C/2009 K2 (Catalina), C/2009 F4 (McNaught), and C/2009 F5 (McNaught)
The sky was clear on the morning of June 1st and I searched
the predawn skies, many days after my last search. The Milky Way in the
northern sky through my 15cm binoculars was superb. It was brilliant and
magnificent, but in a different way from that of the misty summer Milky
Way. Forgetting all about the passing of time, I was mesmerized by brightly-lit
starry fields projected by the eyepiece until the encroaching morning twilight.
The glows of M31 and M32 were awesome, but the bright and large glow of
the open cluster NGC 7789 in Cassiopeia surprised me, too. It was bright
enough to make you think it visible to the naked eye. However, the fact
that Messier did not record it may mean it is faint.
The following are the observations of rather faint comets.
Thanks to Mr. Katsuyoshi Yoshimi's help, I brought back hyper-sensitized
Technical Pan 2415 to my observing. When I was using the 60cm reflector,
I often used TP 6415.
I use a 70cm telescope now, but the exposure time is 20 minutes
to 30 minutes long
because of its f/7 slow optics. I capture comets close to the limit of the telescope by making 60-minute exposures. The comet will move during an exposure and the telescope automatically tracks it. It is the so-called Metcalf guiding.
The photograph shows Geisei's telescope, whose color is similar
to that of the Japanese toad. While observing, I hear a loud lively chorus
of numerous frogs from the surrounding agricultural fields.
CK09K020 2009 05 25.54514 16 32 49.90 +60 46 48.1 19.5 N 372
CK09K020 2009 05 31.73090 16 26 46.07 +60 25 13.1 19.5 N 372
CK09K020 2009 06 01.67743 16 25 50.87 +60 20 56.9 372
CK09K020 2009 06 01.69965 16 25 49.59 +60 20 50.4 19.3 N 372
CK09F040 2009 06 01.65521 15 12 51.39 -24 59 59.2 17.5 N 372
CK09F050 2009 05 25.52431 13 50 39.02 -07 33 40.7 17.5 N 372
