Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 13:28:04 -0500
From: Peter Nicholl
Subject: Hale-Bopp/Messier Evening
Sender: astro

        Yesterday evening, Saturday was not supposed to be clear according
to the weather forecast - so what's new - but turned out to be a beautifully
clear but cold night.  I was surprised to see the comet that high in the NW.
It seems to have brightened considerably since I last saw it in the morning
of Feb. 18. The tail is obvious to the naked eye and is a great sight in
binoculars, at least 3 deg long.  I headed out to the observatory for a better
look through the 6" refractor - wow!  The bright jet to the SW is still just
as prominent but I noticed a new feature, a detached bright arc separated
from the jet - looks like a bow wave.  The tail still looks about 3 deg in the
telescope, same as binoculars.

        After gawking at HB for half an hour or so, I reflected that Messier
marathon season is here although a little early.  My first effort, 2 years
ago, ended at 2am. too tired and hungry to continue but I did track down
about 60 of them.  Last year, I planned a little better but the night (thin
crescent moon) and the weather (a few clouds in the wrong places) were not
ideal.  It was March 23/24.  My log showed 93 Ms.  Most of the ones missed
were morning objects but the moon denied me M110 and M33.  I have given up
on M74.  Last night, conditions should have been ideal - new moon, early in
the season and nice clear night but even though I know exactly where to
look, I still can't see it that low in the sky.  Anyway with the temperature
at -14 C and the predawn forecast not looking good, I decided to delay my
next attempt till April, a bit late but should be warmer and a little better
for the pre-dawn objects.  However, I couldn't resist chasing a few from
memory:
M1,45,44,77,37,36,38,46,47,50,35,41,31,32,110,78,42,43,103,79,34,76,93,48

        I forgot all about M33, which should have been easy and decided I
needed the atlas for M52. My fingers were feeling numb by this stage so I
retreated to the house for hot chocolate, toast and marmite - yummy.

Good hunting,

Peter
  44N 80:35W