This morning I shocked my system by getting up at the
ungodly hour of 4:00 to try and view Comet Bradfield.
I'd seen SOHO images of it last week as it circled
around the sun which were pretty fantastic - showing a
beautiful huge tail.
Now it's outward bound and a very early morning object
low in the Northeast just down from beta Andromeda.
I packed my 10 X 70mm Fujinon binoculars, binocular
mount, MegaStar chart, red light, handbearing compass,
and a big cup of coffee and started driving north on
I-680 away from Benica looking for a suitably dark
off-road site to set up where I wouldn't attract
unwanted attention.
About half way to Cordelia I found an old farm road
and set up a grassy knoll. I couldn't believe that I
could actually see the summer Milky Way with all the
light pollution from the various surrounding cities.
Not bad!
I set my fuji's on Beta Andromeda and started moving
down towards the horizon and all of a sudden it hit
me!
What a gorgeous sight! Fantastic 4-5 degree tail
heading up from the horizon attached to this bright
bluish-white condensed nucleous! I could just see the
nucleous naked-eye.
It was surreal - just me on the grassy knoll with the
wind blowing looking for several minutes at this
beautiful comet!
As twilight rapidly brightened, I packed up and headed
back home and to bed around 5:30. I just wish someone
else could have been there to share in this memorable
experience.
Dennis Beckley
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Received on Wed Apr 28 12:23:23 2004