I spent Friday night atop the 4000 foot tall summit of the Dolly Sods plateau in West Virginia's Canaan Valley. Conditions were superb. The VLM was in the seventh magnitude range and the seeing was excellent.
I was somewhat surprised to find that Comet C/2006 M4 (SWAN) was dramatically fainter than when I observed it on Tuesday night from a lesser dark site in Pennsylvania. I could barely perceive it with my 101mm Tele Vue refractor until I boosted the magnification. (I had no trouble seeing the comet at low power with the same instrument early on Tuesday night.) C/2006 M4 (SWAN) was in the vicinity of the planetary nebula NGC 6804, which I found to be somewhat easier to discern than the comet.
I also had some views of the Comet SWAN M4 through a 17.5" Celestron Starhopper. The elongation of the coma that was so apparent previously was only hinted at and a slight degree of condensation was visible with averted vision.
Dave Mitsky
I was somewhat surprised to find that Comet C/2006 M4 (SWAN) was dramatically fainter than when I observed it on Tuesday night from a lesser dark site in Pennsylvania. I could barely perceive it with my 101mm Tele Vue refractor until I boosted the magnification. (I had no trouble seeing the comet at low power with the same instrument early on Tuesday night.) C/2006 M4 (SWAN) was in the vicinity of the planetary nebula NGC 6804, which I found to be somewhat easier to discern than the comet.
I also had some views of the Comet SWAN M4 through a 17.5" Celestron Starhopper. The elongation of the coma that was so apparent previously was only hinted at and a slight degree of condensation was visible with averted vision.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
