Interesting imaging opportunities in the evening on Aug 12 as it passes within 50 arcmin of open cluster NGC 1528; quite low though,–only 10⁰ above horizon in the NE. Much better circumstance  in the evening of Aug 19-20 as the comet passes through IC1848 and IC1845 (the heart and soul nebula). Astronomical darkness at 9:36pm and third quarter moon rises about 1:12 am. Comet midway between around 10.

Having been “bitten by the bug” as a young boy in the 1950s, Jim began his amateur astronomy “career” as a member of a “Junior Moon-Watch Team,” eagerly awaiting the launch of the first artificial Earth satellites during the International Geophysical Year toward the end of that decade. But, unlike the young man in Walt Whitman’s famous poem, he never tired of the “Learn’d Astronomer” and quickly grew tired of simply gazing up at the beauty of the stars. He wanted to “Do something to contribute.”

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