On the left is a Hubble photo of Comet 73 P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 disintegrating. I tried to see it through binoculars on Saturday night, and although I got a view of M-13, aka the great globular cluster in Hercules (and briefly mistook it for the comet -- my astronomy is a bit rusty these days), I wasn't able to get a look at any fragments of the Comet 73 P.I was still unable last night to locate the larger fragment through binoculars, even though everything I've read said that it should be right next to Zeta Herculis, one of the stars that form Hercules' square. The light pollution from Bend is undoubtedly screwing up my view.
Hopefully things will improve in the next week or two. What's left of the comet will be making its closest approach to Earth on May 14. The moon, however, might interfere with viewing opportunities a bit. This month's full moon will be on May 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment