2007-10-29

Observational report, October 29 0250 UTC

Sunday, October 28th. Local Time.

0150 Universal Coordinated Time, Monday, October 29th.

The moon is coming over the horizon. At zenith, 2nd magnitude stars are visible in Cygnus. 4th magnitude Eta Cygni is not visible.

The comet is clearly visible with the naked eye. It is somewhat dimmer than Alpha Persei, or Mirfak. It is about the same brightness as third magnitude Delta Persei.

Clearly visible in the view finder of the 10 inch. Clearly a nebula or comet.

Through the 10 inch reflector, with 2" E=lux eyepiece. Clearly visible. Central coma is evenly distributed. Surrounding halo is also evenly distrubed. I see no mottling. No central nucleus. No texture. No streaks. One of the two stars is on the edge of the brighter central coma. The other is just beyond the edge of the bright coma and into the surrounding halo. I sense no color.

Through 12.5 eyepiece. I can now see not only the two stars I just described, but also a third star. With averted vision, I can barely make out a fourth. Of those first two stars, the one on the edge of the inner coma, is not so distinctly stellar, but has a hazy appearance.

Through the 12.5 and the 2x barlow, the comet fills at least half of the field of view. The comet is still very evenly distributed - no gaps, no streaks, no mottling. The one star within the edge of the central coma still looks fuzzy.

Through the 3.5 Quester, the most prominent stars are still clear. At high power, the comet fills up almost half of the FOV. If anything, the outer area does appear a little larger on the NE.

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