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The Comet, Whitney, and Mobius Arch

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Comet Lulin Thursday 2-6-09

Started by Martin Willes, 02/07/2009 03:38AM
Posted 02/07/2009 03:38AM | Edited 02/07/2009 04:07AM Opening Post
I think comet Lulin is best observed with binoculars but holds up well in a telescope too. The comet is real pretty against background star fields and the coma is very bright. I've watched it for a few nights now and this comet is really moving quickly. Does anyone know what the apparent magnitude is now? It's so bright in the binoculars I could swear I should be able to see it with the naked eye but when I drop the binoculars I can't see it. My guess it's close to mag 6 but sometimes even bright diffused objects are difficult to see with the naked eye. I wish I has my daughters eyes, she can pick out M33 naked eye. Here's a picture with a 12.5" Cassegrain Thursday morning before dawn. It's no Comet Holmes but any time these visitors from deep space come by they really are a thrill to observe. Martin

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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." Shunryu Suzuki[COLOR="Blue"][/COLOR]
Posted 02/07/2009 04:26PM | Edited 02/07/2009 04:27PM #1
Great Picture!

The Harvard ephemerides site as transferred to TheSky, indicates a magnitude of 7.02

TheSky positioning is exactly as shown in your photo.

Pete