Good to hear from you again, Brent. Let's hope we can one day see one that blows them all away...I didn't see Bennet, darnit. From my sampling (smaller than yours), comet West would be hard to beat. Bennet must have been spectacular. Did you take any photos? It occured to me that Ikeya-Zhang is the first one (for me) that was bright enough to be well-seen from the city during mild weather! I've been using 15x70 & 8x40WA binos, also my 4.25", f/5 Newtonian on I-Z; so far I think the 15x70's have given the best overall view. The comet has been so poorly placed that high-powered views haven't revealed much, if any detail on or around the nucleus. Maybe a view from a higher elevation, or a more stable morning sky next week would pay high-powered dividends. Tonight I could JUST glimpse the nucleus naked-eye, though the glare of the bright orange star next to it made it an intermittant sighting. Chuck --- Brent Watson <brentjwatson@yahoo.com> wrote:
Chuck,
I would rate Comet West as second to Comet Bennet. Ikeya Seki in my recollection was not as good as either, probably equivalent to Hyakutake. It was better than Ikeya Zhang, though, and the anti tail was pretty neat too.
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