Post
It's finally not 100% cloudy and I found the comet! I got it with binoculars really easily, then spent like 20 minutes trying to get it with my telescope (because I'm really bad at that!)
But I got it! It's really neat looking! And I actually thought it looked more interesting through binoculars than the big scope... so, get your binoculars and take a look at Comet Lemmon: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-lemmon-best-comet-of-2025-finder-maps/
Large low magnification binoculars are VERY reasonably priced, and VERY portable! Easy to aim as well, as you say...
Win win win as far as I'm concerned.
@IAAA I always recommend people start with binoculars for astronomy, they are way easier than getting out a telescope and a lot more satisfying in many ways
@sundogplanets I think one of the biggest misconceptions about astronomers is that very few of us are actually wizzes with a telescope. Especially one you can’t just type in coordinates to and wait while it does all the work.
@c_dan4th Yeah, I mean, all my research observing now is queue-based, so I don't even go to the telescope. I put some coordinates and constraints into a (complicated) form and then operators at the telescope send me back the data in the morning!
@sundogplanets I’m one of the (now ex) professional astros who was an amateur first and used to be really good with your average backyard scope from the 1980s. But the bigger and more modern and later in my career I got, the less of a dab hand I was at the eyepiece. Plus most of my real work was with HST and they wouldn’t let me actually drive it. 😥
I live in a place with dark, dark skies – where the weather exists only to frustrate you.
Last week, when the moon was full and near full and so bright you could nearly read by it? Yeah – perfect clear skies with mild temperatures.
This week? If you guessed, "Cloudy as hell," you still don't get a cookie unless you add, "… plus rainy and cold."
And it does this all the damn time. (Pacific Northwest.) Also, in a deep mountain valley, so horizons are close and high.
Wow… thanks for the tip!
@sundogplanets We're eagerly anticipating getting it with PUNCH. SWAN is already gorgeous in the PUNCH wide field.
This is a bonfire demo instance for testing purposes. This is not a production site. There are no backups for now. Data, including profiles may be wiped without notice. No service or other guarantees expressed or implied.
