Events - Event View

A new comet (discovered March 27, 2020) is exciting the astronomy world.   Beginning July 14th it will be visible just after sunset.  To locate it, find a spot with a low northwest horizon, and begin observing about one hour after sunset.   Bring binoculars, and do a slow sweep using your binoculars along the feet of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), referring to the finder chart from Sky and Telescope Magazine (below).   Once you have located the comet, see whether you can also spot it "naked eye".   A DSLR camera on a tripod, with an exposure time of 3-5 seconds, will give you a photo to remember.  On July 14th, the brightness of the comet was magnitude 2.4, similar in brightness to the stars Merak and Phecda which form the bottom of the cup of the Big Dipper.   The comet will probably become dimmer as the days go by, so observe it as soon as the clouds allow!