COMET 41P TUTTLE-GIACOBINI-KRESAK (Updated)

Location Date & Time:
March 23, 2017  2230-2310 hrs-Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada
March 25, 2017 2245-2317 hrs-West side Saint John, NB, Canada
March 26, 2017 0015-0035 hrs-Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada
April 2, 2017 2200-2220 hrs- Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada
April 14, 2017 2215-2300 hrs - Side yard on driveway, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Weather:
March 23 & 25 were the same weather wise.  Nearing new Moon on March 27 the skies were very dark, clear, no wind and a very cool -10C.
March 25 N/A
April 2 NA
April 14-No wind, clear, 0C.

Attendance:
March 23- Tim, Josh and David McCashion
March 25- Ed O and David McCashion
March 26- David McCashion
April 2-David McCashion
April 14-Ed O and David McCashion

Equipment:
March 23-8"Meade LX 200 with 32mm, 19mm and 12.5mm eyepieces.  Canon Rebel Xsi with 75-300mm lenses on tripod.

March 25-  Ed's 8" Dobsonian with 25mm eyepiece and 15x70 binoculars.

March 26-Canon Rebel Xsi with 75-300 mm lens with tripod.  20x80 binoculars on tripod.

April 14 - Eds 15x70 binoculars, and my 20x80 binoculars and Canon Rebel with 75-300mm lens

Objective:
To view and image Comet 41P.

Sky Chart from SkyandTelescope.com

Report:
March 23

• Tim and Josh, who have been to Colorado commented on how dark the skies were on this evening.  They said it was as dark as Colorado skies.
• With big telescope, showed them M42(South western sky)M41(Southern sky), Jupiter(South eastern sky), Comet 41P(high in north eastern sky in Ursa Major) and split Polaris.
• Imaged Comet 41P and Jupiter.  Only three moons of Jupiter were visible.

March 25

• After the hockey game, Ed and I went out in his backyard(Saint John West) to search for Comet 41P with his 8" Dobsonian and 15x70 binoculars.  After a prolonged search of Ursa Major with both in the right area where Comet was suppose to be, a sighting of the Comet could not be confirmed.

March 26

• About an hour after observing at Ed place in SJ, went home to Little Lepreau and skies were much darker, so tried with camera and binoculars.  Comet was very easy to locate with binos.  Huge greenish patch in same location as we searched in SJ.
• One shooting star was seen to the NNW.

April 2

• Could not see the comet with 20x80 binoculars, but might have picked up the big, faint, diffuse comet in a processed image.

April 14

• Ed and I both found the Comet fairly easily, with our binoculars, exactly where the sky chart showed it to be on April 14.  Comet was located in North Eastern sky, in-between Ursa Minor and Hercules.
• A waning gibbous Moon was due to rise before midnight, which threatened to wash out the faint Comet
• Was only visible through the aid of binoculars, therefore, not a naked eye comet.  Was a big, dark patch.  Diffuse in field of view, next to a approx magnitude 5 star, surprisingly looked the same as when I viewed it on March 26 if not slightly fainter.
• One shooting star was seen high to the NNW, from the direction of Ursa Major.