A brave few FAS members went out early, 3 AM, Sunday, July 12, morning at our private viewing site near Pilot Mountain to try and catch comet Neowise in the predawn sky. An attempt was made the previous day but we were met with only clouds and a heavy dense fog. Sunday morning, though, did not disappoint. Clear skies were abound. Our only adversary was a heavy dew that would quickly settle on any unprotected optics. Below are some images taken from this observation as well as others individuals have taken on their own and submitted to be posted. Enjoy.
If you want to try and catch the comet yourself you will, minimally, want to be on the North or Westward side of any city/township. Looking from the South or East you will be looking back through the haze/light dome of the city and it will diminish the view drastically. Ideally, you’d have better view in a rural area or even better the parkway. IF you can find some higher elevation like in a multi-story building or a mountain/hill top it will help tremendously. The best way to find it is by using an astronomy app like Skysafari, a favorite of a lot of our members. It will show you an approximation of where the comet should be in relation to where the sun actually goes down. It is a naked eye object but just barely at first. Any sort of binoculars will help tremendously. A telescope is, in practicality, useless for viewing comets as comets tend to take up a large portion of the sky with their tail. Telescopes typically have a narrow field of view and binoculars have a wider field of view.
Do your research in the app prior to going out. The comet has transitioned to an evening object and will be in the northwestern sky. The app will have the comets azimuth and altitude listed. The azimuth is just like looking at a compass laying flat and referenced from pointing directly north and around the horizon. The altitude is referenced from the horizon. You can use your hand held at arms length to judge degrees of altitude. Your pinky is approximately one degree, your index, middle and ring finger together is approximately five degrees, your clinched fist is approximately ten degrees and your spread open hand, like showing a five count, is approximately twenty degrees from the tips of your thumb and pinky.
Be in your observation location with plenty of time to spare.
The comet will be visible from about 20-30 min after sunset until it goes below the horizon.
If you get to your site before sunset and have kids with you, make sure they understand the importance of NOT looking at the sun. Neither naked eye and NEVER EVER look at the sun through magnifying optics. It WILL INSTANTLY do irreparable damage to your eyes. Wait till the sun is completely below the horizon to even attempt to find the comet.
Using binoculars to scan back and forth slowly over the area where you think the comet should be with the binoculars it will be a distinct object. You’ll know when you’ve found it. It should get brighter as the background sky gets darker.
Here are some images from our observations thus far. You can easily find very informative guides on how to image the comet online, if you want to attempt it on your own. You might even be surprised by the results you can achieve with your cellphone camera. Especially if it is just a couple years old and has a low light imaging mode. Some newer phones camera apps even have a specific dedicated astrophotography mode.
Check back periodically as we will add more pictures as they are submitted.
A series of low res cellphone shots by Sean Wood made into an animation. Each shot is approximately 4 minuets apart.
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