Comet Neowise

[Pelado]

Anyone else see this yet? Apparently, it was closest to Earth on July 22. It is now getting further away. I ordered an inexpensive telescope and set of binoculars from Amazon that arrived yesterday. Last night had cloud cover and rain. I'm hoping to see it tonight with the family. I'd read that it's visible a little while after sunset, but another tool I saw said it won't be visible until nearly 11 pm here in the Boise area. Which is correct? I'd prefer not having to wait until 11 pm for my kids to see this - especially if I have to go very far out of town to see it.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Anyone else see this yet? Apparently, it was closest to Earth on July 22. It is now getting further away. I ordered an inexpensive telescope and set of binoculars from Amazon that arrived yesterday. Last night had cloud cover and rain. I'm hoping to see it tonight with the family. I'd read that it's visible a little while after sunset, but another tool I saw said it won't be visible until nearly 11 pm here in the Boise area. Which is correct? I'd prefer not having to wait until 11 pm for my kids to see this - especially if I have to go very far out of town to see it.

It's very hard to see until an hour or so after sunset. Even then, because of urban light pollution, I can't see it without binoculars. It's like a hazy white smudge, not a distinct white streak. But it's still cool to see, and not as big a disappointment as, say, Halley's or Kohoutek. But it's no Hale-Bopp either. That was the best of my lifetime. At least cults aren't killing themselves over this one.

[Pelado]

It's very hard to see until an hour or so after sunset. Even then, because of urban light pollution, I can't see it without binoculars. It's like a hazy white smudge, not a distinct white streak. But it's still cool to see, and not as big a disappointment as, say, Halley's or Kohoutek. But it's no Hale-Bopp either. That was the best of my lifetime. At least cults aren't killing themselves over this one.

Apparently, I was in Argentina for Hale-Bopp. Nobody told me about it, and I don't remember ever seeing it, if it was even visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

[Joe Public]

Anyone else see this yet? Apparently, it was closest to Earth on July 22. It is now getting further away. I ordered an inexpensive telescope and set of binoculars from Amazon that arrived yesterday. Last night had cloud cover and rain. I'm hoping to see it tonight with the family. I'd read that it's visible a little while after sunset, but another tool I saw said it won't be visible until nearly 11 pm here in the Boise area. Which is correct? I'd prefer not having to wait until 11 pm for my kids to see this - especially if I have to go very far out of town to see it.

We went out last weekend and saw it. We had a good view by about an hour past sunset. It’s cool to see if you enjoy that kind of thing.

[Pelado]

Anyone else see this yet? Apparently, it was closest to Earth on July 22. It is now getting further away. I ordered an inexpensive telescope and set of binoculars from Amazon that arrived yesterday. Last night had cloud cover and rain. I'm hoping to see it tonight with the family. I'd read that it's visible a little while after sunset, but another tool I saw said it won't be visible until nearly 11 pm here in the Boise area. Which is correct? I'd prefer not having to wait until 11 pm for my kids to see this - especially if I have to go very far out of town to see it.

We went to see it Friday night. We went a little outside of the valley, finding a dark area off of highway 16. The comet was visible by around 10:30 or so, even to the naked eye. I couldn't make out the tail without the binoculars or telescope, and even with the optical aids the tail was pretty faint. So faint, in fact, that at times I wondered if I was focused on the right object.

My wife and kids were not impressed. The middle child was much more interested in examining the moon than the comet.

I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get a better view. Maybe the comet had just moved too far away from Earth. Maybe its increased distance from the sun was resulting in less melted material and, thus, less tail. Maybe (most likely) the cheap optical magnification equipment wasn't good enough and/or we weren't using them properly. Or maybe the combination of these factors (and possibly others) conspired against us. Whatever the reason, the evening resulted in less awe and more late-night crabbiness.

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