31 Oct
2007
31 Oct
'07
10:52 a.m.
This morning at 1:30am and again at 5:30am, I took a quick look at Comet 17P between cloud banks and high cirrus layer clouds. Between urban light pollution, cloud extinction and a third quarter moon, no detail could be seen. However, 17P's size and brillance were unmistakable under these poor observing conditions. The diffuse coma was slightly smaller than the radius of the Moon (15 arcmins) but larger than the Great Orion nebula (M42) as seen in light polluted skies (10'). My best guess is a dia. of 13 arcmins. This large diffuse coma was 1 to 2 magnitudes brighter than M42. - Kurt _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net