[BAA Comets] [comets-ml] is there any value in visual drawingsof comets

[Andrew Robertson]

Hi Jim,

Sounds like a wonderful experience you had with P1 McNaught. I occassionaly
make a rough sketch not for artistic value (can't draw well) but just to
show it's relative position, shape & size. I should try preparing a star
chart as a background rather than putting in the main field stars myself, a
good idea.

Do you have another link to your sketches, came up with 'Web Access not
enabled' and I'm not subscribed to comets-ml.

Regards,
Andrew Robertson
Norfolk, UK

-----Original Message-----
From: comets-disc-bounces at britastro.org
[mailto:comets-disc-bounces at britastro.org] On Behalf Of JS & EJ Gifford
Sent: 04 November 2013 02:27
To: comets-ml at yahoogroups.com; comets-disc at britastro.org
Subject: Re: [BAA Comets] [comets-ml] is there any value in visual
drawingsof comets

When P1 McNaught went through in 2007 I possibly had the best continuous
view of all observers as the tail developed over several days, others having
problems with cloud, smoke etc.. Not having a suitable camera I made a point
of taking a star chart to the observing site each night and sketching on it
the tail as I saw it. These sketches are still in the photo section of this
group (comets-ml) as P1 Tailcharts at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/comets-ml/photos/album/95739289/pic/list
I did not attempt to sketch any detail , this was well covered at the time
by photographers, the aim was to leave a record, initially just for my own
use, of the extent of the tail shown accurately against the star background
such that rather than making statements from memory that this or that was 30
degrees long or  wide or whatever the measurement could still be made any
time after the event, and still can for anyone interested. I was not chasing
any records for the biggest, brightest etc but was recording simply what I
could see each night from the same location in southwestern Australia. The
one caveat is that having made the decision to create this record the first
chart, for the 19th January, was drawn from memory on returning home that
night. At the time no-one knew quite what we were in for over the next few
days, as with all comets, and personally I am very pleased that I took the
time to make these sketches, which refresh my my failing memory and leave a
permanent and accurate account of the unfolding tail of the greatest comet I
have seen.
Regards,   Jim Gifford
Bridgetown, Western Australia.

On 11/4/2013 1:41 AM, DENIS BUCZYNSKI wrote:
>
> Hello all,
> In the (possibly unlikely) event of C/2012 S1 ISON becoming a bright 
> naked eye comet in the next few months, I have been wondering about 
> the value of visual observations( drawings) made at the eyepiece of 
> telescopes and binoculars. The comparison between the eventual 
> spectacle that C/2012 S1 ISON may become, with the actual views that 
> was experienced by observers of Comet Kohoutek 1973f  is being heard 
> more loudly as perihelion approaches for C/2012 S1 ISON. As 
> experienced comet observers, members of this group may remember that 
> Comet Kohoutek 1973f may not have been the Great Comet that was hoped 
> for at the time, but it did reach naked eye visibilty and many 
> observers were able to make succesful observations. Many of these were 
> visual observations. Is there any value in observers today recording 
> what can be seen in their telescopes?
> Most observers are taking images for astrometry/photometry or for 
> pretty/stunning image purposes. The visual observers are generally 
> making magnitude determinations and some are adding morphology details 
> such as coma size/and DC, plus tail lengths and orientations. Nobody 
> actually draws what they see. I am not the person to advise on drawing 
> techniques. But I would like to see this practice rekindled amongst 
> visual observers. The historical record is littered with high 
> resolution drawings

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