Space Forum / Amateur Astronomy / February 2006

I think of comets like I think of deep sky objects.  For starters, the magnitude
estimates are fraught with uncertainties.  Is the 6.53 an estimate of the
brightness of the nucleus alone?  Is it an estimate of the total brightness of
the object?  If the latter, then what is the brightness per unit are outside the
nucleus?  What is the brightness of the nucleus?  The coma?   The tail?  What
kind of tail is it (gas or dust)?  How long?  How much does its brightness taper
off the farther it gets from the nucleus/coma?  And so on.

So teat it like M101 or any other object with a high magnitude estimate but
probably a lot fainter than that.  And don't expect to see much beyond the
nucleus and perhaps the coma.  And increase your chances by going to a dark
site, or at least take the usual precautions from suburbia; avoid light shining
directly on you and your equipment like the Bird Flu, and position yourself and
your equipment so you're not looking at the object through the glow of a light
that itself is shielded from your direct sight (the usual precautions).

Since this comet is newly discovered, access recent ephemeredes from The Usual
Suspects (I like to link to the ephemeredes list from the comet observer's
website at http://www.cometobservation.com/).  I also use Starry Night Pro, but
while I would not rely too much on the accuracy of the ephemeredes it uses until
more observations are in, they're usually good enough to get you in the vicinity
with a low power eyepiece.  Also remember this comet is now close by, relatively
speaking, so its position is shifting , perhaps not as fast as the moon, but if
you're not interpolating the coordinates correctly, you might be looking in the
wrong space.

Good Luck !

  Clear and Steady Nights,
  --- Dave Nakamoto

Your ETX 125 can show this comet, but comets may be quite difficult to
see in a telescope eyepiece, especially if one is not an experienced
comet observer. Your sky won't be perfectly black -- it'll be some
shade of gray. Unfortunately, the comet will also be a shade of gray;
it won't stand out from the background the way a bright nebula will,
and you will be looking for a fuzzy gray blob against a gray
background.

I haven't seen Pojmanski myself yet, so I don't have a feel for how
difficult a target it is. Mag 6.5 should not be particularly difficult
if your skies are reasonably dark. These general recommendations should
help in any case: Ensure that your eyes are dark-adapted. Be sure that
the telescope is centered on the comet's position. Use a low-power
eyepiece; no amount of magnification is going to show you anything more
than a fuzzy blob unless the comet has an unusually bright nucleus, in
which case you might see a fuzzy gray blob with a fuzzy star embedded.  
Use averted vision to look around the field of view. This can be key to
finding the comet. If necessary, slowly move the telescope back and
forth in R.A. or declination, returning always to the comet's position.
It is frequently possible to detect a dim object by seeing it move
within the field of view.

Happy hunting. Let us have a report!

Davoud