2003/1/12 After almost a month of bad weather and 5 failed attempts, I finally saw it tonight with 8" Dob. First sighted using star hopping at 18:10pm EST when twilight was still strong. It was extremely low in the west sky (Alt only 7 degrees!) as a small patch of haze against a blue sky. As the sky darkened, the comet also dropped altitude so seeing didn't improve much. The comet was gray with a hint of blue. Coma 4' , DC=6 (a nucleus was just visible), no tail. The sketch was made around 18:30 EST, with 8" Dob + 25mm eyepiece, 1 degree FOV. The comet was at RA 19h 21m 51s, Dec 11d 2' 42" N. The bright star below the comet is mag 7.4.
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All images by Jerry Xiaojin Zhu unless noted otherwise. Feel free to use them for your personal enjoyment. For other usage please contact the author at jerryzhu@gmail.com
