[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Edgar is worth getting up for...

[Matt Schricker]

Edgar hahah I love it. I’m going to go after it for sure! Thanks for the
information.

On Sun, Jan 8, 2023 at 8:51 AM Mike McCabe <cartech2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> ...and soon enough you won't even have to!
>
> Greetings SSAStros Members and Friends,
>
> After five, yes, FIVE straight days of not being able to see the sky, the
> clouds finally parted overnight and the cosmic dome was blessedly clear
> this morning. Upon laying my head on the pillow last night I half-heartedly
> considered the possibility of getting out early this morning to see the new
> object du jour, Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3). That's the last time you'll hear me
> call it that. Back in December I gave it a more attractive moniker, so from
> here on it will be known as Comet Edgar.
>
> Notification of two new-to-us comets came late last year, and at our
> December 27th observing session at Centennial Field most of us got to see
> Comet Victoria (C/2022 V2 ZTF...aka 'Victoria' courtesy of yours truly) and
> even though it was just a tiny smudge in the eyepiece it was still a cool
> sight to see. Comets always are! Thanks again to Jim Rutledge for bringing
> the setup that made it possible to view it from the field, a location not
> especially renowned for its darkness.
>
> Edgar is a different animal altogether! Sliding out from underneath the
> covers just before 5:30am this morning, I piled on some clothes, fed the
> cat, and was out door with 10x50 binoculars in hand before 5:45am. Parking
> my warm butt down in the cold plastic chair sitting behind the camper, I
> first found Arcturus, then Alphecca, the alpha star in Corona Borealis.
> From there it was just a matter panning less than 10° towards the north to
> land on the area of the comet.
>
> What I saw there really kind of surprised me. Even with the 98% waning
> Moon blazing away 30° above the western horizon and spraying with celestial
> dome with a haze of white light, the comet was readily visible in the
> binoculars. After a couple of minutes I went into the garage and came back
> out with my trusty old 4.5" F/8 Newtonian reflector which showed the hazy
> Edgar splendidly, even hinting at a puffiness to one side, possibly signs
> the tail being visible even in small instruments.
>
> While Edgar isn't projected to become anything like the most recent
> popular comet, Neowise from 2020, this thing is looking like a pretty
> darned good way to start the year off! It's likely to only get brighter and
> better over the course of the next few weeks as it makes its closest
> approach to the Sun on January 12th, then Earth on February 1st.
>
> And if you're not an early morning person, you're in luck. Later on this
> month the comet will become circumpolar, and at the end of
> January/beginning of February will become and evening sky object as it
> travels straight through Draco and between the big and little dippers as it
> pulls away from the Sun.
>
> [image: Inline image]
> Use the chart above to follow Edgar from Corona Borealis into Bootes from
> now until mid-month.
>
> [image: Inline image]
> Then use this chart to track Edgar as he travels through Draco and into
> Ursa Minor during the latter part of the month.
>
> Now about my ALL CAPS emphasis on the recent five days straight of cloudy
> skies...for the past ten years I've kept at least rudimentary records of
> the observing opportunities presented to us in this region. The records
> show that on average we see some opportunity to observe the cosmos on about
> half the days of a year (my average from 2014 through 2022 is 188 days) and
> that a five day stretch of non-observable skies is really quite rare. I
> don't have an exact number of stretches like that immediately at hand, but
> when you jot this stuff down every day you tend to get a feel for things.
> It's out of the norm, for sure.
>
> Here's a link with more information about Edgar, who unfortunately still
> suffers from an identity crisis in the mainstream media:
>
> How to see Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF)
> <https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-to-see-comet-2022-e3-ztf>
>
> How to see Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF)
>
> Everything you need to know about a comet making its first approach to
> Earth in 50,000 years.
> <https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-to-see-comet-2022-e3-ztf>
>
> Keep Looking Up!
>
> Mike McCabe
>
>
>
>
>
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