TheSkySearchers

7/15/2020
Location: Anza desert site, Bortle 4.
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD SCT and Stellarvue 102ED on SW SkyTee 2 manual AltAz mount.

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) comet
Was not sure about brightness and visibility window, so I started looking for it right after sunset with 15x70 binos. 45 minutes later I have finally spotted the comet against still bright sky. Awesome! Bright compact nucleus and long widening tail – my first “proper” comet. The views got better as sky darkened. At ~21:00 it was visible naked eye. I have managed a few phone pics.
Unfortunately, it was too low for the scopes, and a few minutes later the comet disappeared behind the skyline. Rest of the evening was devoted to galaxy hunting in Booties.

Booties galaxies (all with 9.25” Edge)

NGC 5239 – faint round disk with averted vision (AV). Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5249 – faint oval with AV. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5251 – very faint oval with AV, moving EP for detection. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5293 – faint wide oval with AV. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5416 – faint narrow oval with AV. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5417 – small elongated oval with round core. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5463 – round core is off center in the faint rod. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5482 – narrow oval. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5492 – small lens. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5500 – very faint oval. Pentax XW20 (118x).

NGC 5513 – small narrow lens. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5515 – faint oval with AV. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5522 – faint narrow lens with AV. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5532 – faint oval with brighter central area. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5992 and NGC 5993 – two faint ovals next to each other, NGC 5993 is a bit brighter. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5966 – small narrow oval with brighter central area. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5930 – lens with brighter central area. Pentax XW20 (118x).
NGC 5922 – not a galaxy but two very dim stars. Pentax XW10 (235x).

7/16/20
My family got excited seeing the comet pics and hearing the stories, so next evening we tried to find the comet from our light polluted home. It almost did not happen because of the patchy clouds. Luckily, they have parted away at the right time and spot to show the comet. Surprisingly, it was visible naked eye, but not as bright as from Anza. 8x40 and 10x50 binos have shown bright compact nucleus and tail. 10x50 has shown more of the tail. This was the only time we have managed to see it from home. Since then every evening was clouded here.

7/19/20
Upon arrival to Anza desert I found OCA site packed with people. Well, maybe not literally packed, about 30 or so, but it has been years since I saw that many folks there. Clearly, most of them came for the comet.

After setting up the scopes (at the spot better suited for the comet) I was sitting in the chair enjoying sunset when I spotted a tarantula leisurely walking towards me.
I picked a stick and drove him away. The guy was mellow but determined and it took me awhile to convince him to change direction. Once it disappeared in the bushes I went back to my peaceful contemplation. A few minutes later I spotted some movement, looked down and saw another one almost touching my leg. My body jumped away before I even realized what’s going on.
The second tarantula was also quite determined to follow me but did not show even a bit of aggression when I started gently pushing him away. Finally, he gave up and slowly walked away. What’s up with that?! Did they all come out to see the comet? Rest assured I kept scanning the surroundings with a red light for the rest of the night.

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
The comet was even more beautiful.
This time I have managed to take a good look with Stellarvue 102mm ED/TV Panoptic 27mm (26x) and even snapped some pics.
I still preferred the view with 15x70; they have shown more tail compared to the frac. There were a lot of comet related activity going at the site. I kept hearing wows and “where is it?” Green lasers were hitting comet location constantly, sometimes more than one at the time.

I left the comet for others to enjoy and looked around. Summer sky was magnificent. I did a bit of touring. 9.25” Edge delivered nice detailed views of M4, M3, M81/82, M57, M51/NGC5194. The Whirlpool was particularly impressive. Largest and brightest view I ever saw, with bridge and two arms resolved with averted vision. Satisfied I went back to Herschel 2,500.

Booties galaxies (all with 9.25” Edge)

NGC 5536 – faint oval. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5541 – brighter lens in the same FOV with NGC 5536. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5544 and NGC 5545 – two faint ovals side by side. Pentax XW10 (235x).

NGC 5545 was 2000th DSO I have observed.

NGC 5546 – wide oval with brighter central area. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5559 – faint narrow oval with AV, moving EP for detection. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5579 – extremely faint spot, shaking EP for detection. Pentax XW10 (235x).
NGC 5589 – faint wide oval. Pentax XW14 (168x).
NGC 5590 – round disk with brighter core, same FOV with NGC 5589. Pentax XW14 (168x).

Wow, Bigz! What a report!

Outstanding collection of good targets acquired along with the comet. of nights ago. Not naked eye though, and with a sky mostly cloudy. Binos worked well and the dslr gave me a better view, but not that good. But, good enough!

Really nice photos!

Man, do you sleep on the ground with the spiders running around? Or, on the car?

Thanks for the fine report!

Juno16 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:18 pm Wow, Bigz! What a report!

Outstanding collection of good targets acquired along with the comet. of nights ago. Not naked eye though, and with a sky mostly cloudy. Binos worked well and the dslr gave me a better view, but not that good. But, good enough!

Really nice photos!

Man, do you sleep on the ground with the spiders running around? Or, on the car?

Thanks for the fine report!

Thanks Jim! I sleep in the car and they still manage to crawl in on occasion. Not tarantulas, but black widows, which is worse.

Some great observations! We've had astrocats... maybe you are going to specialize in astro arachnids? (I hope not.)

notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:48 pm Some great observations! We've had astrocats... maybe you are going to specialize in astro arachnids? (I hope not.)

Thanks nFA! I still can't stand black widows but warming up to tarantulas. People do keep them as pets...

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:52 pm

notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:48 pm Some great observations! We've had astrocats... maybe you are going to specialize in astro arachnids? (I hope not.)

Thanks nFA! I still can't stand black widows but warming up to tarantulas. People do keep them as pets...

I'd start being suspicious if one asks for a look.... Our optics aren't designed for compound eyes and they are like to be disappointed.

Awesome shots and session report. Quite a few interesting sights, including the ones on the home planet! As interesting as they are, I’d be a bit distracted and spend more time scanning the ground than the skies...

rocdoc wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:05 pm Awesome shots and session report. Quite a few interesting sights, including the ones on the home planet! As interesting as they are, I’d be a bit distracted and spend more time scanning the ground than the skies...

Thanks Rocdoc! Yes, never hurts to look around.

Very nice report and pics of the comet, Andrey! Getting much fainter, but better positioned in the sky now for telescope observing. Lately I've been just looking at the nucleus using high magnifications.

And congrats for reaching 2000 DSOs! It was a major milestone for me. After that, I was no longer focused on bagging as many new DSOs as I could with scopes of 4.5" of aperture or less to reach numerical targets. A lot of the deep sky is well within the reach of small aperture telescopes, even in urban skies (asterisms and bright OCs), though not necessarily the "best" views.

Since then, I've enjoyed other areas of astronomy, as well as using scopes that I've accumulated over the years that got little or no use - either they were too small, or too big (> 4.5") in the quest for the big "2000".

terrynak wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:25 pm Very nice report and pics of the comet, Andrey! Getting much fainter, but better positioned in the sky now for telescope observing. Lately I've been just looking at the nucleus using high magnifications.

And congrats for reaching 2000 DSOs! It was a major milestone for me. After that, I was no longer focused on bagging as many new DSOs as I could with scopes of 4.5" of aperture or less to reach numerical targets. A lot of the deep sky is well within the reach of small aperture telescopes, even in urban skies (asterisms and bright OCs), though not necessarily the "best" views.

Since then, I've enjoyed other areas of astronomy, as well as using scopes that I've accumulated over the years that got little or no use - either they were too small, or too big (> 4.5") in the quest for the big "2000".

Thanks Terry! I like to keep tally for fun and (I have to admit) to impress my family, friends and co-workers. But I agree, the hobby is about enjoying the sky and equipment, not the numbers.

Hi Andrey. This is a great collection of the Comet Neowise, many observations of NGC objects, and the turantulas too from Anza. Thanks for the very interesting and fun read report Andrey, and keep up the brave work.

Makuser wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:58 pm Hi Andrey. This is a great collection of the Comet Neowise, many observations of NGC objects, and the turantulas too from Anza. Thanks for the very interesting and fun read report Andrey, and keep up the brave work.

Thanks Marshall! I feel even braver with your encouragement.

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:24 pm Not tarantulas, but black widows, which is worse

Oh hell no.

Other than that....and the tarantulas - great reports! Good, good nights.

Wonderful evening Andrey. Good catches all around and fun with the spiders!

they say that us aussies have the biggest spiders most critters that kill but dam ! that's nightmare fuel !!! ,war of the worlds tarantula ,i don't think even my mum could deal with that one, going to have to send the army out

KingNothing13 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:46 am

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:24 pm Not tarantulas, but black widows, which is worse

Oh hell no.

Other than that....and the tarantulas - great reports! Good, good nights.

helicon wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:18 am Wonderful evening Andrey. Good catches all around and fun with the spiders!

Thanks Brett and Michael!

rumours are said that the west side of australia can see the comment for a short while before it kicks off

yobbo89 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:50 am they say that us aussies have the biggest spiders most critters that kill but dam ! that's nightmare fuel !!! ,war of the worlds tarantula ,i don't think even my mum could deal with that one, going to have to send the army out

They are big and hairy but after a few encounters I discovered that they are pretty chill, just minding their own business.

yobbo89 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:53 am rumours are said that the west side of australia can see the comment for a short while before it kicks off

Are you in the west side?

A great session Andrey.
Thank you for sharing it with us.