Location: Prince of Wales, NB, Canada
Date Time: April 10, 2025 0430-0700hrs
Weather: Light breeze, mostly clear, light ground fog, hazy, very cold -4C with -8C windchill reported, and humidity 99%.
Equipment: Binoculars, cellphone camera, and Canon Rebel with 75-300 & 18-55mm lens.
Objective: To view and image a newly discovered comet C/2025 F2 Swan which is low in the pre dawn sky, in Pegasus near Alpheratz.
Report:
- A Very bright, Waxing Gibbous 94% illuminated Moon in the mid high western sky shone like a spotlight, putting clear shadows on the ground. Not good for faint comet finding.
- It took a while to find a place where I could see low on the NE horizon, where Pegasus was rising. When I found a clear place to see Pegasus, I scanned around Alpheratz with binos and thought I seen a fuzzball, but when I took long exposure images images of that area of sky with camera, the comet didn't pop out in images. After processing, the comet still didn't show up. Might have not been looking in right place or the comet isn't bright enough at this time. I feel as though I was looking in the right area, though. There's plenty of images and maps available, and the comet being close Alpheratz makes it much easier to locate.
- Shortly after first light at about 0530, a bright star appeared on the horizon that I thought was a powerline tower light. Coincidently, Venus rose and was sitting atop a tower for a while. I realized it wasn't a powerline tower light when it began to slowly rise. It was Venus.
Looking for Pegasus
Found it but not the comet
Venus! Sagittarius!
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