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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Searching for comet Hartley by the Adler

30 September 2010

Such a bright and clear afternoon is cause for bringing out scopes and searching for Comet Hartley, which is plunging into the inner solar system now, brightening by Mid-October.

But the fun is catching it early in Chicago skies.

Two Chicago Astronomers will set up SCT's and enjoy a crisp fall night.

If in the area, stop by and say hi.

[patrickm]

Comet spotted 21:45, Austin,TX with 15x70 binos under excellent seeing and above average transparency. Moon still not up yet at the time. Bluish smudgy blot moving in and out of view, but very easily ID'd.

Can't wait to get in scope! Hope you had success up in Chicago.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No luck in Chicago - Comet Hartley still M.I.A....

Chicago Astronomers Bill ,Steve and I ventured out to the Adler area spot for some over the lake comet hunting...but came up short. Sky expert Bill tried to punch through the Chicago muck with His Vixen and my C11 with no luck. I tried as well, also using the 15x70 Binos - spotting the Andromeda galaxy easily, but nothing on any" fuzzy stars".

Although this session did not meet the goal, we will still try to spot it in the evenings to come.

So, we played around with imaging and viewing other objects.

Here is M31 and doing a quick & dirty exposure, it's a bit out of focus, but at least I could get something of the galaxy.

Jupiter was making a good showing this evening, with the GRS in perfect display.....

This next one is interesting...

I bumped the scope while in mid exposure and gave me this rather cool Binary Jupiter.

Reminds me of the scene where in the movie "Contact"...Dr. Eleanor Arrowway splits for a moment while in Transit to the Vega system.

We also had some nice visitors stop by and peek through the scopes, as there was a Teacher conference at the Adler this evening. I made some good contacts and hope to establish some joint Chicago Astronomer activities.

Comet Hartley will be located and imaged soon...!

[Paulie pchris00]

Shoot. I went online about 5:00 last night to see if anything was going on, about an hour before this thread appeared. I had the time (no work last night), the weather was argueably okay (clear, but chilly and windy), but the motivation factor just wouldn't kick in.

Hillary and I had spent the late morning hours doing sidewalk observations of the last quarter Moon, still quite high, and projection viewing the Sun. I was also running without sleep, so by evening I was sluggish. I don't know if being down at the Adler would have invigorated my spirits or not, but since I wasn't aware the guys would be out, we made a feeble attempt for Jovian sidewalk viewing in Valparaiso. There was no response at all from the public, so I let the chilly, windy conditions drive me out early.

I know predicting how comets will look is a tricky business, but I've been disappointed with Hartley so far. I think my stat hopping skills are adequate, but have seen nothing resembling a comet in three attempts at it this week. If I don't catch this one, I may forego all comets after this.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Paulie,

I'm not having much high hopes for this comet, but I'll keep up the challenge and vigil. Reminds of the Dud comet named Kohoutek of the 1970's... heralded as the "Comet of the Decade!"

Also,

did you use a yellow filter for your solar projections? Much better than a dull white orb on a sheet of paper. Use glossy paper to project your images onto. Dollar store stuff works great.

[Paulie pchris00]

I used yellow and orange filters, but only projected onto a small piece of white cardboard. I'll write up a story about it soon.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Paulie,

Which scope did you use?

Use a clipboard with that glossy photo paper as the screen to project the solar image on. Looks better.

At the Adler, doing solar viewing for the visitors, I placed my clip-on shades in front on the eyepiece, to filter the disk and bring out contrast.

Melted a good pair of sun glasses.

Damn.