The sky cleared up beautifuly from Maghera last night just after the meeting and despite the bright lingering twilight the sky over head was dark with a glorious milkyway, the trans was excellent with a very clean sky thanks to the showers earlier in the day. While talking on the phone to John i observed 73P SW3 fragments B and C with the 10X50 binos. B was a stunning bright comet in Pegasus at 5th mag (or brighter?) sporting a brillant moderately condensed coma (DC6) that was shaped like an elongated diamond in the anti solar direction which merged with a slender dust tail 1 degree long. The central condensation was a stellar object with a coma that has increased in size since my last obsv several days ago, i noticed even in the binos that there was material extending from the coma in a sunward direction that looked a little like an anti - tail however CCD images have shown this feature to be a bright jet. The comet was an easy naked eye object hanging over my neighbours rooftop beside an aerial..comet looks great! had a closer look at both comets with the 8.5" reflt stopped for a nosy at M15 then retired for the night at 03.00.
Martin Mc Kenna
coruscations attending the whole length of the luminosity, giving to the phenomena the aspect of a wrathful messenger, and not that of a tranquil body pursuing a harmless course..comet of 1680