[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Tomorrow is Tuesday...Comet time 4AM

[Michael Collver]

Okay Mike:

I accept the comet challenge.
My deck is shoveled.  
The scope is balanced…
and my kitty is programed to meow me awake at 4 AM.
However…. I’ll leave the camera imaging to our inspirational experts. 

Sinc. MC

> On Jan 23, 2023, at 11:14 AM, Mike McCabe <cartech2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> ...and it's supposed to be clear, so why not make it a Super Tuesday from an astronomy perspective? It might be easier than you think!
> 
> I'm not going to suggest that we try getting together or anything, what with the unreliability of the forecasts lately and all, but I would suggest the following to try and make the most of a rare clear day this month;
> 
> Start by getting up early (for most of us - Louis, you can ignore my use of the term 'early') and being outside by 5:30am. There you'll find, high in the northeast sky, comet Edgar glowing away right next to the star Edasich in the constellation Draco. It'll be about 70° above the horizon, and Edasich shines at magnitude 3.25 so should be visible to the naked eye. I'm not going to offer any tricks to finding it, other than it looks like if you cast a line from Polaris through Pherkad (the dimmer of the two stars at the end of the little dipper bowl) and keep going a bit you'll get there. Print the chart below and bring it with you.
> 
> <1674488697738blob.jpg>
> 
> Now whether you stay up or go back bed, that's up to you, but do try to observe the Sun during the day if you've got the means to do so, then plan to be at your low-western-horizon site around 5:30pm. If that site is remote to where you live and you have a grab-n-go telescope setup, bring it. From a naked eye perspective you'll find a long line of sights in the southwestern sky, including Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn, as seen below.
> 
> <1674488900531blob.jpg>
> 
> I know you'll be drawn like a magnet to put the telescope on Saturn, and absolutely do that, but the wonky seeing of the low atmosphere will probably fuzzy that view right up. After having your final dance with the King of the Rings, put that telescope on the Moon, where you'll find it in an excellent phase for investigating the spectacular craters Langrenus and Petavius. It's not often that these craters are highlighted particularly well, so be sure to take advantage of the circumstances.
> 
> <1674489151000blob.jpg>
> 
> Next, lift you optics up to Jupiter, where you'll find the four Galilean moons all in close proximity to the planet proper. Low power will do the trick in the usually unstable seeing of evening twilight.
> 
> <1674489218571blob.jpg>
> 
> Then at 7pm put your scope back on Jupiter and crank up the magnification some and see if you can make out the Great Red Spot. There are astronomy enthusiasts who have observed for a lifetime and can lay claim to never having seen it. I'm not one of them and will probably try myself tomorrow night to see it again. Why? The same reason many people cite when they're asked why they do things; because it's there.
> 
> <1674489471166blob.jpg>
> 
> Finally, the Moon will have sunk by the time you've viewed the GRS, so why not tour a few deep sky objects while the opportunity presents itself? The fantastic Great Nebula in Orion will be high and mighty, or maybe you've got some objectives of your own that you'd like to work on? Have you picked your Astronomical League observing program for the year yet? One of our goals as a club is to get more people taking advantage of League offerings and benefits. To see what they're all about, click the link;
> 
> The Astronomical League |
> 
> The Astronomical League |
> The Astronomical League is an umbrella organization of amateur astronomy clubs and societies. Currently their me...
> 
> Best of luck with your Super Tuesday!
> 
> Keep Looking Up,
> 
> Mike McCabe
> 
> <1674488697738blob.jpg><1674488900531blob.jpg><1674489151000blob.jpg><1674489218571blob.jpg><1674489471166blob.jpg>