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

[Gerald Flaherty]

Doug, YOU THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!jerry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MexicoDoug at aol.com>
To: <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 3:46 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] How to Watch July 4 Comet Impact


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)...

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