Dark Sky Maine Newsletter #3
The Trials of Spring Comet Hunting
by John T. Meader, Dark Sky Maine Secretary
This spring was supposed to be the season of the comet. There were three reasonably bright comets in the sky, Comet Atlas, Comet PanSTARRS, and Comet Swan. However, comets are notorious for being elusive and not doing what’s expected. Having seen more than 30 comets over the years, I’ve learned to keep my expectations in check. Most comets never break the brightness level of entering naked-eye visibility, and most of those that do end up being little more than a faint fuzzy star.
The exceptions were Comet Hale-Bopp in 1996 and Comet Hyukatake in 1997, both of which were bright with obvious tails—if you looked, you couldn’t miss them. A different Comet PanSTARRS than the one currently visible, became visible with a distinct tail in 2013, though its brightness didn’t make it obvious unless you searched it out. Most comets never get bright enough to see, say nothing of sporting a visible tail, and neither did any of the comets visible this May.
I saw Comet Atlas with my 8” Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on March 27, at that time the predictions were for it to become a good naked-eye comet. People were excited by the prospects of a bright comet, it’s been a while. Then Comet Atlas began to break up, separating into 3 distinct parts, and fading as it dispersed into these smaller parts. Next came Comet PanSTARRS, named after Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System Haleakala Observatory at the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, which was used to discovery it. I first spotted this one on May 14 high in the northern sky, then again on May 22 when it passed near the two galaxies M 81 and M-82, making a nice trio of smudges forming a slight arch within the view of my 4” Astroscan reflecting telescope.
Sketch of Comet PanSTARRS near M-81 and M-82
Comet Swan was first seen in the southern hemisphere heading northward. At first becoming within sight in the predawn hours in Cetus and Pisces, I had to get up early and try to find it. Out of bed by 3:00 a.m., driving to my dark spot away from the worst of the local light pollution, I settled in with my binoculars and camera. I started scanning the region which was low in the northeast, yet by 3:30 the sky in the northeast was aglow with the twilight of the coming Sun. The sky was way to bright to ever spy a comet, even one that was proposed to be as bright as 3rd magnitude. The Sun creates the worst light pollution of all!
Never fear, soon it would be up in the evening sky in the northwest in Perseus. I had a friend who said, “you can’t miss it!” I was so excited to have a clearly visible comet, yet I went out for several nights in a row, star chart in hand, and I looked in exactly the spot where it was supposed to be. Nothing. If it was really there, it was way fainter than what could be seen with eyes alone, or even a small telescope. But, I had another trick up my sleeve-I’d photograph it. Take a wide-angle shot of the entire area, if it’s within the magnitude limit of what my camera can capture in a 30 second exposure, it’ll surely show itself. I compared the photos with the charts, the stars were all there, even more stars in the photos than in the charts, but no comet. Disappointing, but that’s part of comet chasing. What comet chasers all realize is that this is part of the game and it’s also what makes finally capturing a comet in the eyepiece or on a photo so very sweet. Comets Swan and PanSTARRS are still in the sky to be found by the intrepid observers. Download the comet charts from Sky and Telescope grab your binoculars or telescope, find a dark spot as free of light pollution as possible, and go comet hunting! When you find your first comet, you’ll be amazed how exciting it is to see a faint dim fuzzy star.
What’s Up in June?
Mercury will be visible for the first two weeks of June in the western evening sky. It will reach it's greatest distance from the Sun, or as astronomers would say, its greatest eastern elongation—24°, on June 4. Starting the month with a magnitude brightness of 0.1, it slowly fades and gets lower in the sky after the 4th, fading from view after mid-month.
Venus starts June lost in the Sun's glare, passing through inferior conjunction— meaning between Earth and Sun—on June 4. In late June it will reemerge in the east- northeastern pre-dawn sky.
Mars rises in the east around 2 a.m. in early June, around 1 a.m. at month's end. The red planet is moving quickly through Aquarius, crossing into Pisces on June 25.
Jupiter rises in the southeast around Midnight. in early June and by 10pm at month's end. Look for it in eastern Sagittarius. It lies just 4.8° west of Saturn and rises a mere 17 minutes after the ringed planet. Pluto will be less than 2° south of Jupiter this month, but at magnitude 14.7 it won't be visible even through backyard telescopes, the only way to "see" distant Pluto will be through photography.
Saturn is less than 5° east of Jupiter, rising around midnight in early June. Look for a prominent yellowish-tinged star that is fainter than Jupiter. Telescopic views of both Saturn and Jupiter will be improved the later you stay up to observe them. As they climb higher in the sky, the atmospheric disturbances lessen and the seeing improves.
Uranus reappears (telescopically) in the early morning, eastern sky about an hour before twilight. Its visibility is fleeting as twilight each morning quickly obscures the dim planet.
Neptune will be 1.8° north of Mars on June 12, making it an easy time to find this faint blue planet. It's 30 times farther away than Mars, and much fainter. It's baby blue color will contrast well with the reddish-orange of Mars.
Moon Phases
Full Moon June 5
Third Quarter June 13
New Moon June 21
First Quarter June 28
