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Comet Jacques coming around

andrew63

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andrew63

andrew63

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Should be visible at the end of the month, another of those annoying comets that I have to drag myself out of bed at four in the morning to see.

Dave

Takes me back to those early Ison starts too.   At least this comet is heading north !

andrew

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mjpfc

mjpfc

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I got back from the North-Island last night (Englandshire) at 01:30 and I was a little too whacked to take advantage of a reasonable sky

But I guaged Auriga to be above the Houses to the Northeast of Me by around 03:00 (Perseus's noggin was already up there).

So I have some options over the next few nights...

Get up at three and set the Newt up in the Garden....or...

Stay up until 01:30 and take the little reflector down the beach for an early un-interrupted view.

Only Joking, no option at all really, Aperture and only 8 foot from the kettle / beer fridge / martini waiter wins every time. I've always been an early morning cove.

Lets see how we get on from the garden shall we?

Mick

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andrew63

andrew63

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Woke at 4 at had a peer through the window and could see Elnath so grabbed 10x50 and had a look.  I did not see the comet - only a few degrees above the bright star, i think the sky background was just too bright by then. If the comet is around mag. 6 it's at a reasonable height in the pre-dawn sky though -  probably around 3ish would be better.  Nice crescent moon nearby.

andrew

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andrew63

andrew63

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Just back in - saw Comet Jacques. In the telescope at x54 about 2 deg above Elnath. It looks around mag 6 to 7 but sky not black around 3.30. Does not look circular but slightly elongated to me. Should be a better sight as it climbs in the sky. Nice to see though.

I had a look in 10x50s but could not see it - it's quite small so you would need a bit of magnification and a darker sky, but it should be bright enough to see.  Venus just creeping above the tree tops !

andrew

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RichM63

RichM63

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I got my timing totally out, way too light at 04.00, I reckon 01.30 -02.30 might just do it depending on sea mist. I'm an hour in front.

Still all not lost, went for a pleasant paddle, and a coffee with the early fishermen.

Off for a few Zzzzzz, but will try again.

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cotterless45

cotterless45

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Superb , really bright at x30.post-6974-0-84016700-1406267373_thumb.jp

Increasing the mag showed a bright core with surrounding fuzz. Sky was a bit bright over in Auriga. What was surprising was how bright it appeared, nearly up to the magnitude of the surrounding stars. Going to be one to watch !

Nick.

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PorkyB

PorkyB

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I saw and photographed Jacques around 02:00 last night.  Very easy to spot with my 24mm EP and 70ED scope (x17 magnification).  I haven't processed the images yet, but on the back of the camera it looked like a greenish, fuzzy, tail-less ball.

For an added bonus, I had my first look at Pleiades in months :)

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bobmoss

bobmoss

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I'm looking forward to seeing this one. I've missed the last couple of good comets for various reasons so I just need to wait for it to get a bit higher to clear the surrounding houses.

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mjpfc

mjpfc

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Morning folks,

Had to wait until 02:18 before Jaques cleared the rooftops to my North-Northeast but I was well rewarded.

Caught Jaques with just my 10x50s, attempting to escape from Auriga at about mag 6.6?

Got the scope on the blighter shortly after that.

The centre is fairly bright, but seems to tail-off into the fuzz as opposed to a sharp delineation between the

false-coma and the rest. It was generally rounded but a stubby extension off to the upper right as I Observed

so presumably this was a short tail at least, and so it probably has a longer, faint one.

I am off this coming week so a few late nights are in order watching Jaques cruise up through Perseus. 

Nice little Comet.

Clear skies,   Mick

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mjpfc

mjpfc

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Using an old Native American trick (unintentionally) of taking on a lot of fluids ( in this instance Coffee) before going to

bed as an alarm clock, I awoke to clear skies at 03:10.

Once I was sorted from immediate need I took the newt out into the garden and saw Jacques straight away in the finder

just to the upper  right of "the Kids". 

It did indeed look bright tonight as Nick says (at around mag 6) and pretty big, with a bright central condensation to the

coma around the false nucleus? The coma showed a stubby elongation to the lower right as I looked with AV, so that I presume to be

the view of the tail going away at an angle from us.

Quite a spectacular little comet, taking-up the K1 Mantle for the summer.

I then had a look around at a Galaxy, some clusters and dark nebula then returned to bed.

Using My alarm clock would usually have meant disturbing the missus, but my new organic one did the trick silently....

three cheers for oncoming old age....

Mick.

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Well done Mick, I got up a couple of times (only to look out of the window honest  :grin: ) but all I saw was CLOUDS, this is the third or fourth try at it, did manage a rubbish image the other day but ended up with no blue subs as I was still half asleep.

Dave

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bish

bish

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Using an old Native American trick (unintentionally) of taking on a lot of fluids ( in this instance Coffee) before going to

bed as an alarm clock, I awoke to clear skies at 03:10.

 

Once I was sorted from immediate need I took the newt out into the garden and saw Jacques straight away in the finder

just to the upper  right of "the Kids". 

 

It did indeed look bright tonight as Nick says (at around mag 6) and pretty big, with a bright central condensation to the

coma around the false nucleus? The coma showed a stubby elongation to the lower right as I looked with AV, so that I presume to be

the view of the tail going away at an angle from us.

 

Quite a spectacular little comet, taking-up the K1 Mantle for the summer.

 

I then had a look around at a Galaxy, some clusters and dark nebula then returned to bed.

 

Using My alarm clock would usually have meant disturbing the missus, but my new organic one did the trick silently....

three cheers for oncoming old age....

 

Mick.

That's funny because I did the same thing and it worked very well. No alarm clock and I woke up 2 mornings running just before 3am. Couldn't see it in my 15x70 bins though. Possibly the fairly murky conditions (although not cloudy as such). I also had to lean out of a bedroom side window at an awkward angle holding the bins one handed. That wouldn't have helped.
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mjpfc

mjpfc

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Never mind Bish,

                             as Andrew says its getting higher now moving into perseus so will soon be up high as a reasonable

time to get the Binos/Scope on it wlthout the gravity defying contortionism.  Steady 15 by 70s should show it very well

indeed. It's quite Obvious in 10x50s but just a smudge really.

Good luck with the bladder thing.....

Mick

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