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Comet C/2015 F3 (SWAN) in Cassiopeia


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I've just noticed it's angular size prediction - 3.5 arc seconds. Thats going to be a challenge ... :grin:

Lovejoy Q2 is easy enough this evening. Still noticable in the 50mm finder. Mag 6.5ish perhaps ?

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Sorry, that was a typo, 3.5' should it be.

I've turned in tonight. Was hoping to get a view earlier, but my own house is blocking the North-West view, and it's cloudy all over. 4 new NGC give some comfort though.

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Anyone seen this comet yet ?

I had a good look tonight with my 12" dob in and around the area indicated for tonight by the chart that YKSE posted above but no joy. It's supposed to be around mag 10ish so should have been visible at least as a faint patch / spot I would have thought :icon_scratch:

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I looked for it but had no luck with the 18 inch and I had a very clear sky though seeing was a bit wobbly, Lovejoy did not disappoint, that has been a really good comet. I have a 60mm finder on the scope so should have seen something even in that, Lovejoy was clear in it.

It is on the wrong side of the obsey for the 12 inch and laptop help, the roof slides to the north.

Alan 

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I've tried twice in my dark site, with one week between, couldn't find it. Tonight might be another chance with it, hunting started from close to Beta Cassiopeia to near Gamma Cephei, a fair distance.

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I didn't understand at the time but according to Cartes Du Ciel the comet is Mag 15.2. I think even with my fairly large scope being a comet I would struggle, I really think this is beyond anything other than a monster scope.

Still I will have a go if I get any clear sky tonight but after that the  Moon is going to be having words in the outcome.

Alan

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I'm glad in some ways to hear that it's so faint. I was under the (mistaken) impression that it was around mag 10 when I was searching for it and could not fathom why I was not picking it up with my 12" dob :icon_scratch:

Now I know why !

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I think I got it last night. SQM 20.8 -21.1 sky with excellent transparency, all the new 32 galaxies in Ursa Major were easily seen in direct vision.

Locating for the comet was somewhat easier than earlier because it's so much closer to Polaris, I guessed RA 00 32.0 DEC +77 00 for last night after comparing with triatlas B chart,  

post-30887-0-23351700-1429633535_thumb.p

The red-marked circle was the area I searched for, since the bright stars were easily identified. The comet was seen in averted vision 67x in where the arrow pointing at after a good quarter scanning in the red circle. Those five stars forming the "W" to the left of brightest star in green circle was kind of Cassiopeia symbol in my mind, the fainter two stars are around mag 12, comining in and out in direct vision.

The comet was surely dimmer than mag 12, NGC 2742 was next target I looked at after "SWAN", it is a face-on mag 11.4 galaxy of size 3' without bright core, and it was an easy seen in direct vision.

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Mag 13.8 is the faintest I've managed to go from my back garden with my 12" scope and that was a point source rather than an extended object. The past few evenings have been hazy so the limiting magnitude has been somewhat less than that.

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