I observed Comet Bradford through binoculars this morning, but not well. I got up at 4 am, dressed and went out. Using my red flashlight, I was able to protect my night vision. I closed one eye against a bright light as I walked across the street to a field.
Stars were visible over most of the sky, but only dimly. Haze cut off any stars dimmer than the 3rd magnitude. It was a poor night.
Comet Bradford is rising in the east. I first saw it at 4:30 EDT or 0830 UTC about 10 degrees above the horizon. (According to my star chart, it was about 17 degrees above the geometric horizon.)
First, I oriented myself on Cassiopeia, which I could see quite well in the north east. It then took me quite awhile to make out my next marker, which was the Great Square of Pegasus. The lower left star — in this orientation, the lower star — was fairly close to the horizon, and faint. Once I found the lower star, it was easy to identify Alpheratz the upper left corner star — or rather, the left star of what in this orientation is the `Great Diamond'.
I was able to locate see Alpheratz easily with my 7x50 binoculars, and move out from it past the two pairs of stars that I use to guide my way to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. I found the galaxy in Andromeda, looking faint. I could see only the inner 1/4 degree or so of it. It was, however, clearly the Andromeda Galaxy with its usual elongation, which paralleled the horizon at this view.
Then, even fainter, I saw the comet about 3 degrees from Mirach in the direction of Alpheratz.
Comet Bradford looked smaller than M31; it was just a small smudge with a brighter point in it. The coma might have been 1/6 degree across. It was hard to see. Sometimes I had to use averted vision through the binoculars. It was not visible to the naked eye.
If I had not been able to see and identify the Andromeda Galaxy, I would have confused the comet for the Galaxy, as both were smudges. However, the comet's smudge was smaller, more circular, and had a small up-down (i.e., east-west) elongation.
As I said, I first saw Comet Bradford at 4:30 EDT. Dawn came quickly and the sky lightened so much that by 4:36 I was thinking it was too late.
Although I looked at the comet and the Andromeda Galaxy as late at 4:40, the sky by then was so bright I would have missed the comet if I did not know where to look.