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Comet NEOWISE


BrickHorn

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SIAP.

Comet NEOWISE is visible to the naked eye this week, and allegedly best viewed 80 minutes after sunset. We tried to spot it in Austin last night but the city lights washed it out. 

Any suggestions for a good spot in the surrounding area to stargaze? The comet is in the NW sky, so I figure it’s best to get NW of Austin so that you’re looking away from the city lights when viewing.

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I tried to catch this Saturday and Sunday morning, but it was too hazy, then I tried last night and I could not pick it up out of the skyglow just above the horizon. A guy with us had a camera that was sensitive enough to get a faint image, but to the naked eye and binocs it was just too faint.

If it was up to me, we'd have draconian laws and punishments to control light pollution.

 

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43 minutes ago, Paper_jam said:

I tried to catch this Saturday and Sunday morning, but it was too hazy, then I tried last night and I could not pick it up out of the skyglow just above the horizon. A guy with us had a camera that was sensitive enough to get a faint image, but to the naked eye and binocs it was just too faint.

If it was up to me, we'd have draconian laws and punishments to control light pollution.

 

You sound like you go larping.

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I went out about 9:40.  Based on the charts in some of those articles, I ID'd the general area (relative to the Big Dipper), then used binocs to find the comet.  It was pretty obvious when I found it.  I was trying to spot it without binocs, but that's when the clouds drifted in. 

Those pictures make it look brighter than it is.  Those are long exposure pictures, obviously.

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16 hours ago, DaggerHorns said:

From Texas Hill Country. Not mine, it’s from Reddit.

E8361EE3-16A5-4645-A8A9-37215808C789.jpeg

Any idea how far out of Austin one would need to get to have a shot at seeing this? Leander? Burnet? Llano?

We tried from Austin, but there’s too much light pollution.

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23 hours ago, HOOKEM4 said:

I had planned on relaxing this weekend then I saw this shit and now I am heading out to the ranch. Zero light pollution and a huge hill to watch from. Hopefully i can get a good view. I love the cosmos.

Well done man, well done.

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7 hours ago, HackerHorn said:

Here is a Pic from a Friend 

Image may contain: night and sky

Jesus, is your friend the Hubble Space Telescope?

 

Even looking back towards the Austin lights, I managed to see it for about 30 seconds last night (with binocs) before a thin cloud wiped it out. Was about 9:28 pm. Timing is somewhat important because you need to catch it when the light from sunset is mostly gone, but before the comet gets too low in the sky.

Edited by Paper_jam
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59 minutes ago, Paper_jam said:

 

Jesus, is your friend the Hubble Space Telescope?

 

Even looking back towards the Austin lights, I managed to see it for about 30 seconds last night (with binocs) before a thin cloud wiped it out. Was about 9:28 pm. Timing is somewhat important because you need to catch it when the light from sunset is mostly gone, but before the comet gets too low in the sky.

It's just an amazing shot. Check out that white horizontal line in the upper section of the photo to the right. Is that a satellite or the space station also crossing the sky?

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13 hours ago, ztejas said:

I need to know what gender the comet identifies as so I know whether to get my sandwich board and bell or not.

Science has been declared a symbol of white supremacy, so we're all fucked anyway.

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With 7x binocs I just saw a barely perceptible light smudge that maybe could be it, but there's probably too much light pollution to really make it out, if that's even it. With 10x binocs I couldn't see shit because everything was squiggly.

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We got about an hour outside of the city and were able to see it.  It was a barely visible smudge with the naked eye, but clear with cheap binoculars. Well worth the trip. I mean, what else are you gonna do on a Friday night during the plague? Might as well stare at an orbiting ice cube.

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2 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

We got about an hour outside of the city and were able to see it.  It was a barely visible smudge with the naked eye, but clear with cheap binoculars. Well worth the trip. I mean, what else are you gonna do on a Friday night during the plague? Might as well stare at an orbiting ice cube.

 

what time?

 

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I caught it tonight about 70 miles outside Houston in the middle of nowhere. It was extremely dark before it came into view and then you still needed binoculars to really see it.

find the Big Dipper and look down, and if city lights don’t let you see the Big Dipper, then you won’t see the comet. It’s faint.

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Took a road trip tonight with the family to see it (WTF else are we gonna do with our time?)
Stopped at Storm’s in Burnet for a burger and some tots. Then headed a few miles up 281 towards Lampasas. Turned west on CR 103, drove several miles more into the darkness, found a good spot to pull over, and waited.
It wasn’t really visible till around 9:20. Then from around 9:30-9:45, it peaked, and it was really fucking cool. You could see it with eve naked eye, but binoculars made it significantly better. No good camera, so we just grabbed memories. But it was pretty damned awesome. Out there in the dark and quiet, looking at something we won’t see again for close to 7,000 years...that’s just cool.
Seriously, if you’re in Austin, I recommend the spot. We looked at a dark skies map, and it’s about the closest spot with really dark sky, just over an hour away.

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