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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Tim,

Soon The Chicago Astronomers shall be known and revered Far and Wide, in every hamlet, town and circle. All links shall lead to our site, as friends and foes alike come to dip into the overgrowing knowledge base. Like a crusade, all who come in contact will converted..and resistance shall be futile!

But seriously...

I started this forum really just for local astronomers and subscribers to the newsletter to congregate, but it has grown totally beyond my modest expectation. In the next newsletter I will go more into this. But, thank you all for your participation and involvement.

Now...onward to widespread Fame and some fortune!

[Al Degutis]

Don,

It's a real achievement to identify a comet (in this case your tenth) visually using a 6" f/8 telescope. I think we've all become somewhat numbed by comet and asteroid discoveries because a lot of them are found using photography/CCD. I'm NOT taking away anything from the great efforts put forth to image the vastness of space and pour over hundreds, maybe thousands, of images to discover a new comet or asteroid. I just think that it's EXTRAordinary to do it visually. Only a small number of people are that gifted and it's a pleasure to be corresponding with one of them.

All the news reports state that you spent 1,457 hours between the discovery of the ninth and tenth comet. Where did they come up with number? Have you keep a log of all your observing time? If so, do you use a software package or do it manually?

[gettr]

Welcome Don...

All.... I was going to try and find Comet Macholtz tonight (if it stays clear) In the charts that were posted earlier in this forum, it seems to be roughly in line with the feet of Orion to the south a little and west. (Sorry, I'm a newbie...lol) Can anyone tell me roughly how many degrees away from Orion it is? And will my Orion ST 80 be enough to get a decent view?

I have a feeling that it's gonna be 5 minutes of looking in 10 degree weather and 15 minutes of warming up! lol

Thanks,
Dennis

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

07 January 2005 - Macholtz Passes The Pleiades

A nice passby will occur on Friday evening when Macholtz will come pretty close to the Seven Sisters, with the tail fanning the cluster.

There will be a Far Out Friday event at the Adler Planetarium on that evening. If clear, I and my fellow Adler Telescope operators will show the public Macholtz and other sights.

It will be a memorable sight to view.

[Al Degutis]

I've rendered a similar chart using SkyTool2. Mine is based on using 8x50 binos.

An 800x600 version can be seen at my Comet Machholz page: skyinsight.net/comets/c2004q2.php

I'll be going outside shortly in this frigid weather (i.e. "feels like" temp of -11°F). I expect to be out only a short while. I'm eager to see how the comet looks now compared to when I viewed it 10 days ago.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No...Luck.

I attempted a short targeting session for Q2, but eastern clouds prevented any views. And........it was so so cold! It is 5 degrees now, breezy and quite bitter. Saturn was playing around in Gemini, but that's all I could discern.

I have set up a trickle charge for my car battery, watching my water pipes and just wonder how people survived such weather without the modern conveniences we have. Amazing!

I admire and salute all who brave this weather and set up their equipment to catch celestial sights.

[Cometdon]

Greetings all;
the comet is about 10 degrees from Rigel in Orion, and now I wuld say it is slightly north of it. it is highest in the sky about 10-11PM or so (local time), and tonight there ia a 90% lit moon about 30 degrees north of it. I was surprised that I could see it with the unaided eye even with the moonlight. Through 7x35 binoculars it looks about 15-20 arcminutes in size with no tail, probably again due to the moolight.

On Dec 28, next Tues, the moon will be out of the evening sky for a short while and we hope to have a better view. Thqat is the night that we start our public showing of the comet, with the schedule on my web site. Sorry, we won't make it to Chicago, we're mainly confined to communities in Northern California.

My web site is at:
us.geocities.com/donmachholz/index.html

Early next week I also have a few interviews lined up with two local radio stations and a German TV network. But also next week, when we begin our public star parties, the rain is supposed to arrive.

Too bad abut the poor weather that some of you are having, the bitter cold, and the snow. Warmer days are ahead, I'm sure.

I keep an extensive logbook showing what areas I cover, which instrument I use and the amount of time I spend looking through the eyepiece, estimated to the nearest 15 minutes. I also count the number of meteors I see (over 10,000 so far) and satellites I see (about 14,000). All of this is about 7080 hours of searching since 1975, not missing a month in 30 years. My most active month was may 1976 (69 hours) and I've had a couple of least active months of 1 hour each.

I simply enjoy comet hunting, the challenge, and the view of the night sky through the telescope.

My two other astronomy passions are the Messier Marathon (I've done 30 in 28 years) and hosting public star parties and showing people stuff through the telescopes (ten years in the foothill region of N. CA.).

I've given two talks about my comet hunting and this comet discovery this past week: one to the Sacramanto Club, and the other to the Mt. Diablo club in Concord, CA. My next two big talks are Reno (Mon Jan 24) and I've also been invited to the Winter Star Party where I will be given the 1+ hour that it takes to tell my story.

All for now. I have two real estate appraisals to work on tonight with an expected bedtime of after midnight.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Don Machholz
Colfax, CA.

[Al Degutis]

I went out around 10:00pm CST with my 8-20x50 binos. I didn't reference a chart figuring the comet should be close to where I found it 10 days ago. The moon was near (or at) the zenith and lit up my yard as well as dimmed some of the fainter stars. After about 2-3 minutes, which seemed longer in this cold weather, I spotted Comet Machholz. It didn't seem as bright as before due to the moonlight. Since I wasn't out very long my best views were with averted vision. Still no tail visible. I actually had a better view zoomed out to 8x or 10x compared to when I was zoomed in to 20x. Again, this was due to the moonlight. I was only outside 15 minutes due to the bitter cold.

[Al Degutis]

Cometdon said:

I keep an extensive logbook showing what areas I cover, which instrument I use and the amount of time I spend looking through the eyepiece, estimated to the nearest 15 minutes. I also count the number of meteors I see (over 10,000 so far) and satellites I see (about 14,000). All of this is about 7080 hours of searching since 1975, not missing a month in 30 years. My most active month was may 1976 (69 hours) and I've had a couple of least active months of 1 hour each.
Don Machholz
Colfax, CA.

Impressive! I wish I had the discipline to be as thorough. I find myself counting satellites as well and thought I was just being goofy. After an observing session, I'll share with my wife the number of meteors and satellites I see often pointing out that I saw more satellites that night. Maybe I should get HER to log this information down form me. ;D

[timothy]

Dennis
Hi, Yes your right about running a line out from Orions feet west. Go about 15 degrees and you'll be in the general area. To me it looks like a globular cluster. I had to check my charts to make sure there was'nt a globular in the area before I was sure it was the comet. Your st80 will work fine.

Happy hunting

Tim

[stargazer]

Hi Don,

I hope to be able to meet you at the Winter Star Party. My Husband and I will be there. It will be a honor to meet you and maybe get in some Scope time. Please let me know if this is ok with you.

Becky

[gettr]

Don, Tim,

Thanks for the directions. No joy last night... I spent almost 2 hours outside last night looking. IT WAS COLD!!! But, I only spent 1/2 an hour or so looking for the comet. Gonna try again tonight.... if the wife doesn't overrule my decision!!

Dennis

[timothy]

Dennis
Your welcome. Do you have a pair of binoculars, It's so much easier to find your target with them first.

Happy Holidays

Tim

[bamboomarc]

Hi, I found the comet quite easily. 3 nights ago even with the moon. Image on web site if you want. Try this: hold your closed fist at arms lenght, you'll notice it is about the same width as the distance between Salph and Rigel call this one step. With your fist parallel with the horizon move west 1 1/2 distances look above you first knuckle, with binos a bright glow will be there no tail with this moon though. Cheers-Marc

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Marc,

Thank you for your first post and concise direction on the "Hands on" manner of astronomy. An excellent tool in plotting one's way around the heavens is at the end of our arms. Ancient peoples used parts of the body to measure, and we still do today.

This is an excellent opportunity for a quick review...

Thanks Marc for sharing your technique and observation.

Now, if only I can target it!

[bamboomarc]

Hi, I thought I would offer this comparison.

Here is a image of Comet Macholtz taken 12-22-04, 20 frames @ 15 seconds with a vesta 675 and 6" newt:

<http:\\marc.hardytropicals.com/images/comet_q2_1.jpg>
and here is a image of M31 with the same scope but only 10 15 second frames.

<http:\\marc.hardytropicals.com/images/m31_15_sec.jpg>
-------------

Marc,

I have included the images you referred to here.

No extra charge.

Joe

[timothy]

[quote while my
16 inch
reflector shows a very bright stellar core. [/quote]

When I was out the other night and saw Q2 The stellar core really caught my eye, but I did'nt realize it untill I was rereading this post.

Tim

[timothy]

More on the stellar core

Coma: The parameters to be noted in Coma are its size and its Degree of Condensation(DC). The size can be found out by studying its surrounding star field and then going back to the charts and finding the diameter of the coma in arc seconds or arc minutes .A sketch of the coma with respect to at least two stars flanking it should be made for better comparison .The Degree of Condensation of the coma is graded on a scale of 0-9. 0 implies a very uniform coma ,suggest a diffuse rounded nebula .6 implies a condensed core witha diffuse coma surrounding it . 9 implies a very condensed coma typically stellar in appearance

Some more info
In 1996 comet hyakataki ( I'm sure thats totally mispelled ) was a magnitude 0 and .1 au away

Comet Machholz will be mag 4.12 and almost .4 au away when it passes the Pleiades

Just some random info

Tim

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Macholz will be at it's brightest soon after the new year and quite high up.

Here is the projected magnitudes for the coming weeks...

At 4.1 at it's brightest, it should be a nice object to catch in the bitter cold of January. Maybe it will surprise us, and flare up!

[timothy]

At 4.1 it just might be naked eye visible for me . That would be nice.

Tim

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

It seems that some are having a rough time targeting Macholz.

This from the AllAstronomyAllTheTime yahoo group...

Finally got the time for some observing lastnight, first time in
months, wanting to spy comet Machholz I did some homework before
going out and plotted where it is suppose to be but try as I may I
could not find it with the 10".
I swept the area to no avail with the 20mm (75x) eyepiece and saw
nothing but stars.
Thinking something was wrong I used the telrad to site the telescope
to Saturn and M42 which were plainly visible so its not a problem
with the telescope only the observer.
I am doing something wrong but have yet to figure out what,at mag
4.3 this comet should stick out... or should it? maybe im looking
for something that is smaller and dimmer then I think it is, and am
passing right over it.
Will continue to try but I am puzzled, seems I have a hard time
finding comets that sound like they should be easy enough to find,
definitely not going to be a comet hunter.
Any and all advice is welcomed and would be greatly appreciated.

====

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. I've looked for
it a couple of times with binoculars, haven't seen it
yet.



--------

Thanks to Rick and Larry for their comments. And I still haven't seen it yet!

[dewayne]

I just came in from looking at the comet.
In binos it looks like an area of nebulosity south of Hyades. I used the point of Hayades to guide myself right to it.
With my 35MM 2" EP it was easy to find. Then I switched to my 40MM 1.25" EP.
It was quite easy to find.
In "Big Enis" (Orion XT8 Classic) it looks like an out of focus globular cluster with my 35MM and 40MM EP's. I powered up to a 25MM EP. The comet lost almost all of its "nebulosity" with that much power.
The comet had no tail. It is certainly not as spectacular as this sping's comet. But it's still worth a look.
This has been my day.
I found Mercury this morning for the first time.
It was no trick really though with Venus so close by.

[gettr]

Wooohoo,

I finally found it last night! I decided on a plan after looking again at where it was supposed to be on the charts posted earlier in this thread. To me it looked like if I drew a line from Orion's shield straight out, it would be there. After looking for 20 minutes, I still hadn't found it... Inside for the bino's and less than a minute later I had it. After seeing it in the binos, it was easy to find in my ST80 w/26mm EP. I pushed to a 9mm EP and couldn't get a decent view (seems like it wouldn't focus). It looked to me alot like M31... in fact I thought I was looking at a galaxy until I realized there wouldn't be anything else there that I could see with my bino's/ ST80. I tried walking my dad thru finding it on the phone..... genes play a big part , I guess, cause he couldn't find it...lol.
Dennis

[stargazer]

Joe and Gang,

After getting home at 2 am I decided to try and get in some Observig time. Of course I had the Bino's out cause it was to later for the Cannon. I started out with the usuall Fav's then went on to the Comet. It was right where it was supose to be. Sitting there just off of Taurus. Of course the Seven Sisters looked great as always. The Asteroind Hunt was called off due to clouds so I thought it was a good time to catch a view sights. While at the Star Party we had clouds so no Observing there. We did finalize the Plans for the Winter Star Party. 33 more days to go including today. Cant wait.

From the front of my house I see what appears to be a Globular Cluster. Very Fuzzy with no tail. Looking over two street lights I was suprized to find it so easy. I was told to go from Pleiades South just about 5º then head East for about 3º and there it would be. Tonight if the rain goes away it should be just above this location. Now remember on 7 Jan It will be 5º West from Pleiades also at it brightest. I hope this helps everyone who hasnt seen the Comet yet.

B

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Ok....................Now, no one is to go out and observe the comet until "I" get a chance to view it!

But really, it's good to know that the charts here are being put to good use. While checking the visitor stats for the Chicago Astronomer, by far...the most current reason of visitor hits to our site is for Macholz. They want charts, observations, magnitudes and present location.

Ain't it cool being an astronomer?

[stargazer]

Alright Joe,

Get your little butt out here to the BURBS and view this Comet. The night of the 15th is Triton but come out here this sat night around say 8 ish and we will show you the comet. I promise. So now the ball is in your court so what are you going to do. Are you going to come out to the BURBS or ?


B

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Here is a great little movie on Macholz from Dennis Persyk's Igloo Observatory in Hampshire Illinois:

home.att.net/~dpersyk/new.htm

"96 minutes of animation in one-minute frames. The comet is moving at 4.97 arc seconds per minute relative to the star field. "

I don't know if it's the processing, but the comet seems to vary in reflective magnitude in this little snippet.

Thanks Dennis for the great imaging!

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

And Becks...I'll take you up on the offer if I am free on a upcoming clear night, if not...then the Triton is an option as well.

Thanks!

[Al Degutis]

New Years Eve I was down at my brother's home in Mokena, IL. I went outside around 9pm CST with the binos. The cloud forecast was for clear skies but there were narrow bands of clouds stretching east and west across the sky. Checking my charts, Comet Machholz should be an easy find just following where the arrow of Orion would shoot towards. Many stars were visible but the skies weren't as dark as at home, probably more like an Elgin sky. A band of clouds stretched in the path of Betelgeuse, Bellatrix all the way through the bow/arrow and beyond. Betelgeuse and Bellatrix would shine through the thinner portions of the clouds. After 5 minutes, the cloud band moved south thus opening up a "lane" which should have given me a straight shot at finding Comet Machholz. No luck. I scanned the sky for 20 minutes and then I finally spotted it. It was as defined as when I last saw it on 23-Dec 2004, a night that had the Moon shining brightly. This evening the Moon was just starting to rise. I spent 5 minutes observing it and there was less detail visible at 20x so I did most of my observing around 8x-10x using averted vision.

I hope that this coming weekend (7 & 8th) gives me some clear skies to view it at home.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Al,

Yes...All accounts that I have read state that the lower powers...10x/20x, are the best in viewing the comet. Push it too much and it loses definition.

I hope to report to you all my inner city observation of Macholz soon.

[beijingsky]

hi all

first time post guy here.

my hometown is chicago and ive relocated to beijing china. i saw macholz about 15 minutes ago moving towards m45. a nice sight.

the last real good comet i saw was hale-bopp. i froze my ass off that winter up on the lakefront of northwestern university.