Lovestruck: Comet Lovejoy 13 Nov !

[Special K]

Great viewing session that started as a motivation to get back out there and see some shadow transits on Jupiter.   Started at 2am with a warm scope that was too warm to really get on top of it quickly.  Io was in transit from 1am so missed it overtaking the GRS (which reached the meridian around 3am).  However, it was the kind of night to just gape in wonder at the spectacle of it all with the naked eye!  Orion was mighty indeed and just dominates the sky.  Betelgeuse didn't stop winking from my location the whole time, despite being quite high in the atmosphere.  This seeing was also having a negative effect on my obs of Jupiter.

Last night, I was reading up on Betelgeuse on Wikipedia which has an enormous amount of information for this one star.  Recommend this to anyone as it is pretty fascinating stuff.  I popped in the UHC filter on this and the image was very interesting.  The diffraction spikes are faint with this filter but still appear, and there is a round halo which fills about 60% of the diameter made by the spikes.  The halo is red and an amazing thing to look at......would make a fantastic image!  Betelgeuse is throwing out material to a distance equal to Neptune's distance from our sun and this has a nebulous effect.  I was using the UHC to see if any of this can be seen, but I'm sure my scope is way too small.  Despite what looks like a crystal night, the seeing was a bit tricky. 

After other tinkerings around the sky, I got on the subject of Leo.  NGC2903 is a first for me and very easy to spot!  The usual story of faint fuzzies best viewed from a dark site, but nice to put this one in the bag with the others. 

But the real star of the show was tracking down Lovejoy.  Given the difficulty in finding ISON, I didn't hold out much hope with this but slewed round to where it should be.  After a little panning around (a bit further than I thought it needed) another fuzzy appeared in the view.  A big one that had me talking to myself!  Compared to NGC2903, this looked like a lot bigger, brighter galaxy which left me wondering (as I am in Leo, after all) that it was just that.  But consultation of the Star Atlas didn't show anything remotely close and this one would certainly be a Messier!  Sure enough, it's Lovejoy and a fantastic find at that.  It's very hard to make out the object itself, but there is a definite oval-like coma surrounding the center.  Putting the Yellow #12 color filter in doesn't bring out a tail, but doesn't hurt the view either.  My #21 made it completely disappear.  And after about 1 hour of off/on observation, it had already moved from 8 oclock to 6 oclock in relation to a nearby star.  This one is great!  It's not naked eye, but at least you can find it.  After I was dewed out, I put my little 7x22 bins on it, and it is easily a binocular object. 

A brilliant session this time, totally due to Lovejoy!  I enjoyed the rest, of course, but the comet made it very memorable.  Totally recommend finding this one before it goes.  Maybe you'll be able to see the tail I couldn't and in that regard it doesn't resemble Panstarrs to me.  Happy hunting!

[Vega]

Nice report. Nice that you identified Lovejoy by a 'messier' type process of elimination

Working constraints and a blocked Eastern sky have stopped me from doing an early hours viewing. Very frustrating as all the cometary action is hanging out in the morning sky at the moment! I need to find out if/when Lovejoy creeps in to the evening sky in the West. I already have ISON on the calendar for December!

Matt

[Stargazer33]

Very nice report. I am hoping to spot ISON before it gets too close to the Sun and I will certainly have a go at finding Lovejoy now after your report!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice one, Special-K. Lovejoy is lovely, and NGC 2903 is a joy to behold as well. It is one of my favourite non-Messier/non-Caldwell galaxies. Real gem

[webboid]

Nice report

Was up at 5am to hunt out Lovejoy myself this morning.

Saw it first in my bins then tried the 12" dob. Despite not being collimated or cooled the view was magic. Coma looked bluish green to me.

[John]

Congratulations !

I had a peek at Lovejoy for the first time last night as well. Quite easy to find with 10x50 binoculars and in the scopes it looked like an enlongated fuzzy patch with a condensed nucleus towards one end. It was low down to the NE when I viewed it so would have looked better as it rose further I reckon.

[andrew63]

Glad you had a nice view of Lovejoy. I find comets are things that stay with you over the years - something about their transient nature that makes them special !

andrew