Not a very impressive sight, actually

At first, we couldn't make out Comet Tempel-1 in the 16" Cassegrain (in the far dome in the picture above) at Ashton Observatory tonight, even with a 9mm eyepiece. We finally tried a light-enhancing eyepiece (similar to a night vision scope, but magnified). It yielded a small, elongated object with what looked like a halo of ejecta at one end.

We're not even sure that it was the comet, although it was at the right place and we don't know what else it could have been. All-in-all, it was a disappointing experience- although, to be honest, I don't know what we expected; the real show would have been the impact last night. We left after about an hour, because the mosquitoes were feasting on Denise. As is our wont, we'll be up there again on Saturday night to see what's up there to be seen.

We did get to see at least five fireworks displays while driving up there, though.