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Comet Lovejoy Q2


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Finally bagged it. went out the other night with the intention of using the little WOstar71, and to also try guiding....well that was a wasted evening. Tonight was different. very windy, but thought well I will see if I can see tin the bins. within a couple of minutes I had it...and then I thought I would break out a TAL100rs...on the old wooden tripod and mount. set-up within 4 minutes, onto the comet within 3 more.

I used varying EP's but settled on a 25mm Gen2 plossl andmanually tracking via the slo mo controls on the mount. I followed it for about 35 minutes, and using averted gaze where required to eek out more structure. a found the core to be slightly off centre of the object (though could be my eyes!), with varying moments of increased brightness, though it could be the averted gaze method might be throwing in some additional haze etc. The wind did gust at times, and I was holding onto the tripod a couple of times (the gusts lifted the garage door, which was not shut but closed quite well)! I was going to attempt an Afocal shot, but was having way too much fun remembering what actually looking at something through an EP was all about. Have not had so much fun in ages!

Might try an image at some point.

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Just barely naked eye in the wee hours of this morning...........but if I didn't first see it in the 10x50's then I wouldn't have had a chance. 

Felt a fool for not setting up the scope, so started that process at 12 midnight............as soon as I was done with that, it started to cloud out, so felt a bigger fool!   But I hung in there for a short spell to be rewarded with an extraordinarily clear, yet breezy hour.  Sadly, by that time, Lovejoy was setting toward the worst streetlight in the neighborhood, and pointing the scope in theat direction scoops up too much red light.

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It's pretty nice here tonight compared to recent evenings (ie: no heavy clouds / buffetting wind / rain / sleet and hail !). Lovejoy Q2 looks pretty spendid and will get better as the sky fully darkens. I'm trying the Myriad 20mm 100 degree eyepiece on it right now. It's a pretty large comet and the view is none too shabby !!  :grin:

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It's quite a nice night - having seen Mercury and Venus earlier, just had a look at Lovejoy - it's naked eye.  Looked at the Double Cluster for comparison and would say it's a bit easier to see than the comet, although being higher up helps !. Lovejoy is nice in binoculars though.

andrew

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NIce one all - just popped out with the 15 x 70's and right on it, very large and very diffuse outer region - I'm surprised how large in the sky this comet is - i think some have compared it to M15 - but I find it much much larger than this in the bins and much brighter overall - no where near naked eye from here but a lovely sight just the same, bavk in now, will pop out a little later - Bish the views are nice tonight - make the most as the last few nights have been poor - stars "twinkling" in Orion so probably not the steadiest - but best for me in the bins from my location.

Paul.

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I looked for it last night, and I think I found it, but I'm still enough of a newbie that I'm not sure.  The object I was looking at would be the third point of a roughly equilateral  triangle made of the object, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades.  (I know that's a terrible description, and for that I'm sorry.)  There was a large diffuse outer region with a dim fuzzy object in the center.

Anyone want to take a wild guess at whether or not I was looking at the right thing?   :smiley:

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I looked for it last night, and I think I found it, but I'm still enough of a newbie that I'm not sure. The object I was looking at would be the third point of a roughly equilateral triangle made of the object, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades. (I know that's a terrible description, and for that I'm sorry.) There was a large diffuse outer region with a dim fuzzy object in the center.

Anyone want to take a wild guess at whether or not I was looking at the right thing? :smiley:

Perfectly good description and that sounds bang on to me. Well done!

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- Bish the views are nice tonight - make the most as the last few nights have been poor - stars "twinkling" in Orion so probably not the steadiest - but best for me in the bins from my location.

 

Paul.

I see you are down the road from me Paul, so probably very similar sky conditions. I will be popping out during the course of the night to check it's movement. It's high enough to be out of the light pollution.
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Spotted at 5.20 just as it was getting dark. Now quite obvious to the naked eye and an absolute beauty in 15x70 bins in Aries.

At x100 in the scope it fills the fov,

Nick.

Is there any hint of a tail Nick? Not got my scope on it yet.
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Just back in from getting my first view in 2 weeks.

Tried naked eye for a while but no chance.

Soon picked it out with the 10x50's. Tried again without the bins but no luck.

Not surprisingly the clouds rolled in after 15 mins.

It was just a clump of low cumulus which soon blew over. I stayed outside to keep my dark adaptation and noticed that with the LP reflected off the cloud I could see around me very clearly. I could see the green of the grass and the brown of the decking. Once the clouds passed I realised it still wasnt that dark.

Lots of sky glow.

Back on the comet I looked for a hit of the tail. Nothing obvious.

Even M31 was unimpressive :(

My home sky really is pants these days.

Sent from my ZT ICS using Tapatalk

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I can't see much of a hint of a tail with my 12" dob so don't worry about not seeing it with 50mm binoculars.

The comet is getting large now - it needs my lowest power / widest angle eyepieces to do it justice. I've just had a peek at it with a 5mm 110 degree eyepiece (318x !) and it more or less completely filled the field of view. More impressive at much lower powers though.

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It's clearing nicely here. The coma of the comet looks to be much larger than when I viewed it last weekend, perhaps not having the Moon around is helping that? A definite green hue to both the core and the coma but still no sign of a tail. Best view this evening is with the Nagler 31mm/CPC1100.

I also had a look at the Double Cluster, which is almost directly overhead, and it looks stunning :smile:

Looking forward to Jupiter later this evening. I haven't had a good look at her for almost a year!

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Yeah Bish - nice 1 mate - Skies aint the best tonight, but the quick look with the bins was nice, popping out again in a little while - when you think diffuse - you think of the larger Galaxies - well spread out over the sky, but this comet is LARGE and very DIFFUSE towards the region surrounding the coma and some way out from the coma - I think those of you that have put your scopes on it will be met with a fine sight - no mention of any tails - dust or Ion, but the local light pollution here will put any sign of a tail or two way out of reach.

Going out with the bins in a little while as will be around my meridian so highest point for me, may get the scope out tomorrow if the skies play ball - but nice to hear from you lot with the scopes on it - Thanks.

Paul.

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Finally managed it naked eye, just needed to be a bit further out of London. Down at parents in Berkshire and whilst it's not easy, once dark adapted it is definitely there. I proved it to myself by putting the binos straight on it.

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Nice 1 Stu and Thanks John - don't know about you lot but the nucleus doesn't seem as defined as (going from memory) Hiyakutake (probably not the correct spelling) as said not put the scope on it, just from my obs with the bins - seems very "spread out" as nuclei go!! and with the monopod the views were much better but just couldn't resist popping over to Orion, Taurus, Pleiades, Auriga, Jupiter - you lot know how it is!!

Paul.

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My first comet :)

I found it in bins, a few degrees SW of M45. A distinct patch of glow. 

When the intermittent showers stopped, got the Televue out, located it again in the finder and then viewed it first in an ES 24, then tried 14 and 8 Delos. Latter seemed to suit best.

With averted vision, was able to make out a more intense central element that I assume was the nucleus. No sign of a tail here either. Did seem greenish, about as much so as M42.

Weather seems to have settled now, wondering if it's worth dragging the C11 and Az-EQ6 out. 

Meanwhile, having a cup of tea and waiting for Jupiter to move far enough away from next door's blazing bathroom window.   

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Just had a nice little bino observing session with my 10 year old daughter. She managed to find the comet by dropping down from the Pleiades. She also got M42 and the Double Cluster. Nice to have some company [emoji3]

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Just popped out tonight with 8x42 bins and found it with the help of Star Walk on my iPad, it was just down and right from the Pleiades and Taurus, the left-most point in a line of three. Naked eye once I knew where to look, a nice bright fuzzy with a brighter centre in the bins. Some cloud has come across now so may try to get the scope on it tomorrow night.

Chuffed to bits to see such objects, just cruising the usual stuff or getting frustrated at not being able to find more difficult targets makes this hobby quite part-time for me.

My other iPad is an iMac.

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