|
|
Name
Todd D. Vance
Bowie, MD |
Seeing (1-10)
3
|
Site
Bowie, MD: N38º54'51''
W76º44'5'' |
|
Date / Time
05/09/06
22:46—23:00EDT |
Transparency(1-5)
3
|
Object Name
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
comet 73P fragment B |
|
Instrument
9x63 5.8º FOV binoculars |
Power
9X |
Constellation
Lyra |
|
Location: __18h __46m __21s __40º __30' __58'' J2000 (Starry Night) |
About as bright as M13, nucleus seen as well as fanned tail. Only 3-4 stars of Corona Borealis visible with unaided eye,
and saw stars near Vega down to about magnitude 8 in binoculars. The comet was easily found in the same field of view as Vega
by looking for the prominent (in binoculars) triangle of stars, HIP92098 (mag. 6.03), HIP91674 (mag. 6.62) and the binocular
double Epsilon Lyrae (mag. 4.65 and 4.56). The comet was just outside the triangle, just below (ESE) the midpoint of the base
defined by HIP92098 and Epsilon Lyrae. At 22:53, a faint (mag. 7 or so) satellite crossed the field of view, entering at 1o'clock
and exiting at 8o'clock, passing just south of HIP91674. At 22:57 a brighter satellite (mag. 5 or so) crossed the field of
view, entering at 9o'clock and exiting at 4o'clock. (lines aren't drawn that accurately. I did not specifically witness it
passing through or close to any stars other than the one mentioned.) Neither was listed on www.heavens-above.com, but Starry Night's latest update listed the brighter as Cosmos 1833 rocket booster, mag. 2.16. Haze went in and out of the
field of view, making the comet seem to brighten and fade.
|
Name
Todd D. Vance
Bowie, MD |
Seeing (1-10)
4
|
Site
Bowie, MD: N38º54'51''
W76º44'5'' |
|
Date / Time
05/07/06
00:49—00:56 EDT |
Transparency(1-5)
4.5
|
Object Name
73P fragment B
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 |
|
Instrument
9x63 5.8º FOV binoculars |
Power
9X |
Constellation
Hercules |
|
Location: __17h __31m 31.7s __40º ___0' ___6'' J2000 (Starry Night) |
The comet was very faint, and is shown in the center of the field. Moon was waxing crescent roughly westward. Fainter
than main/C fragments. Roughly curved triangular nebulosity, fatter at the head and fanning out less—closer to teardrop
than main/C was. Found by pointing binoculars toward Pi, Rho, and 69 Herculis, then moving rightward a binocular field to
include the triangle of binocular-bright stars HIP84949 (mag. 5.53), HIP85888 (mag. 5.71), and HIP85688 (mag. 6.4). The comet
was just below the centroid of the triangle. There was haze in that part of the sky so it faded and came back a few times
while I was drawing it. I quit as field-of-view stars became harder to see.
I made another attempt at a later time, when the comet was brighter.
|
Name
Todd D. Vance
Bowie, MD |
Seeing (1-10)
3
|
Site
Bowie, MD: N38º54'51''
W76º44'5'' |
|
Date / Time
05/12/06
01:57—02:07EDT |
Transparency(1-5)
5
|
Object Name
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
comet 73P fragment B |
|
Instrument
9x63 5.8º FOV binoculars |
Power
9X |
Constellation
Cygnus |
|
Location: __4h __41m _5.9s __42º __16' __29'' J2000 (Starry
Night) |
Milky way, though not visible to unaided eye, was just visible in binoculars. In binoculars, stars visible to almost mag.
9. With unaided eye, stars visible to about 4.5 in area of Deneb and Vega (nearly-full moonglow washed out area of Albireo
at the other end of cygnus). Comet was brighter than before (mag. 6.3 according to Starry Night). It could be found by aiming
binoculars at the right (upper) end of the crossbar of Cygnus (Delta Cygni, mag. 2.84) and moving to the right one binocular
field and down a bit less than a binocular field. A chain of 5 bright stars (and one dim double, at center of image) made
the field easy to spot, as did the two bright stars to the left, the three bright stars in a triangular pattern down and right,
and the mini “cluster” of dimmer stars up and left. It was brightest at the nucleus, and faded as one went out
from the tail. Due to fatigue, I did not fill in the field with all the dimmer stars, but there were many.
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