verreli

Nice. You can see the twin tails even with significant ambient light. Perihelion still a day away so the possibility exists to get brighter still before the fade starts. Weatherwise, I've got strong wind and heavy rain forecast for the next few days so patience is needed.

I'm now checking the weather forecast just as intently as I was C3. Just a week to wait before all is revealed... or not.

BAA estimate that Neo has hit Mag 1 with six more days before perihelion so expect further improvement to come. Negative magnitudes are realistic at this stage. Only one more day on SOHO then it's a waiting game to see what appears in the pre-dawn sky.

Neo seems to have brightened again in the last 24hrs and continues to show distinct twin ion and dust tails. The continual brightening for me is a good sign. It shows the increased material ejection wasn't an 'event' Neo really is the 'one'.

The C3 animation seems to show a significant brightening in the last 24 hours. Is this good or bad news?

Yes, I'm quite far north in the English lake district so 10th July is the earliest I can reasonably get a good view. On the bright side, it's further from the solstice so the skies are getting darker day by day and closer to the new moon. Even at the higher magnitudes a bit of extra contrast helps. I'm hoping to bag a few photos. Bright comets don't happen very often.

Spaceweather had it at Mag 3 but I think it's brighter than that, perhaps 2.4? Still another week before perihelion. Of more note to me is the tail which seems to extend beyond the camera FoV. I've seen a few fuzz balls in my time but never a comet with a nice tail. 16 days and counting...

If you look at it on the animation, the tail looks to extend faintly beyond the camera FoV. Still over 2 weeks before it's visible from my location but the optimism is building.

Morpheus thinks it's the 'one'.

It does seem to have an elongated head. Time will tell.

Really starting to show nicely in the C3 animation. Looks to have a nice tail.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/lasco-coronagraph C3

Where are you getting the magnitude figure from? I thought the comet was currently too close to the sun to get a meaningful reading. Look out, from Monday, for Neowise transiting the FOV of the NASA SOHO camera. When it pops out the other side, it should be a northern hemisphere object and getting further form the sun so becoming increasingly visible - all being well. I'm hopeful but unsure if its brightness will overcome light levels at this time of year. We even potentially have noctilucent clouds to contend with. You may have better luck in Spain.

With it being so close to the summer solstice, the observing window will be short. Also, it will only be high enough to view from the 10th July onwards (from my location) and by that time the magnitude will be falling off quickly. I live in hope though.

Well comet Swan turned out to be an ugly duckling. Went out this morning at 2am to clear dark skies and saw... nothing, even with binoculars. The dawn light is too bright to resolve anything. The light curve is falling off a cliff too at Mag 6.5 and falling. Guess the batton is now handed over to Neowise.

Had it not been for the lock down, I'd have been in the deserts of California this week enjoying dark skies. Hope you spot it. Please feedback your opinion on how it looks. Looking at the light curve, dare I say it's starting to brighten again...?

To be optimistic, the previous light curve profile could have been due to a fragment breaking off this 'new' comet causing an outburst. There is an online video of a sudden brightening which supports this. The current magnitude could be the 'real' underlying magnitude which would mean that it will continue to brighten to around Mag4 in about 2 weeks. Time will tell. I just hope I get a chance to get a photo in the coming weeks from the UK.

Still a week to go before SWAN is visible from the UK but the light curve is doing strange things. From a peak of Mag4.7 it's now down to Mag5.7. That's a 2.5x decrease in brightness despite getting closer to the sun and earth. Is it going to fizzle out?... Comet chasing is a frustrating sport.

Just like busses, you wait years for a good naked eye comet and two come along in quick succession. NEOWISE should be visible from the UK from the beginning of July at c.Mag2.5. Currently Mag10 and a long way off but brightening rapidly. Usual comet caveat applies.

Swan currently at Mag 5.5 so naked eye visible and brightening. Still not visible from the UK. Will it last until 22nd May and the new moon?

Give it a couple more weeks and it'll be visible in the UK and its magnitude should be moving into the naked eye range [usual comet caveat applied].

Unfortunately, it doesn't look good. The light curve seems to have peaked too.

All very plausible. Assuming the hypothesis is correct, the body should continue to rotate and when the 'soft' side faces the sun again, there will be far more energy to cause a much larger outburst. Projections I've seen suggest max Mag 2 which will still be a memorable event. Roll on May and clear skies. Nice shot City9Town0, the tail is growing nicely and more photons will mean more resolution in the weeks to come.

BAA have Atlas at Mag 7. At this rate, it will be naked eye visible in about 2 weeks, just in time for the new moon. May even get the scope out tomorrow night for a preview.

Dark skies tonight!