Last night a friend of mine and I were at one of the best "local" dark sites. The CSC looked extremely good for the entire region but the transparency during the early part of the night was rather disappointing.  (It improved markedly around 1:00 a.m.)

In addition to dozens of DSOs, including several obscure planetary nebulae, I viewed two ISS passes and a number of other satellite events, several bright meteors, and a number of new asteroids, (one being 14.1 magnitude) and three comets that I hadn't seen before.  One of them was comet C/2006 W3 (Christensen) in Pegasus.  Compared to the other two, this comet was surprisingly bright in my friend's 20" Starmaster Sky Tracker Dob and sported a short tail. 

Dave Mitsky

I observed Comet Christensen again on Wednesday and Thursday nights from Cherry Springs State Park through my 12.5" Starsplitter, a 17.5" Telekit, and a 20" Obsession.  The coma was bright and irregularly shaped and there was a very noticeable fan-shaped tail.

Dave Mitsky 

Do you think it would be visible through a 10"? Should I look for real dark skies before attempting?

IMO, this comet shouldn't be too dificult with a 10" under reasonably dark skies.

Dave Mitsky

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try.

 The mag said it depends on how well the sun warms it for any chance of it brightening to Lulins mag.
What's your view Dave based on these observations?

Well, as David Levy once said, "Comets are like cats: they have tails, and they do precisely what they want." Having said that, I doubt that this comet will get as bright as Comet Lulin.  Its maximum magnitude is predicted to be approximately 8.0.  Comet Christensen may be a bit brighter currently than predicted, however, so who knows.  One site stated that it should be visible in large binoculars this summer.

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Comets%20Visible%20Tonight!.html

The coma is small and fairly condensed, making visual observations rather easy. 

Dave Mitsky