[meteorite-list] How to Watch July 4 Comet Impact

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

Ron Baalke kindly forwards:

>Although it is now moving away from the Earth, the comet 
>is still approaching the Sun, so its overall brightness in the 
>coming days and weeks will appear to change very little, if at  all.
>The comet is expected to hover at around tenth-magnitude, 
>meaning that it will glow about 40 times dimmer than a 
>star that is at the threshold of visibility
>with the unaided  eye.

10th magnitude and a comet to boot is normally a difficult casual  object 
where you get a stiff neck and crossed eyes without a decent amateur  scope, 
should you not be luck to have one in your possession.  So, if  NASA's fireworks 
prove not to be the mesmerizing conflagration we all hope  (except that 
astrologer who is suing to save the comet), for casual earth  watchers, there is 
still a heavenly party week for most on the list not to  miss!  Brilliant and 
infrequently seen Mercury and vividly resplendent  Venus will get so intimate they 
will practically become one (and no Star charts  needs No not even binoculars 
needed - but they would be fun... if you know  where the Sun sets...that's 
where the action picks up right at dark - and don't  dawdle too much):

The other memorialized configuration will occur  simultaneousy with a chance 
to see Mercury in the skirt-tails of Venus -  incredibly close as Saturn peeps 
away for the season.  Mercury and Venus  will be sooooooo close (how close??? 
 a third of a full Moon length away,  and even less in Europe), and will be 
quite bright (Mercury 0th magnitude - same  as a bright Mars and 2.5X more than 
Saturn).  Not to mention Venus near her  brightest ever at -4th magnitude.  
That will happen on June 27 in the  little constellation of the birthday folks, 
Cancer.  I wonder what is in  store for the Cancer horoscope this time 
around.  By the 3rd/4th of July  Venus and Mercury will still be very close and a 
sight to see following the Sun,  since Mercury is basically coming into view 
from the Sun's brilliance on one of  these rare ocassions with sufficient viewing 
angle from earth.  And 4 fists  (40 degrees) away along the ecliptic (only 2 
constellations away) NASA will of  course be brazenly auditioning live on 
stage with these ancient Planetary Gods  of the celestial entertainment network.  
Saturn (a slim 2 or 3 degrees  away) will make a great but weak addition to 
them for a ménage à trois, at the  first magnitude throught the Venus-Mercury 
encounter.  And from July 5-7,  when you come back for another view, a nascent 
crescent Moon will appear smack  dab in the center of Cancer.  You know- one of 
those beautiful Ramadan  desert type Moons...July 5-6 will be a day woth 
finding some clear, dark  skies!!  And it won't be anyones funeral.  Happy 
Birthday Johnstown  (Jul 6) and NASA, in the immortal words of General Prescott, from 
the  British-American War of Independence, "Don't fire until you see the 
whites of  her eyes!"  What a line-up!
Saludos, Doug
PS Jupiter will still be hanging in Virgo and you can use him to trace the  
Solar planetary ecliptic.  After you see Venus, Mercury and Saturn and  maybe 
the Moon, just paint an imaginary line from them until you reach  Jupiter three 
fists away.  The next bright star if you extend the line  after Jupiter is 
Spica, a pretty hue of white-blue, practically along  the ecliptic, too (Don't 
confuse with the red brighter star Arcturus way off  ecliptic).  Half a fist 
more is NASA territory  The comet will cross  the ecliptic on July 5-6, about 4 
degrees from Spica (inside most  binoculars field of view).  In other words, 
as long as you don't stand  upside down in New Zealand or something like that, 
in the early evening  until about 2:00 AM, if you put Spica in your binoculars 
at the lower right  (4:30 position), wide field binoculars will place the 
comet in the middle, and  narrow field binoculars will place it diagonally at the 
upper left (10:30  position).  In New Zealand, just put it at the lower left 
and look for the  comet diagonally at the upper right).  And for the trivia, 
Spica Virginis  translates to the Virgin's Ear of Corn...or maybe sheaf of 
wheat...or spike (of  grain)...