273p 20130205 robertson

 visual observation and drawing by Andrew Robertson 
Observing Notes: 12" D-K Mewlon used with diagonal so laterally inverted. 
The sky was quite transparent and I would have said about mag 5.5 in the 
region of Polaris except there was a 32% moon not that far from the comet 
brightening the sky considerably. I was quite hopeful; When I sketched 
C/2012 K5 last month I believed it was about mag 10.5 although it may have 
been a mag brighter but either way it was very easy and I could readily see 
it in my 4" Vixen FLS. So as 273P was predicted at m9.5 I was hoping to see 
it readily in the Vixen only a degree away from the open cluster NGC 6633 
but nothing (did see the cluster). Tried the Mewlon with a 40mm Pentax e/p 
giving x90 and nothing (other than field stars). Looked up and a saw a bit 
of thin cloud passing. Once it had cleared I could see a very faint low SB 
patch embedded near a couple of stars, it was a bit like looking at IC 10! 
Doubled the power to x180 with a 20mm Pentax e/p and the nucleus became more 
obvious between two faintish stars, one a bit brighter than the other but 
which made it hard to define the boundary. I was surprised at how much 
harder it was than C/2012 K5. The moon wasn't helping but it was still a 
reasonably dark/transparent sky even though only 21 degs altitude. I could 
glimpse with averted vision a very long but thin very tenuous tail and at 
times I felt convinced I could glimpse a shorter even more tenuous second 
one but could well have got this wrong. Anyway I sketched as I perceived it 
at times with averted vision. Although the comet got higher as I observed 
it, so did that moon and the latter was winning such that what detail I 
initially perceived slowly vanished.