[ATMoB-discuss] one last view of Comet McNaught

[Bert Halstead]

 From the 10th floor office suite in Cambridge where I work, I have been 
lucky enough to see the comet on each of the past three nights, despite 
banks of clouds low near the western horizon each night.  During the 
previous two nights I caught the comet through holes in the clouds with 
my 10x50 binoculars, and enjoyed the same fine view of the coma and tail 
that many others have already reported (though I wonder how much finer 
it would have been with no clouds).  Yesterday, many co-workers joined 
me in enjoying the spectacle.

To my considerable regret, I didn't even bother to bring my binoculars 
to work today because the weather forecast was so unfavorable.  So of 
course the clouds cleared and it turned out to be the most beautiful 
evening of the last three!  Anyhow, the comet was an easy naked-eye 
object from here between about 4:53 and 5:03 pm EST, after which it 
disappeared behind a bank of clouds near the horizon (but a much lower 
cloud bank than on the previous days).  The tail was clearly discernible 
extending upward in a 1 o'clock direction.  I can honestly say I could 
see it a degree long against the bright orange twilight, and it wasn't 
hard to imagine another degree's worth of tail being discernible.  The 
coma itself was bright.  It wasn't as easy to see as Venus, but 
considering how prominent it was against the orange twilight skyglow, I 
would estimate that it was at least as bright as Venus.

A great show!

-Bert