| Comment | I made another drive this morning out to the site with the flat northeast horizon, and once again managed to pick up this comet, low in the dawn sky. I was really helped by the fact that the 3rd-magnitude star Iota Aurigae was in the same telescopic field. The comet was just fainter than the 7.3-magnitude star HD 31233, which was also in the same field, so I would put m1 = 7.4 (June 22.44 UT, 20 cm reflector, 47x). I was probably only seeing the central inner coma. I was able to follow the comet until 10:45 UT, at which time its altitude was 4 degrees, and the sun's was –13 degrees. For a while, despite the advancing twilight the comet became easier to see as its altitude above the horizon increased. This will probably be my last attempt before perihelion. We'll just have to see what the comet does from here on out. |
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