Comet Garradd

[mike.brightmore]

Ok so its not much to look at but it is a comet and its over 100 million miles away and there is a bright moon and I'm cold but here is Garradd from a few minutes ago. Quite close to mag 15 galaxy NGC 5620 tonight. Hope to do a little GIF over next few weeks.

[steelfixer]

Mike that is brilliant.

I would love to see the gif when done.

If it ever sops raining here I might just take a look at that myself.

Graham

[mike.brightmore]

Managed to get a quick look at it a couple of hours later between the clouds and it had moved noticeably relative to the background stars (diagonally down and to the left).

[Jon Sales]

Not meaning to sound too thick but what are the co-ordinates for it or the direction?

[Jon Sales]

It's ok I've found it with Sky Safari Pro. It's in Andromeda

[mike.brightmore]

Hi Jon

Its not in Andromeda. Its in Ursa Minor close to Draco as shown in the chart below from Heavens Above. Imagine a line from Kochab in Ursa Minor to Mizar in the Plough (Ursa Major). The Comet is about a quarter of the way along this line. It can be seen with binoculars but the Moon is making it very difficult at present. Look for a round misty patch with a brighter nucleus - but it is easily missed. It's mag 7 now but fading. By the end of March it will be above the Plough and on 31st March very close to Upsilon Ursae Majoris.

[Jon Sales]

Thanks for the info Mike.

Went out to look last night but the high level cloud cover made observation very difficult with most objects

[Josh50963]

Stellarium is realy good for this stuff. Its a free download and it helps you find things with coardinates and stuff.

[Zul]

Cartes du Ciel is a bit better. Stellarium is more for playing with fancy graphics

[nytecam]

Hi Jon Its not in Andromeda. Its in Ursa Minor close to Draco as shown in the chart below from Heavens Above.

Nice image but strange - my HeavensAbove/NASA Horizons for Saturday when I last imaged it in UMa near zenith after dusk:cool: