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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A Brand new comet making it's way through our Solar System
Comet McNaught (C/2009 R1)

I waited until now to post this, as many new comets are quite dim and just faint fuzzballs. But this one has some great potential and it's brightened to 6th magnitude and forecast to a slick 2nd mag by mid-June.

Spaceweather says:

Comet McNaught can be found low in the northeastern sky before dawn gliding through the constellation Perseus. It is brightening as it approaches Earth for a 1.13 AU close encounter on June 15th and 16th. Currently, the comet is at the threshold of naked eye visibility (6th magnitude) and could become as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper (2nd magnitude) before the end of the month. Because this is the comet's first visit to the inner solar system, predictions of future brightness are necessarily uncertain; amateur astronomers should be alert for the unexpected.

...And from Sky & Telescope:

Update June 9: It's brightening! Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) was observed at 3:30 this morning through 12×60 binoculars from Boston's inner suburbs. The comet was well above the horizon before the sky got perceptibly lighter, and the thin crescent Moon provided no interference.

The comet was very easy to spot, forming an attractive tight triangle with the open cluster Messier 34 below and the star 14 Persei left of M34. All three were roughly equal in brightness. This puts the comet around magnitude 5.5, which means it should be visible naked-eye in a dark sky.

The comet's head was fairly small, no more than 10′ across, and quite intense. No tail was visible. However, a very long, thin gas tail is showing up well in deep images

This will make a great target in the C11 beast for the Chicago Astronomers and if clear this weekend, will make a session out of it.

www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/94277259.html

Some are observing it now with modest telescopes, as small as 5" reflectors and binoculars.

It's been awhile since we had a bright comet, Holmes I think it was in '08 and this promises to be a good one. Not like the "Great Comets of Halley & Kohoutek from my youth...total duds...

More as details come in.

[Paulie pchris00]

I've been aware of this one for about a month and a half, but haven't had any luck finding it. Being a morning comet limits my time for trying though.

[Centaur]

Great pictures, Joe; well done! Thanks for sharing your fine work. Meanwhile, I’ve created three graphics related to the comet. The first shows its path in equatorial coordinates from June 18 through July 8 which includes close conjunctions with Capella, Menkalinan, Castor and Pollux. The second previews the western sky from Chicago as the comet passes Capella while Venus moves through the Beehive cluster 45 minutes after sunset on June 20. The third previews the western sky from Chicago as the comet nearly grazes Castor while Venus, Mars and Saturn are strung out to the left 45 minutes after sunset on July 4. That should present a spectacular sight, especially for those looking toward the west to watch fireworks! These graphics can be seen by going to www.curtrenz.com/astronomical and clicking the buttons toward the bottom of the page.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The skies are looking good and I'm going to try and image the Comet this early morning.

I still have not decided if I will do it from my light polluted alley or head out to the lakefront before dawn.......but it's a hell of a lot of equipment to set-up for just an hour or so of seeing before dawn.

Me thinks the alley will win out.

I dig all of Curt's diagrams and charts!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No luck in spotting it.

My alley lights are just too intrusive.

But I did get nice images of Uranus and Jupiter.

Narrative coming up.

[atomant]

Hi Joe,

Tried to get a hold of you by cell.

Clear sky clock was showing a go for some comet spotting.

I quickly threw together my gear:
- my red temptress [wo 80mm refractor]
- EQ mount and counterweight
- digital camera
- rigel
- 25mm and 7mm
- Panda 8x30 binos [my first astro equipment]
It was 1am already. Took a quick nap.

My alarm goes off at 3:30am. Wow! The clear skies held up through the morning hours.
I took my gear up to the condo roof.

Polaris was nicely visible. Good sign.
Quickly lined up polaris thru the EQ r.a. axis. No polar scope yet.
I scanned the skies with the binos to familiar myself with this early morning sky.
Using my trusty Rigel, I picked a sweet spot mid-point between Kappa and Beta star in Perseus and Gamma Star in Andromeda.
Popped in the 25mm. Did a couple of turns of the fine adjustment knobs.
Boom there it was.
The fuzzy harbinger of death scattering its poison in the sky.
Sweet...

The star on upper right is star 14 in Perseus. I could not see a tail.

Took a few shots with digital camera directly thru 80mm scope.
Ahh, instant gratification. My poor film camera is cursing right now.

Old moon was rising quickly. Being chased by the sun.

Took a few moments enjoying the comet with 25mm and 7mm with cyclops eye.

Jumped over to catch the Double cluster under the "W"
Scooted over to King of Planets. Yup, missing cloud band.
Nice, Uranus in same wide view.

4:30am.. quickest and very satisfying viewing session.
Catch another nap before work. Later...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Bill,

Sweet!

I was up and imaging Uranus at the time...as I was completely shut out from the field of the comet by my surroundings. The cell's battery died and was recharging at the time of your call...too bad.

I'm digging your pics.......Nice green coma it's showing, but no tail.

If you are up for it and if the weather holds out....how about a early morning session by the CA spot #2?

The C11 will just wring out some detail....

Excellent job!

[Centaur]

Don’t believe those who tell you that the comet will only have a morning apparition. My following calculations are for observers at the location of the Adler Planetarium. Starting today (June 10 at 20:39 CDT) the comet is setting after sunset. The setting times for June 11-14 will be 20:58, 21:18; 21:40 & 22:06 CDT. It will be circumpolar from its rising on June 15 at 00:00 CDT until setting on June 21 at 23:41 CDT. On July 4, I expect it to pass 9.4 arcminutes north of Castor at 21:00 CDT and then set at 21:55 CDT. I hope this is good news for those of you like me who prefer not to observe before five in the morning.

[Centaur]

Again for you folks who prefer evening observing, here’s my chart of how the comet will be positioned in horizontal (Alt-Az) coordinates as viewed from the Adler at 21:15 CDT from June 11 to July 9.

[atomant]

Hi Joe,

Saturday Morning 6-12 is showing signs of a good viewing window.
When are the lakefront parks open?

Let me know if it is a go!

Bill

[patrickm]

If it's OK, I am in for this as well. May also get wife and dog out!

[Centaur]

And for those of you motivated to get up before the rooster, here’s my chart of how the comet will be positioned in horizontal (Alt-Az) coordinates as viewed from the Adler at 04:30 CDT from June 19 to July 1.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Bill,

Clear Sky Clock says decent conditions.

I'm thinking about setting up at Chicago Astronomer Site #2 at 1:00 am...for some pre-comet targeting.

The C11's motor drives and tracking are tight and on the nose....imaging should be good.

I'll call ahead and make arrangements.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Patrick,

I'll text you around 12:00 am if it's still a go.

But.....no pets.

We are granted special permission to set up at the site and they may not appreciate it.

[patrickm]

Roger wilco, though I fail to understand how we are to see anything at all without a dog around!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Patrick,

Dogs make everything better!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The latest amateur image of Comet McNaught...

What the astronomer says:

No telescope, no tracking -- camera and fixed tripod only. You can clearly make out the ion and dust tails.

The comet was very low on the horizon and I shot it through a lot of humidity. Could definitely have been better. OTOH, it could have been cloudy (mostly, it has been recently), so I can't really complain.

Canon EOS 50D [modified IR response in Hα range], hooded Canon EF 200mm ƒ/2.8L USM II prime [ø72mm] @ ƒ/2.8, ISO 12800, 107 frames of 2.5 seconds each, RAW to JPEG in Aperture 3 and stacked in WinImages running under Parallels on my Mac. Sighting window identified using my Astrotron application

------------------

Looking good for a Chicago capture tomorrow!.....

I will set-up the C11 at Chicago Astronomer Observation site #2 Wednesday evening into Thursday morning for some celestial delights and hopefully....Comet imaging.

[patrickm]

Set the alarm, herded stuff onto our back deck at 0320. Caught Jupiter +3 to get scope aligned. VERY FREAKIN' COOL, and any other night quite enough to get me out of bed as this was only my second time to see and first at home. Quickly swung over to c Per and BINGO!! Big blue/green smudge blob! Much higher than last week's attempt. (Thanks Centaur!)

Dragged a whiney Julia out of bed for a look, and she was much more impressed with her first sight of Jupiter. Can't say I blame her. Hard to compete visually with that.

Let her go back to bed and shot a few frames of Jupiter with the vid camera. Then tried same with comet but too faint already. Will check to see what I got in AM. Then, as dawn was gaining and I was fading, very quickly over to Andromeda and the last gasp of the Ring Nebula—both firsts in my scope.

Action-packed early morn for sure. I will sleep well now!!!
:-)
p
--Cool on the Hawks, Paulie!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Patrick,

If you are up...I will set up at the #2 observation site Thursday morning at around 1:00 am.

A high pressure system is overhead and pushed all the grime out....let's see how the transparency works out.

Need a nap in the evening sometime.

[patrickm]

After last night, I will probably have to pass since I still haven't made it into work yet, but thanks! If I can find a way to rationalize, I'll be there.

[Centaur]

Here is the data for my predicted closest geocentric angular approaches between Comet C/2009 R1 McNaught and bright celestial objects over the next few weeks. These are not exactly the same as conjunctions in celestial longitude or right ascension. PA is the position angle of the comet relative to the other body measured counterclockwise from celestial north.

Comet 1.55° from mag +0.1 Capella at PA 11° on June 21 at 15:44 UT (10:44 CDT)
Comet 0.46° from mag +1.9 Menkalinan at PA 22° on June 24 at 20:04 UT (15:04 CDT)
Comet 0.08° from mag +1.6 Castor at PA 50° on July 5 at 03:21 UT (4 at 22:21 CDT)
Comet 0.68° from mag +1.1 Pollux at PA 53° on July 7 at 10:11 UT (05:11 CDT)
Comet 3.89° from mag -0.9 Mercury at PA 310° on July 10 at 03:21 UT (9 at 22:21 CDT)

[patrickm]

Jun 16, 2010 15:41:07 GMT -6 Centaur said:

Here is the data for my predicted closest geocentric angular approaches between Comet C/2009 R1 McNaught and bright celestial objects over the next few weeks.

Centaur,
You are en fuego! Gracias!
p

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The skies are clear for comet hunting, but damn....look what's coming...

I'm itching to set up a scope and image Comet McNaught, as the skies overhead are very clear now...at 2:20 am Friday morning.

But dang.....look what's coming from the west...

But, Chicago Clear Sky Clock says it's all cool...

And now in the 10 minutes that has passed that I started this....

The squall line has progressed closer.

Do I take a chance and head out by Chicago Astronomer private observation site #2 and set up the C11...only to have it as an expensive lightning rod...?

It looks like I'm staying in this morning.

Damn....!

[patrickm]

Nothing to see here any longer either. Good move and good night!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I'm hoping this soup will leave by early Saturday morning.

If so, then I'm heading out to Chicago Astronomer site #2 for some sweet comet spotting.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The two Squall lines have passed over Chicago now.

Some hefty winds were experienced, but now it looks like that there just might be some clear skies coming our way in a few...

If I'm not too sleepy...I think I'll head out to site #2 and do some comet searching.

[Paulie pchris00]

My work schedule and the weather just will not let me see this comet. I'm bummed...