July 18, 2012
I searched the predawn sky for the first time in many days.
At 3 am before the dawn, Taurus, embracing Jupiter in the middle, began
rising. I had not seen this constellation for some time. I remembered that
Comet Ikeya C/1964 N1 had been discovered in the Hyades in Taurus in early
July, 1964. It was at 7th magnitude trailing a short tail trailing.
In those days I was searching using a 9cm x17 comet seeker, though I am
using 15cm x 25 binoculars at present. I searched slewing the binoculars
horizontally and the stars were sharp and clear. @
The only chance left for comet hunters nowadays is spotting
a comet coming around the sun in a retrograde orbit and suddenly appearing
in the low predawn sky. Many of the discoveries made in the past by visual
observers have been of this kind of comets.
My first discovery (C/1961 T1 = 1962 f in October 1961) was a typical example
of capturing such a comet and at the time of discovery this comet was just
passing perihelion. It was only 15 degrees above the horizon in the morning
twilight.
It is particularly exhilarating to watch the progressing
twilight in the starry sky with your own eyes, content with completing
comet search without any problem. How many days and hours like this have
I spent on unproductive nights in the past? Taurus rising in the eastern
sky was already enveloped in the glow of the autumn zodiacal light.
The Pleiades (Subaru), Jupiter, and Hyades