So the internet is abuzz with this Comet Lulin. I wanted to catch it on the 23rd when it was closest to the Earth. A cold and some clouds nixed that idea. Last night tho I had the dogs outside, and saw that I had a clear view to the Southeast.
I pulled out my ST80 and very gingerly shuffled my way down the driveway trying not to slip/fall/drop the scope. I set it up behind a large evergreen bush that somewhat shielded me from my neighbors resurrected yard light. I had looked up on Stellarium where the comet should be. I pointed the red dot finder at roughly where it should have been and started looking. I lucked out pretty quick, finding a small gray smudge. I nudged the scope a little bit to make sure it was a smudge in the sky, and not on my eyepiece. The comet looked similar to a globular cluster, or a roundish nebula, only a bit brighter.
I wasn't 100% sure I had gotten it until I got back inside and confirmed on Stellarium that there were no other faint fuzzies in that area of the sky. All in all it was a pretty good quick trip out. Having put a red dot finder on the ST80 makes it a lot easier to use, as you can then put a low power eyepiece in and then use the scope as your optical finder. I can hardly wait to try this new set up under darker skies!
I wasn't 100% sure I had gotten it until I got back inside and confirmed on Stellarium that there were no other faint fuzzies in that area of the sky. All in all it was a pretty good quick trip out. Having put a red dot finder on the ST80 makes it a lot easier to use, as you can then put a low power eyepiece in and then use the scope as your optical finder. I can hardly wait to try this new set up under darker skies!
