panSTARRS

I've chased Ceres as it slid past El Nath in Taurus and beyond. Any asteroid that dim takes peripheral vision and a lot of star map searches. Most of all it takes patience. For a break from the tough work of following an asteroid, I took time out to search for the comet. I knew by now it would be very visible and maybe have a nice tail. Of course comets are sun grazers, so to see it I had to search from just before sunset to just after. That means the sky is still quite bright above the western horizon. No matter, a veteran like me doesn't give up easily.
To date I have managed two views of Comet PanSTARRS: one from the area of Moorpark College; the other from my own front yard. I found the comet on 12th of the month after a half hour of sweeping the horizon.. In our sharp clear sky it hung directly above a distant tall tree that became a pointer. The tiime, 7:46 was just after sunset and before the deepening twilight.It hung like a bright tight shaft of light, the tail fanning out and upward. I gazed until it dropped into the murky atmosphere, fading in a blur.  I just had to try to find it again, this time from my own yard.
It's terrible when you bring out cloud bait. Several nights of clouds and mists have blocked the comet out. After much searching I caught a good view of it between the trees on the west of our property. It wasn't near as nice and bright, rather blurred and hazy, probably because the sky wasn't cooperating. But see it I did. So did our neighbor who considered it fabulous since it was her first ever view of a comet. We'll definitely try again as PanSTARRS rises farther north and dims as it moves away from us.

Definitely Ceres

Several nights ago when I searched for Ceres, I attempted to find the asteroid using only Astronomy Magazine's published mini star chart (March issue, p. 43). My early "By George" comment was premature. I thought I was in the right location, and what I saw fit its 8th magnitude dimness. Nevertheless, I needed to re-capture the dwarf planet to prove I was seeing correctly.

I wasn't. The point of light I thought was Ceres was just a star. Like all stars, it stayed put in the same location. I redoubled my efforts to find the dim dwarf planet two nights ago. This time I found the faintest point of light where Ceres absolutely had to be, per the map. I tingled thinking I'd actually captured my first asteroid, but didn't want to announce an error again. I would have to make sure that this particular point of light would move by the next night. If it did, it would be farther north on its path as it edges closer to El Nath.

I couldn't scan the sky yesterday. Clouds and rain prevented it. Tonight, the California sky is crystal clear. Sure enough, Ceres isn't where it was two days ago. In fact, it has moved considerably to line up with El Nath. I have indeed captured my first look at an asteroid. The faint dwarf planet is exactly where Astronomy Magazine's star map shows it to be tonight. Using only my 10 x 50 binocular, I can barely see the elusive asteroid from the corner of my eye. But it is definitely where it is supposed to be today, March 6.

I'm sure to catch it more easily on my next search as it moves past El Nath. And by the weekend, I'll be dragging out my telescope for a better view.

Romero

Just watched an old movie called "Romero". Very powerful indeed. Archbishop Oscar Romero is a modern day martyr. To get the full movie just go to You Tube. You'll find it easily if you internet search under Archbishop Oscar Romero, the movie. More of us should be so ready to give our lives.

Duh

There's something about traipsing around the country that thwarts a faithful astronomy hobbyist. Although there were a few good nights for binocular astronomy in West Sacramento, there were more than a few not so good nights. Here in Redding, the sky is a wash. Oh well, with luck it will clear up enough for a continued scan for asteroid Ceres.