Being by nature an abstemious person (!) I was able to crawl out of bed none the worse-for-wear at 5.00am in order to look for Comet Catalina. As seems to be the rule with recent comets, it was neither as bright as predicted, nor displayed an obvious tail. Nevertheless, being right next to the bright star Arcturus, it has the merit of being easy to locate. Possibly the presence of a bright Moon nearby detracted somewhat. If you want to see Catalina for yourself, just follow the 'tail' of the Great Bear (Ursa Major) downwards until you reach an obvious very bright star: that's Arcturus. Then look for a green, fuzzy ball!
While setting up the camera. I was amazed to discover that it was actually possible using just a ten-second exposure to photograph the famous nebula in Orion's sword!
Happy New Year! I'll be giving the Brecks a bashing later!
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| Ursa Major: follow the tail! |
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| Orion Nebula |
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