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Subject: OBS: Hyakutake
From: Bill Arnett
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Mon Mar 25 02:43:26 1996

Yesterday I drove all the way from San Jose to Donner Pass (almost to Lake
Tahoe, 250 miles) to see Hyakutake in good dark skies. It was extremely
cold and windy (from the perspective of one raised in San Diego) but I did
get a good view and got to play the expert to all the other folks who
picked the same highway turnoff to view from. Tonight (March 25 0900 UT)
my wife and I just drove up to Henry Coe State Park about 30 miles away and
it was even better! Limiting magnitude was about 6 near the zenith. Using
8x56 binoculars, the coma appeared to me to be about 1.5 degrees in
diameter. With no optics at all the tail clearly extended all the way to
beta com (35 degrees away); I think I could detect it as far as alpha com
(45 degrees) and my wife thought she could see it with averted vision as
far as epsilon vir (52 degrees)!!! Amazing. Beautiful. I'll remember it
for the rest of my life.

---
Bill Arnett                 "Science is a way of trying
San Jose, CA  USA            not to fool yourself."      -- Feynman
billa@zNet.com              <URL:http://www.seds.org/billa/>