The comet is an elusive sight, but in my opinion one of the most rewarding things to view in the night sky. They dwarf a meteor in their majesty - as the swing across the sky over the weeks and months that the sun illuminates them - before they disappear into the cold of space
This comet will also be up at the same time as Comet LINEAR - which unfortunately will not be really visible from North America, except at dusk/dawn, and even then very low in the sky.
Comet NEAT though will climb past Sirius in Canis Major around May 3rd through 7th, move by Procyon in Canis Minor on May 9-11th, the constellation of Cancer from May 11th to 20th, and then slowly move in the direction of the Big Dipper for the rest of May and June. Peak brightness should be from around the 5th to 11th. Hopefully this time around I'll be able to get some photos or sketches of it and post it here!
If you are looking to see where it is in your area, and when it may be visible - check out the skychart at Sky and Telescope's web site.
results so far: have gotten some views of it through binoculars - fuzzy image - could spot the coma and a bit of tail. Got some photos of it also (15 second exposures):
- Comet NEAT and the Beehive (May 13th 2004)
sure to be the hit of Summer 2000 - with an expected peak magnitude of around 3! I'll update with more info as it swings closer.
results: Well...magnitude 3 was a little too optimistic. By about 4 magnitudes. Oh well. I can say proudly that I did observe it a few times despite almost continuous July cloud cover, and it was definitely a fuzzy little binocular object at mag 6.5 or so.
