Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

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Date: 24 Oct 2006 14:35:30
From: Greg Crinklaw
Subject: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily
visible to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...

If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!

Charts and info here:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

To reply take out your eye

Date:
From:
Subject:

Date: 24 Oct 2006 21:32:22
From: Joe S.
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

"Greg Crinklaw" <theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:7c071$453e78d0$4212a52c$22428@TULAROSA.NET...
> Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
> brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily visible
> to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
> If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
> Charts and info here:
> http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> Clear skies,
> Greg
>
> --
> Greg Crinklaw
> Astronomical Software Developer
> Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)
>
> SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
> Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
> Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> To reply take out your eye

I am at 35d 58m N 083d 55m W in an apartment on the east side of a fairly
large city. Bright lights in the apartment complex and to see 2006 M4 I
must look across the city's light dome.

I just stepped outside with 10X50 Nikons and found the comet with no
problem.

I checked Starry Nights to orient myself, found Vega (the Hercules Keystone
is not a naked eye object -- that's how much light pollution I have) and
dropped down toward the horizon and slightly to the right and there was the
comet -- I saw an obvious fuzzy spot with a bright center fading to fuzz --
it appears almost circular to me -- I'm going back outside and take a longer
look and may drag out the 12-inch Dob.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 22:19:34
From: Joe S.
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

"Joe S." <anon@mous.net > wrote in message
news:ehmf08019vc@news4.newsguy.com...
>
> "Greg Crinklaw" <theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:7c071$453e78d0$4212a52c$22428@TULAROSA.NET...
>> Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
>> brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily visible
>> to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>>
>> If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>>
>> Charts and info here:
>> http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>>
>> Clear skies,
>> Greg
>>
>> --
>> Greg Crinklaw
>> Astronomical Software Developer
>> Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)
>>
>> SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
>> Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
>> Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>>
>> To reply take out your eye
>
>
> I am at 35d 58m N 083d 55m W in an apartment on the east side of a fairly
> large city. Bright lights in the apartment complex and to see 2006 M4 I
> must look across the city's light dome.
>
> I just stepped outside with 10X50 Nikons and found the comet with no
> problem.
>
> I checked Starry Nights to orient myself, found Vega (the Hercules
> Keystone is not a naked eye object -- that's how much light pollution I
> have) and dropped down toward the horizon and slightly to the right and
> there was the comet -- I saw an obvious fuzzy spot with a bright center
> fading to fuzz -- it appears almost circular to me -- I'm going back
> outside and take a longer look and may drag out the 12-inch Dob.
>

Dragged out the 12-inch Dob.

Comet was low in NNW, 15 - 18 degrees above horizon.

Scope is 1500mm FL; I used three eyepeices:
-- 26mm PanOptic (58X)
-- 18mm Radian (83X)
-- 10mm Radian (150X)

Best views were with the 26mm and 18mm -- and these views were not much
better than the view through the 10X50 binos.

With the scope I could make out a slight bit of elongation in the comet -- I
suspect the problem is the scope is magnifying the comet but it's also
magnifying the light pollution -- I'm on the eastern edge of a good-sized
city and by viewing the comet to the NNW, I was looking directly over the
light pollution from the city.

Still, seeing the comet was exciting -- two neighbors passed by walking
their dogs and I showed them the comet, Vega, the Epsilon Lyra
double-double, and M31 -- M31 was bigger and somewhat brighter than the
comet -- they were duly impressed.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 19:53:51
From: G\Laptop\
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Confirmed!
I have my astro buddies looking at it to. It is brighter then we saw it on
Friday and Saturday last week. Yes I would say 4.0-4.5...

"Greg Crinklaw" <theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:7c071$453e78d0$4212a52c$22428@TULAROSA.NET...
> Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
> brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily visible
> to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
> If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
> Charts and info here:
> http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> Clear skies,
> Greg
>
> --
> Greg Crinklaw
> Astronomical Software Developer
> Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)
>
> SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
> Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
> Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> To reply take out your eye

Date: 24 Oct 2006 22:31:30
From: Mike L'Mao
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Date: 24 Oct 2006 23:19:37
From: Pete Lawrence
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

On Tue, 24 2006 14:35:30 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
<theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com > wrote:

>Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
>brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily
>visible to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
>If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
>Charts and info here:
>http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

First process of some comet images from tonight. I'm having trouble
getting an alignment point on the head of the comet (as you can see by
the odd star trails, but I'll start again and see if I can improve
things. The tail seems rather interesting and indicates that events
have been occuring closer to the nucleus which is probably why the
comet has brightened.

http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/comets/C2006-M4_swan/2006-10-24_19h15m_800_preliminary.jpg

--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

Date: 24 Oct 2006 23:59:16
From: Mike L'Mao
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

>
> First process of some comet images from tonight. I'm having trouble
> getting an alignment point on the head of the comet (as you can see by
> the odd star trails, but I'll start again and see if I can improve
> things. The tail seems rather interesting and indicates that events
> have been occuring closer to the nucleus which is probably why the
> comet has brightened.
>
> http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/comets/C2006-M4_swan/2006-10-24_19h15m_800_preliminary.jpg
>

OUTSTANDING!! Your pics continue to amaze!

Date: 24 Oct 2006 23:25:47
From: Paul Clark
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

I dismissed my naked-eye sighting as spurious until I realised how much
brighter it was than M13.

The view thru my 18" Obsession was spectacular!!

Paul
"Pete Lawrence" <pete.lawrence.nospam@pbl33.co.uk > wrote in message
news:e84tj299etmsavr1hihcmln52ps8stj4ef@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 24 2006 14:35:30 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
> <theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
>>brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily
>>visible to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just
>>yesterday...
>>
>>If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>>
>>Charts and info here:
>>http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> First process of some comet images from tonight. I'm having trouble
> getting an alignment point on the head of the comet (as you can see by
> the odd star trails, but I'll start again and see if I can improve
> things. The tail seems rather interesting and indicates that events
> have been occuring closer to the nucleus which is probably why the
> comet has brightened.
>
> http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/comets/C2006-M4_swan/2006-10-24_19h15m_800_preliminary.jpg
>
>
> --
> Pete
> http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

Date: 24 Oct 2006 15:12:11
From: Tom Polakis
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Date: 24 Oct 2006 22:59:52
From: Pete Lawrence
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

On Tue, 24 2006 14:35:30 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
<theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com > wrote:

>Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
>brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily
>visible to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
>If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
>Charts and info here:
>http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>

Checking my notes, the closest defocussed 11x80 match I had for the
comet was zeta CrB which it turns out is a double star (doh!)
estimated to be around +4.6 at 19h15m UT. The sky transparency was
degrading fast with the onset of cloud but the lim mag. in the local
vicinity was around +5.5.

--
Pete
http://www.digitalsky.org.uk

Date: 24 Oct 2006 15:20:04
From: Shawn
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Greg Crinklaw wrote:
> Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
> brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily
> visible to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
> If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
> Charts and info here:
> http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

Oh No, It's cloudy here!
Could everybody west of Colorado take a deep breath, face east and blow?
On second thought, the condensation will make it worse. Just turn on a fan.

Thanks,
Shawn

P.S. Tried to view Swan last night, but it was too late and was lost in
the murk along the horizon.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 15:39:05
From: Greg Crinklaw
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

> Oh No, It's cloudy here!

Same here, unfortunately.

> P.S. Tried to view Swan last night, but it was too late and was lost in
> the murk along the horizon.

I saw it on Sunday. For a comet that was getting a lot of attention it
wasn't much to look at except in the telescope.

But now... damn!

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

To reply take out your eye

Date: 24 Oct 2006 19:08:04
From: Shawn
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Greg Crinklaw wrote:
>> Oh No, It's cloudy here!
>
>
> Same here, unfortunately.
>
>> P.S. Tried to view Swan last night, but it was too late and was lost
>> in the murk along the horizon.
>
>
> I saw it on Sunday. For a comet that was getting a lot of attention it
> wasn't much to look at except in the telescope.
>
> But now... damn!

It's cleared (7pm MDT)! Just saw it, damn is right! Not even past
twilight yet. More later.

Shawn

Date: 24 Oct 2006 20:40:35
From: Shawn
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Shawn wrote:
> Greg Crinklaw wrote:
>
>>> Oh No, It's cloudy here!
>>
>>
>>
>> Same here, unfortunately.
>>
>>> P.S. Tried to view Swan last night, but it was too late and was lost
>>> in the murk along the horizon.
>>
>>
>>
>> I saw it on Sunday. For a comet that was getting a lot of attention
>> it wasn't much to look at except in the telescope.
>>
>> But now... damn!
>
>
> It's cleared (7pm MDT)! Just saw it, damn is right! Not even past
> twilight yet. More later.

From the Northern edge of the Denver, CO area (Louisville):
At 7:45 MDT the comet was an easy binocular object (8x56). Maybe,
marginally, sorta, kinda naked eye with 4.5-5th magnitude skies.
In my 80mm achro a bright nucleus and large (20'?) coma was visible, and
clearly tinted green.
A very faint 1 deg or so tail was visible.
Clouds moved in at 8:00, and it looks like snow tomorrow. :-p

Shawn

Date: 24 Oct 2006 21:51:38
From: Shawn
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Shawn wrote:
> Shawn wrote:
>
>> Greg Crinklaw wrote:
>>
>>>> Oh No, It's cloudy here!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Same here, unfortunately.
>>>
>>>> P.S. Tried to view Swan last night, but it was too late and was
>>>> lost in the murk along the horizon.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I saw it on Sunday. For a comet that was getting a lot of attention
>>> it wasn't much to look at except in the telescope.
>>>
>>> But now... damn!
>>
>>
>>
>> It's cleared (7pm MDT)! Just saw it, damn is right! Not even past
>> twilight yet. More later.
>
>
>
> From the Northern edge of the Denver, CO area (Louisville):
> At 7:45 MDT the comet was an easy binocular object (8x56). Maybe,
> marginally, sorta, kinda naked eye with 4.5-5th magnitude skies.
> In my 80mm achro a bright nucleus and large (20'?) coma was visible, and
> clearly tinted green.
> A very faint 1 deg or so tail was visible.
> Clouds moved in at 8:00, and it looks like snow tomorrow. :-p

Forgot to mention, bigger and brighter than nearby M13.

Date: 25 Oct 2006 02:57:25
From: Mike L'Mao
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

>
>
> From the Northern edge of the Denver, CO area (Louisville):
> At 7:45 MDT the comet was an easy binocular object (8x56). Maybe,
> marginally, sorta, kinda naked eye with 4.5-5th magnitude skies.
> In my 80mm achro a bright nucleus and large (20'?) coma was visible, and
> clearly tinted green.
> A very faint 1 deg or so tail was visible.
> Clouds moved in at 8:00, and it looks like snow tomorrow. :-p

Who would waste their time with an unaided view? In 10 X 50's
in S. AB I can see it as a nice smudge with bad seing and good transparency
even.

Tomorrow should be better skies.

Date: 24 Oct 2006 21:50:57
From: Shawn
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Mike L'Mao wrote:
>>
>>From the Northern edge of the Denver, CO area (Louisville):
>>At 7:45 MDT the comet was an easy binocular object (8x56). Maybe,
>>marginally, sorta, kinda naked eye with 4.5-5th magnitude skies.
>>In my 80mm achro a bright nucleus and large (20'?) coma was visible, and
>>clearly tinted green.
>>A very faint 1 deg or so tail was visible.
>>Clouds moved in at 8:00, and it looks like snow tomorrow. :-p
>
>
>
> Who would waste their time with an unaided view? In 10 X 50's
> in S. AB I can see it as a nice smudge with bad seing and good transparency
> even.
>
> Tomorrow should be better skies.

Don't you know? A naked eye comet is better than any comet that needs
binocs or a scope. ;-)

Shawn

Date: 25 Oct 2006 05:05:12
From: Mike L'Mao
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

>>
>> Tomorrow should be better skies.
>
> Don't you know? A naked eye comet is better than any comet that needs
> binocs or a scope. ;-)
>
> Shawn

Not at mag 4.5 !! Comet Hyatake in '96 was a majestic sight at about mag 3
unaided.

Date:
From:
Subject:

Date: 25 Oct 2006 15:09:52
From: Jan Owen
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

"Greg Crinklaw" <theskyhoundyoureye@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:7c071$453e78d0$4212a52c$22428@TULAROSA.NET...
> Reports are coming in from Europe that C/2006 M4 (SWAN) has suddenly
> brightened to magnitude 4.0, which would make it much more easily visible
> to the unaided eye. It was running 6th magnitude just yesterday...
>
> If you have a clear sky this evening, have a look!
>
> Charts and info here:
> http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> Clear skies,
> Greg
>
> --
> Greg Crinklaw
> Astronomical Software Developer
> Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)
>
> SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
> Observing: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
> Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html
>
> To reply take out your eye
**********
Actually, I'd rather NOT take out my eye... Nearly had that happen already,
via a retina detachment in my observing eye, and now my ophthalmologist
wants me to go see my surgeon AGAIN about that, for reasons he hasn't
explained so far... ACK!!!
**********
Any comet Swan observations from across the "pond" yet from the evening of
the 25th???

Is it comparable to last night, or better, or worse?

Last night, after spotting it easily in 8X42 binoculars, I got my 11X80's.
And my first reaction was that I was mistaken, and this was really M-13.
Until it snapped into place that comet Swan is actually bigger and brighter
(visually speaking) than M-13...

In fact, I had a fun little session last night that included (barely) M-92,
M-13, comet Swan, the double cluster, and a few other random objects, as
seen with my 8X42's and my 11X80's.

The 11X80's won... Hand-held, at that!!!

Heheheheh!!!

Well, what did you EXPECT???

If tonight looks good (it sure doesn't look that great HERE, so far - LOTS
of clouds), I'll roll out the 94mm APO for a little CLOSER look...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.6
Longitude: -112.3
http://community.webshots.com/user/janowen21

Date: 26 Oct 2006 02:05:10
From:
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Paul Schlyter wrote:

> >Anyway, easily found it with 7x50 binocs. Ho Hum.
> >Frankly I found it underwhelming.
>
> That's probably because you viewed it from light polluted skies.
>

The skies were not super dark, but they were not
terrible either. I could just see all the stars in the little
dipper. I clearly remember seeing both Bopp and
Hyakutake from city skies of similar darkness and
they were much more impressive and obvious.

(...)
> >What's the definition of a 'Great' comet? Easy, one that
> >even non-astronomy dorks notice. Unfortunately Swan
> >doesn't make the grade.
>
> As light pollution steadily gets worse year after year,
> your requirements of a comet to be 'Great' will increase.
>

It's not so much that light pollution is getting worse -
many areas are already saturated - as it is the afflicted
area growing.

> A century or more ago, non-astronomy dorks would have noticed
> a comet like Comet Swan.

Unfortunately those days are over.

Eric

Date: 26 Oct 2006 13:13:41
From: Paul Schlyter
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

In article <1161853510.050279.3630@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com >,
<boo@fractalfreak.com > wrote:
>
>Paul Schlyter wrote:
>
>> >Anyway, easily found it with 7x50 binocs. Ho Hum.
>> >Frankly I found it underwhelming.
>>
>> That's probably because you viewed it from light polluted skies.
>>
>
>The skies were not super dark, but they were not
>terrible either. I could just see all the stars in the little
>dipper. I clearly remember seeing both Bopp and
>Hyakutake from city skies of similar darkness and
>they were much more impressive and obvious.

That's because they were brighter.... :-) .....after all, you cannot
expect a mag 4 to 5 comet to be as impressive as a mag zero comet!

And I don't think anyone claimed Comet SWAN to be a "Great Comet".

>(...)
>> >What's the definition of a 'Great' comet? Easy, one that
>> >even non-astronomy dorks notice. Unfortunately Swan
>> >doesn't make the grade.
>>
>> As light pollution steadily gets worse year after year,
>> your requirements of a comet to be 'Great' will increase.
>>
>
>It's not so much that light pollution is getting worse -
>many areas are already saturated - as it is the afflicted
>area growing.

What do you mean with "saturated"? There's no upper limit to
artificial light leve, is it? At some point you don't see any
stars of course, but then you at least see Venus and Jupiter, until
the light pollution gets so bad that you no longer see any difference
between night and day....

>> A century or more ago, non-astronomy dorks would have noticed
>> a comet like Comet Swan.
>
>Unfortunately those days are over.

For now, yes - let's hope this is not a permanent state.

Btw, the reason non-astronomy dorks would have noticed Comet Swan
a century ago isn't just because of the dark skies back then, it's
also because then people in general knew the constellations to a much
greater extent than today.

>Eric

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

Date: 26 Oct 2006 14:39:09
From: Brian Tung
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Paul Schlyter wrote:
> Btw, the reason non-astronomy dorks would have noticed Comet Swan
> a century ago isn't just because of the dark skies back then, it's
> also because then people in general knew the constellations to a much
> greater extent than today.

As an aside, I think "dork" has a more negative connotation than you may
be aware of. Originally (and still today, at times), it referred to a
peculiarly male part of the anatomy. Even used metaphorically, it's a
disparaging term.

--
Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu >
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html

Date: 28 Oct 2006 15:13:32
From: Paul Schlyter
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

In article <ehr9tt$1ei$1@praesepe.isi.edu >, Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu> wrote:

> Paul Schlyter wrote:
>> Btw, the reason non-astronomy dorks would have noticed Comet Swan
>> a century ago isn't just because of the dark skies back then, it's
>> also because then people in general knew the constellations to a much
>> greater extent than today.
>
> As an aside, I think "dork" has a more negative connotation than you may
> be aware of. Originally (and still today, at times), it referred to a
> peculiarly male part of the anatomy. Even used metaphorically, it's a
> disparaging term.

:-) .... ok, let's say "non-astronomy honorablie citizens" then .... or
perhaps even "non-astrolomy patriot".... however, although "patriot" is
an honorable property in your country, elsewhere it may be judged
differently: in my own country it's considered old fashioned and perhaps
also a little ridiculous.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

Date: 28 Oct 2006 10:22:19
From: Brian Tung
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Paul Schlyter wrote:
> :-) .... ok, let's say "non-astronomy honorablie citizens" then .... or
> perhaps even "non-astrolomy patriot".... however, although "patriot" is
> an honorable property in your country, elsewhere it may be judged
> differently: in my own country it's considered old fashioned and perhaps
> also a little ridiculous.

I would simply say that "The reason that the general public would have
noticed Swan...." That will be understood perfectly.

--
Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu >
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html

Date: 25 Oct 2006 23:06:25
From:
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

Finally got a look at this thing this evening.

I wasn't able to make it out of the city, so no dark skies
unfortunately. In light polluted skies Swan is on the
threshold of visibility, 'naked eye'. Certainly is easy to locate
for observers in the NH. Very close to M13, and much brighter.

Anyway, easily found it with 7x50 binocs. Ho Hum.
Frankly I found it underwhelming. Also took a look at it
though a friends 5" MAK. Not much to see... can't say I
could even see its tail, but that may just have been cuz
it was obliterated by all the light pollution. My friend
thought he could see two points in the nucleus, I wasn't
sure. Nice blueish color.

Overall it was unremarkable though. Especially after the
two very impressive 'H' comets in the 90's I still remember
the enormous etheral green tail on comet Hyakutake.

What's the definition of a 'Great' comet? Easy, one that
even non-astronomy dorks notice. Unfortunately Swan
doesn't make the grade.

Eric

Date: 26 Oct 2006 07:13:03
From: Paul Schlyter
Subject: Re: Comet 2006 M4 (SWAN) had brightened dramatically

In article <1161842785.061511.197870@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com >,
<boo@fractalfreak.com > wrote:
>
>Finally got a look at this thing this evening.
>
>I wasn't able to make it out of the city, so no dark skies
>unfortunately. In light polluted skies Swan is on the
>threshold of visibility, 'naked eye'. Certainly is easy to locate
>for observers in the NH. Very close to M13, and much brighter.
>
>Anyway, easily found it with 7x50 binocs. Ho Hum.
>Frankly I found it underwhelming.

That's probably because you viewed it from light polluted skies.

>Also took a look at it
>though a friends 5" MAK. Not much to see... can't say I
>could even see its tail, but that may just have been cuz
>it was obliterated by all the light pollution. My friend
>thought he could see two points in the nucleus, I wasn't
>sure. Nice blueish color.
>
>Overall it was unremarkable though. Especially after the
>two very impressive 'H' comets in the 90's I still remember
>the enormous etheral green tail on comet Hyakutake.
>
>What's the definition of a 'Great' comet? Easy, one that
>even non-astronomy dorks notice. Unfortunately Swan
>doesn't make the grade.

As light pollution steadily gets worse year after year,
your requirements of a comet to be 'Great' will increase.

A century or more ago, non-astronomy dorks would have noticed
a comet like Comet Swan.

>Eric

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