The Swan and I

[WCGucfa]

Hey Guys,
I got another chance to view Comet Swan last night (Oct. 18). Being lazy from a day's work, I decided to use my 12X60 binoculars hand-held for the initial hunt. After making two finder charts with Skymap Pro, one with magnitudes and one without, I started scanning my light polluted west. The sky is more transparent tonight at 19:30 and I spot Swan within 5 minutes. It was time to break out the tripod mounted 25X100 binoculars. What a beautiful sight!! The program and map say it's 8.0 mag., but it looks brighter. The green color is somewhat subdued compared with my last observation and tonight a faint fan of gas is visible in the giant binocs. After checking FOV stars with Swan using the out-of-focus method, I estimated the comet's magnitude at 6.8 to 7.0. This isn't the best method for estimating comet magnitude, but it's the fastest when viewing a comet rapidly diving for the northwest horizon.
Final thoughts: This comet is easy to observe, check it out before it dims!
Here are some great photos and observing notes from one of the Skymap Pro forum observers. He can't be beat when it comes to this kind of sky shooting.

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

Keep looking up!

Bill

[Dan Chieppa]

Bill,
Your brightness estimate is probably close to the actual number. I read on Spaceweather.com the brightness is around 6th magnitude. Congrats on finding it again. I have not had a chance to look for it again but I plan to on the next clear night.
Clear skies,
Dan

[RobCos]

Bill,
Your brightness estimate is probably close to the actual number. I read on Spaceweather.com the brightness is around 6th magnitude. Congrats on finding it again. I have not had a chance to look for it again but I plan to on the next clear night.
Clear skies,
Dan

I'll be seeing it tonight if I get to a good spot Dan. I've not yet even tried to get a look at this puppy but tonight sure is looking good for observing. If i'm home-no dice(trees)...but if I head out somewhere-i'll surely be looking to nab this one.

[Dan Chieppa]

Rob,
I won't have a chance to view Comet Swan again until Sunday night, weather permitting. I also plan to look for it later next week when I return to Vermont for a 2-day observing session. The forecast looks good for Wednesday and Thursday, the two nights I plan to observe. I'm bringing the 5-inch Meade ED in the hopes the dark sky will finally allow a good test of the optics. My last Vermont trip was a bust for telescope use due to clouds and dew. I got in some great binocular time so I'm eager to use the 5-inch.
Clear skies,
Dan