I was treated to my first view of comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) from a true dark site on May 14, 2004 (UT). I'd been observing the comet from my back deck in north Flagstaff since last weekend. Once seen, it was a fairly easy naked eye object. Even my 3-year-old was able to spot NEAT in 10x50 binoculars.

This night, I drove north to the Doney Mountain Picnic Area near Wupatki. From this dark sky site, the comet iss an obvious addition to the cosmic landscape just below the Beehive cluster. I made two drawings between 9:00pm and 10:30pm MST (04:00 to 05:30 UT), one capturing the view in my 10x50 Swift Audubons and the other rendering a low-power view in my 10-inch Newtonian.

The sketch at left presents the view in my 10x50 Audubons. The field of view is 7-degree in diameter. NEAT displays a bright and slightly egg-shaped coma. A distinct slender tail stretches east for about 4-degrees. A more delicate tail curves south-southeast from the coma over a distance of about 2-degrees. A broad stubby dust tail fills the gap between these.

about 40 stars are included in the sketch. Sixth magnitude 29 Cancri blazes 1.5-degree to the south-southeast of comet NEAT. A 6.3 magnitude sparkler shines two and a quarter degrees east. Theta (6) Cancri resides nearly 3 degrees north of the comet, just inside the field edge. The other stars in the field range from 7th to 9th magnitude in brightness. The spectacular M44, Beehive cluster, lies just beyond the field boundary to the northwest.

The drawing at right reflects the comet's appearance in the 10-inch Starfinder at 36X. The field width is about 1.5-degrees. C/2001 Q4 reveals a bright, stellar core embedded within the coma. At times, I get the impression of a small hollow space immediately west of the stellar core.

Chris Schur's stunning photo of comet NEAT from May 8, 2004 (http://www.psiaz.com/schur/astro/latest52.html ) shows blue, green and yellow-brown tails. All three are visible in the 10-inch Meade Newtonian, tonight. The blue ion tail is the longest and brightest of the three and stretches east from the comet. The green ion tail is the one arcing gracefully south-southeast. And the region between is filled by the yellow-brownish dust tail.

NEAT is easily the best comet I've seen since Hale-Bopp. Although, I have to admit missing comet Bradfield's recent display. Sleep was just too precious a commodity to give up at the time Bradfield graced our pre-dawn sky.