 7:09 am

Post by jermng »

Yup great night last night ...
I just stayed around M31 .. first I saw it with my 12x50s ... then I went up to get my 20x80s ... It was brighter and obviously bigger - nicer I guess.

So I thought, what the heck, took out my Megrez, played around the region ... just a few objects - M31, M34, NGC 869, NGC 752 (I realised I see more when I just view a few objects instead of sweeping the the entire sky. :) )

Finally, I couldn't take it, went up and brought down my C8. HAHA .. everything took on a new dimension!! :) Aperture rules!!

I hope it's as clear tonight - I wanna Hunt the Swan with e Sword, eat some Crab and Ring them all up. It's Nebulae night tonight!! :)

*Cross my fingers*
Jeremy Ng
C8, CR-150HD, TMB 80 f/6
Orion SVP Intelliscope, AstroSlew I
Minolta Activa 12x50WA
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Canopus Lim
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Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Macpherson

Post by Canopus Lim »

Yup hope tonight is as clear as last night. At least tonight I can stay up late. No work tomorrow. :)
AstroDuck
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