Observation Log 3/5/06, 4AM: Found Comet Pojmanski
I didn’t plan it this way, but I awoke at 4AM this morning, looked outside and saw a gorgeous, clear sky, and was outside 5 minutes later. Finding Comet Pojmanski (here’s another picture) was easy with a quick reference Sky & Telescope’s article and to Starry Night. I started with the Canon 10×30 Image Stabilizing binoculars, could only see a faint fuzzy, so I went back inside for the Oberwerk 11×70 binoculars & tripod. The view was pretty much the same, with many more stars visible in the background, but with a slight green tint to the coma. I couldn’t discern a tail, even with fully dark-adapted eyes and about 15 minutes dedicated observing to the one object. The Sun did have a noticeable progressive effect on the contrast of the eastern sky as time went on.
While I was out, I tried for RS Ophiuchi, as mentioned before. I was working through the spotting charts (wirelessly with my laptop in the yard… too cool), but I ran out of time. By 5:30 the Sun was quickly washing out the sky. Since Sky & Telescope reported yesterday that RS Oph was down to magnitude 8.1, there was no way I was going to see it this morning.
In the interim I got a great view of Jupiter and three moons in the middle of Libra, Vega was straight up and I had the most detailed view of Lyra ever, Venus was so bright at -4.54 magnitude that I thought it was an incoming plane until I verified it on the laptop. A serendipitous find was reddish Antares, which is usually low and behind the trees.
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