COMET C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
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OMG! -8 degrees is pretty cold, and by using my Grandma Helen’s rule “it’s cold when the stuff in your nose freezes” who moved to the valley in 1910 from Cripple Creek/Victor when she was about 6, I confirmed it was cold out.
I awoke at 0300 and contemplated going back to bed when I looked at my weather station thermometer which was about -8. I went ahead and dressed out in thermals and wool pajama pants, jeans, two layers of wool socks and two long sleeve T-shirts. Went downstairs and slipped my feet into a pair of muck boots, donned a sweatshirt (Dutton Ranch) and my trusty red BBAA jacket, stocking hat and gloves and then went outside with my binoculars. Me and binoculars just don’t get along stargazing, I can’t hold them steady enough and due to my hosed up right eye I can’t bring both eyes to focus on an object, so I just close my right eye. After leaning across Karen’s car, I found Kochab and then Pherkad and then scanned about 8 or nine degrees to the East and up about the same amount and WHOA! There it is!. OK enough with the binoculars.
Outfitted the 10” dob with a 14 mm Pentax XW eyepiece (about 86x) and dragged the telescope on its wheeled cart through the 3 inches of powder snow on the driveway and started searching again. Found it in a couple minutes. It is nice and bright and at that magnification I could not see much of the tail. I contemplated bringing the 18” out, but I would have to move a bunch of stuff out of the way to wheel it out. I returned the 10” to the garage and wheeled out my trusty 12” Orion truss tube out (the one with the really great mirror) with a 17mm Nagler (88x) found the comet again and varied my eyepieces from 50x to 125x and settled on the 50x view. Now I could start to see some tail. All in all, I spent about 45 minutes on the comet. While I am not setup with a rig to image with at this time, I would say that comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) closely resembles comet 17P/Holmes which came by us in the fall of 2007. I do have a picture of Holmes.
COMET 17P/HOLMES November 2007
By the time I rolled the scope back into the garage through the snow, my weather station was reporting -10 degrees. Time to get out of all that clothing and crawl back into bed with two dogs, one cat and of course What’s Her Name.
v/r President – Dark Skies of The Wet Mountain Valley Member - Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Member – Colorado Springs Astronomy Association Member – San Diego Astronomy Association Member – Wet Mountain Valley Rotary Club Future Verde Mont Observatory Gone... Rott'n Paws Observatory
-- v/r v/r Chuck Jagow Member – Dark Skies of The Wet Mountain Valley Member - Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Member – San Diego Astronomy Association Member – Colorado Springs Astronomy Association Future Verde Mont Observatory Gone... Rott'n Paws Observatory
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Yup. That’s cold Chuck!
A whopping 19 degrees here in BBAA southwest. I can’t set up a telescope (recovering from hernia surgery) but the comet is easy with binoculars and just barely detectable to the naked eye (90% certainty).
Ted
From: BackBayAstro@groups.io <BackBayAstro@groups.io> On Behalf Of charles jagow
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2023 4:52 AM To: BackBayAstro@groups.io; Bill Oliver <goodwillwrites@...>; Charley Ellison <charleyellison@...>; Clint Smith <clintsmith5555@...>; Courtney Miller <courtneymillerauthor@...>; Deanne Montgomery <deannefm@...>; Don Vawter <donvawter@...>; Ed Stewart <stargazer@...>; Ellen Glover <gloverellen@...>; Jill Kamienski <jillkamienski@...>; Kris McAllister <ksmcalli@...>; Lennie Anderson <lennieanderson@...>; Lin Miller <linmiller711@...>; Lori Flint <flintravels@...>; Martin Newcomb <newcombmartin@...>; Martin Newcomb <newcombmartin@...>; Mike Pach <mike@...>; SHELLEY MEANEY <catsmeaney@...>; Steve Linderer <slinderer@...>; Sam Frostman <sfrostman@...>; Charles Jagow <chuck@...>; jim Bradburn <jim@...>; stevemcalli@...; Laurie Nemeth <nemethlaurie@...>; Jack Naff <wmv81252@...>; Ken Moore <40tontrucking@...>; Robert Wolf <robertwolf@...>; Steve and Kris McAllister <ksmcalli@...> Subject: [BackBayAstro] COMET C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
OMG! -8 degrees is pretty cold, and by using my Grandma Helen’s rule “it’s cold when the stuff in your nose freezes” who moved to the valley in 1910 from Cripple Creek/Victor when she was about 6, I confirmed it was cold out.
I awoke at 0300 and contemplated going back to bed when I looked at my weather station thermometer which was about -8. I went ahead and dressed out in thermals and wool pajama pants, jeans, two layers of wool socks and two long sleeve T-shirts. Went downstairs and slipped my feet into a pair of muck boots, donned a sweatshirt (Dutton Ranch) and my trusty red BBAA jacket, stocking hat and gloves and then went outside with my binoculars. Me and binoculars just don’t get along stargazing, I can’t hold them steady enough and due to my hosed up right eye I can’t bring both eyes to focus on an object, so I just close my right eye. After leaning across Karen’s car, I found Kochab and then Pherkad and then scanned about 8 or nine degrees to the East and up about the same amount and WHOA! There it is!. OK enough with the binoculars.
Outfitted the 10” dob with a 14 mm Pentax XW eyepiece (about 86x) and dragged the telescope on its wheeled cart through the 3 inches of powder snow on the driveway and started searching again. Found it in a couple minutes. It is nice and bright and at that magnification I could not see much of the tail. I contemplated bringing the 18” out, but I would have to move a bunch of stuff out of the way to wheel it out. I returned the 10” to the garage and wheeled out my trusty 12” Orion truss tube out (the one with the really great mirror) with a 17mm Nagler (88x) found the comet again and varied my eyepieces from 50x to 125x and settled on the 50x view. Now I could start to see some tail. All in all, I spent about 45 minutes on the comet. While I am not setup with a rig to image with at this time, I would say that comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) closely resembles comet 17P/Holmes which came by us in the fall of 2007. I do have a picture of Holmes.
COMET 17P/HOLMES November 2007
By the time I rolled the scope back into the garage through the snow, my weather station was reporting -10 degrees. Time to get out of all that clothing and crawl back into bed with two dogs, one cat and of course What’s Her Name.
v/r President – Dark Skies of The Wet Mountain Valley Member - Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Member – Colorado Springs Astronomy Association Member – San Diego Astronomy Association Member – Wet Mountain Valley Rotary Club Future Verde Mont Observatory Gone... Rott'n Paws Observatory
v/r v/r Chuck Jagow Member – Dark Skies of The Wet Mountain Valley Member - Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Member – San Diego Astronomy Association Member – Colorado Springs Astronomy Association Future Verde Mont Observatory Gone... Rott'n Paws Observatory
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Ughh! Reminds of my days in northern Canada.
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Roy Diffrient
Nice report Chuck, but sounds painful. At least the wind wasn’t bad. Makes my 32° look warm!
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On Jan 26, 2023, at 6:52 AM, charles jagow <chuck@...> wrote:
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jimcoble2000
This seems to be important to you this Canada.................want to talk about it?  
On Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 08:37:34 AM EST, Ian Stewart <swampcolliecoffee@...> wrote:
Ughh! Reminds of my days in northern Canada.
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jimcoble2000
Meanwhile back at Donner Pass................................
On Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 09:15:40 AM EST, Roy Diffrient <mail@...> wrote:
Nice report Chuck, but sounds painful. At least the wind wasn’t bad. Makes my 32° look warm! On Jan 26, 2023, at 6:52 AM, charles jagow <chuck@...> wrote:
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Roy Diffrient
At least you’re up and out, Ted. But I’m sure you’re wishing for at least the 10”.
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My next shot at it starts tonight at 2. Supposed to be clear but seeing is forecast to be iffy, so we’ll see…. On Jan 26, 2023, at 8:08 AM, Ted Forte <tedforte511@...> wrote:
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Build my first observatory there 45 years ago. Lived on 150 acres well outside of town. Beautiful skies. Started imaging with an 8 inch newt and manually guided. Winters were horrible - always afraid my eye would freeze to the eyepiece when tracking. Temps got to -40 C or F didn't matter. Don't miss the winters but I really miss the skies.
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jimcoble2000
ah grasshopper then global warming is your friend.
On Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 10:50:07 AM EST, Ian Stewart <swampcolliecoffee@...> wrote:
Build my first observatory there 45 years ago. Lived on 150 acres well outside of town. Beautiful skies. Started imaging with an 8 inch newt and manually guided. Winters were horrible - always afraid my eye would freeze to the eyepiece when tracking. Temps got to -40 C or F didn't matter. Don't miss the winters but I really miss the skies.
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No thanks Ellen, plate is a bit full at the moment..
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Sent from Chuck's iPhone On Jan 26, 2023, at 08:27, Ellen Glover <gloverellen@...> wrote:
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You don’t know how tempting it is to want to set up the 10-inch or roll out the 18. I FEEL like it would be fine, but I don’t want to push it and find it sends me back to the operating table.
Ted
From: BackBayAstro@groups.io <BackBayAstro@groups.io> On Behalf Of Roy Diffrient
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2023 8:15 AM To: BackBayAstro@groups.io Subject: Re: [BackBayAstro] COMET C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
At least you’re up and out, Ted. But I’m sure you’re wishing for at least the 10”.
My next shot at it starts tonight at 2. Supposed to be clear but seeing is forecast to be iffy, so we’ll see…. |
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How did Ted get that hernia? Lifting that 30”? In the best interest of Ted’s Health, I volunteer to come and remove that temptation from you. I’ll replace it with a 6” Intelliscope table top scope.
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Sent from Chuck's iPhone On Jan 26, 2023, at 09:36, Ted Forte <tedforte511@...> wrote:
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You’re such a pal, Chuck!
Write yourself a note to make that offer again in three or four years, and we’ll talk.
Ted
From: BackBayAstro@groups.io <BackBayAstro@groups.io> On Behalf Of charles jagow
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2023 10:13 AM To: BackBayAstro@groups.io Subject: Re: [BackBayAstro] COMET C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
How did Ted get that hernia? Lifting that 30”? In the best interest of Ted’s Health, I volunteer to come and remove that temptation from you. I’ll replace it with a 6” Intelliscope table top scope. Sent from Chuck's iPhone
v/r v/r Chuck Jagow Member – Dark Skies of The Wet Mountain Valley Member - Back Bay Amateur Astronomers Member – San Diego Astronomy Association Member – Colorado Springs Astronomy Association Future Verde Mont Observatory Gone... Rott'n Paws Observatory
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Sincerely, I hope you heal quickly and thoroughly. Tell your bride hi for Karen and I.
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Sent from Chuck's iPhone On Jan 26, 2023, at 11:46, Ted Forte <tedforte511@...> wrote:
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You all know how I like the cold, but that’s too damn cold. My best effort of seeing the comet was getting up two mornings at 4 AM and looking at it with first the 5 inch Takahashi and the second night with a 25 inch. Both views were mighty fine, even from light-polluted Virginia Beach
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jimcoble2000
and so lad...................whats yer point? 
On Friday, January 27, 2023 at 08:25:29 AM EST, Kent Blackwell <kent@...> wrote:
You all know how I like the cold, but that’s too damn cold. My best effort of seeing the comet was getting up two mornings at 4 AM and looking at it with first the 5 inch Takahashi and the second night with a 25 inch. Both views were mighty fine, even from light-polluted Virginia Beach
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