This one will be barely visible to the naked eye, unless it gets much brighter than predicted (always a possibility). You want binoculars.

Momentum is always conserved. The force at which the bullet leaves the barrel is the same force that you would feel from the gun pushing back. The Kriss vector would just turn some of that backwards force into downwards force.

Hate to say this, but this isn't a very bright comet and there's nothing special about it. Your kid will no doubt have many chances to see brighter comets than this. So don't feel like you should put a lot of effort into viewing this one in particular. Save your money and put it towards a trip to see the total solar eclipse next year.

If you still want to try, as others said, contact your local astronomy club. Or see if any of your friends have good binoculars - maybe you know someone who is into bird watching?

Man find like a nearby university or stargazing club

You definitely would feel the backward acceleration of both the gun and you moving backward. This is exactly because you and the gun aren't one single rigid entity. If you have watched any slow-mo gun firing footage you will see the gun moves first after a bullet is fired, then the shooter's arm starts moving a short while after. The same thing would happen in space.

I'm not familiar with how recoil systems work, in total you've still only possibly got acceleration for the exact amount of the mass of the bullet * bullet acceleration/mass of the shooter and in the opposite direction of where the bullet went

This. There are groups that will meet up in areas near Julian for example. You can see far better out there, and I have seen some really awesome telescope set ups before.

Thank you for the detailed answer. Now the wonder is if you would feel the recoil of the gun, or if you and the gun would mover perfectly as one. Friend 1 thinks you would feel the gun as it imparts its forces on you, but wouldnt feel the acceleration backwards

So what im hearing is, using a recoil suppression system in space would actually CAUSE recoil, because the forces would be propelled downwards in an attempt to counteract recoil in earth gravity

Check your local library. Ours has small telescopes to lend with a deposit.

Putting it in space makes it really easy.

Put the person in a black box. We don't care what happens in the box.

A bullet flies out of the box with momentum +p, the box must gain momentum -p. There is no way around this.

Firstly it's not the vacuum that's important it's the lack of gravity (or any other forces) acting on you. Therefore making any force that does act on you cause acceleration. Mass is in no way irrelevant, force=mass*acceleration and any force has an equal and opposite one. The force of the bullet moving out of the gun will be applied directly to the body firing the gun and accelerate that body by force/mass

Micro gravity is probably what I meant, Im definitely not a scientist. Whats the difference?

Also I thought mass would still be relevant, just couldnt work around how. Is it because the energies from the bullet are being transfered into the recoil dampners/springs, but theres nothing counteracting the weight of the bullet?

What would happen if you just hung the gun by a string and pulled the trigger? I'd assume it would still go crazy.

I'd assume that crazy would impart to the shooter in space

The recoil suppression system doesn't eliminate recoil (only tiny amount of energy lost as friction, etc), rather it spreads the recoil over a longer time and redirect the force downwards.

Therefore the gun would act as thrusters just like any other guns.

If you would like a more mathematical/physical way of thinking this, try the conservation of momentum. When a shooter is holding a gun in space no moving, there's no momentum. As the bullet is fired it gains momentum. Since the recoil suppression system is part of the gun, naturally the gun and the shooter would be imparted with an equal but opposite momentum.

Lastly, tell your friends that recoil suppression system is 'supression' not 'elimination', the shooter can very clearly feel the recoil.

The KRISS vector changes the angle of recoil to avoid muzzle climb and perceived recoil according to the Wikipedia.

You would still be propelled in the opposite direction.

Unless you were expelling mass with the same force in the exact opposite direction, firing a gun is going to impart force upon you and cause you to move.

Mass is not irrelevant in a vacuum btw (or in micro gravity which is what I think you meant to say).

Go watch it with the naked eye. Take the 40 bucks, and invest them on gas, soda and food. Find the darkest area you can reasonably drive to (darksitefinder.com), and go there with your family, to a nice park, beach, or any other nice area. Make a picnic out of it. Just lay on the grass and enjoy watching the stars. Just being well outside a city will make the sky look amazing (because of light pollution).

If you have the luck of getting a clear sky, you'll have a great time and be able to see it just fine. If you have cloud covering instead (welcome to the world of astronomy, the weather is always a harsh mistress), you'll still have a great time outside with your family, and your kid will never forget it.

I'll sell you one for $30. I got it for Christmas but need money for a laptop. I'll send pics if your interested :)

Depending on where you live, some libraries rent out telescopes.

I don’t know what light pollution is like where you are, but getting to a place where there is very little light pollution and a clear night is going to be as important as what you are looking at the comet through. The moon is getting out of the way and there’s a good chance at a place with very little light pollution and clear skies you’ll be able to see it with ordinary binoculars or just the naked eye. Also of note is that being at a location like that before sunrise is going to be awesome on its own. It’s also a great time to see satellites passing overhead because the soon to be rising sun will be reflecting off the satellites but the sky will still be pitch black. There are great satellite tracking apps and night sky apps that will help you with where to look for the comet, satellites and other celestial objects. Good luck!

Please don’t waste your money on a cheap telescope for one event. I’ve been an amateur astronomer for over 30 years and can confidently say that viewing a comet through a telescope is actually disappointing. Comets are best viewed through binoculars.

If you really want a close up view of the comet head, the people in any local astronomy club will be more than happy to let you look through their large, expensive scopes for free. The people already suggesting this are 100% correct. Plus, most will be delighted to show you more of the skies wonders if you ask.

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The idea of the college of astronomy club is the best. Now you will have a contact there to see other celestial events. This would also be a great father son activity. Going star gazing with astronomy club once a month is something he will always remember. Also he will now have a cool thing to know that his friends don’t. As he gets older he can point out stars and constellations to friends.

EDIT: For this comet binoculars are wanted. It'll be barely visible to the naked eye. (Thank you u/aspheric_cow )

Original post:

Comets generally look pretty cool just to the naked eye. I wouldn't buy anything just for this event. Binoculars or monocular (7x or so) do improve the view, while a telescope will just show a big fuzzy blur without adding more detail. (This was my experience from a couple of comets that were visible around 1997 or so.)

Or, as someone else posted, you can search for a local amateur astronomy group and see if they have any viewing events / star parties planned for this.

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