Where is Lovejoy?

[Ptarmigan]

.or my skies are just not dark enough for a near-naked eye hit

Shame about that,

the Hayades arrow head is a nice pointer to gamma Taurus (3.4) then drop down to nu(?) Taurus at about mag4

If you get that one then you are in with a chance on Lj.

Good luck.

[michael23]

I had a view a little earlier, I looked at the Pleiades with my 8x43 binoculars and slowly moved downward and I found the comet in the bottom right of my binocular view.

My attempt at a pic, 70d and a 50-500 plus a bit of a cloudy area where the comet was. Now if only the powercut earllier this morning had happened tonight! 

comet lovejoy, a delightful fuzzy blob! by scilly puffin, on Flickr

[Fish]

Was a easy target in Stoke tonight, 7x 50 binoculars first followed by the C8 at 52x . In the C8 it was a fantastic sight , convinced it gave you the impresion it was moving even though no sign of a tail. Went to get the wife and even she gave a wow, and that takes some doing . Hope all get to see it at some point...

[jason.p]

Stop rubbing it in you lot! Twice I set up and twice a heavy shower came out of nowhere. Everything soaked. Skies clearing then clouding up. Finally called it a day (night) at about 11pm.

Mmmm......8000 years. I'll check Clear Outside. Not holding my breath!!

[Pete Presland]

Great to hear all the "sightings" of Lovejoy well done to eveybody who has seen it, keep going to anybody who is still looking she will be around for a while.

[Ptarmigan]

Stop rubbing it in you lot! Twice I set up and twice a heavy shower came out of nowhere. Everything soaked. Skies clearing then clouding up. Finally called it a day (night) at about 11pm.

Mmmm......8000 years. I'll check Clear Outside. Not holding my breath!!

Sorry to hear that you didnt get a break.

As well as the "Like" button we ought to have a "Sympathy" or "Commisserations " button !? Although, thinking about it, in this climate that would prob. overload the server with too much traffic !

Looking on the bright side - it should be around a wee while longer (unless it does an ISON )

[jason.p]

Sorry to hear that you didnt get a break.

As well as the "Like" button we ought to have a "Sympathy" or "Commisserations " button !? Although, thinking about it, in this climate that would prob. overload the server with too much traffic !

Looking on the bright side - it should be around a wee while longer (unless it does an ISON )

I'm sure I'm not the only one suffering from the vagaries of our weather, far from it! I must however admit to feeling a bit despondent, and looking at "Clear Outside", there's little chance in the coming week.

On a more positive note. How long will Lovejoy be around with a reasonable chance to see it? Looks like it could still be around at the end of the month. Should get a clear sky between now and then. Not asking too much is it!!??

[Ptarmigan]

How long will Lovejoy be around with a reasonable chance to see it? Looks like it could still be around at the end of the month. Should get a clear sky between now and then. Not asking too much is it!!??

Good question(s) !

It is not a sun-grazer (I dont think ?) so it ought not to do an ISON (that was just my little jest) on the other hand Comet Holmes did a spectacular blow-up a few years ago when it was a long way off. So I dunno, predicting comets is a dodgy business

The site often quoted is

http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/

(Nice pdf chart/finder there)

which says it will dim by 0.7 mag ( a surprising degree of presumed acuracy and I have it still brightening ! ) and moving into Andromeda. That is getting nice and high into clearer, darker?,  sky area so I'd say prospects look good (is that tempting providence, or what ! )

From Cometchasing :

"This comet begins the month in Lepus at magnitude 4.9. Look for a 31.5' coma. It should fade by about 0.7 magnitudes, moving into Andromeda by month's end."

Not asking too much is it!!??

shhhhh, sharp intake of breath lol !

Good luck

[ronin]

Posted elsewhere but I was fortunate last night, it was literally a straight line out the front door and up a bit.

I could stand or sit in the porch out of the wind and see it.

And they turn my street lights out at sometime around midnight so it was dark.

Would say that from somewhere a bit darker it could have been a naked eye object.

Not 100% if I could make it out by eye last night but you got the feeling something was there. Equally knowing something was there sorts of plays tricks.

Wonder if it will be better the net time round, we'll have to wait and see.

[Ptarmigan]

 and moving into Andromeda. That is getting nice and high into clearer, darker?,  sky area so I'd say prospects look good (is that tempting providence, or what ! )

Arrgh ! I forgot about the moon (how could I be so stupid !), not darker at all, cos the moon will be moving into Andromeda as well.

So catch it now -next few(10ish ?) nights, if you can.

after the moon moves out of the way will Lj then be getting into evening twilight ? Not sure, need to excersize Stellarium some more >>

[jason.p]

Arrgh ! I forgot about the moon (how could I be so stupid !), not darker at all, cos the moon will be moving into Andromeda as well.

So catch it now -next few(10ish ?) nights, if you can.

after the moon moves out of the way will Lj then be getting into evening twilight ? Not sure, need to excersize Stellarium some more >>

It doesn't look good this week. Fingers crossed for week after.

Thanks for help.

[DRT]

Friday could be a good day to see it - it will be just south west of the Pleiades so should be an easy spot in binoculars and a spectacular target for wide-field imagers

[jason.p]

It looks like we've got a few hours clear sky tonight. Probably my best chance for Lovejoy. I've got a fair idea of the area it will be in. Are there any "landmarks" I can use to help narrow my search?

Thanks

Jason

[DRT]

It looks like we've got a few hours clear sky tonight. Probably my best chance for Lovejoy. I've got a fair idea of the area it will be in. Are there any "landmarks" I can use to help narrow my search?

Thanks

Jason

it will be a few degrees south west of Plaiedes tonight so should be easy to spot.

[Pete Presland]

It was still a easy spot last night despite the awful weather! Fingers crossed I tonight

[laudropb]

Finally got it last night. First night with a break in the clouds, but gale force winds meant I could only use bins

[Astro Imp]

Finally got it last night. First night with a break in the clouds, but gale force winds meant I could only use bins

Same as me here in Lincoln really blowing very hard but had a quick squint with the bins, hoping to get the scope on it to-night.

[Pete Presland]

Awful last night i dare not get the DSLR/tripod out, bino's only!

[firstscope]

just got love joy with the dob 

[Gweedo]

Just got it with binos down here in clear sky, but cold Wales.

[jason.p]

Wow, just found it. Am I chuffed!! Found it first with bins then with scope. I'm sure you can see it naked eye! It's bigger and brighter than I thought. While I was out I had my first look at Hind's crimson star. Very pretty. It's such a beatiful sky, I'll be out again despite freezing hard already!

Thanks everyone for help.

[Astro Imp]

Have seen Lovejoy a couple of times with bins and tonight went straight to it with the bins, didn't even need to do a sweep. Then got the scope out and found it quite easily moving down from M45. I thought it looked like a slightly greenish unresolved glob with a bright centre.

[DaveS]

Found it easily with the bins tonight, but there's just too much light to make it out naked eye.

[laser_jock99]

Just about naked eye here in Warks.

Easily visible in my camera view finder and the 8" F2.9 scope. Collecting data as I type............

[SlyReaper]

Just found it with my 10 inch dob.  Couldn't resist attempting a photo, even if it's probably a lost cause with my setup.  Currently guzzling photons at a rate of 1 frame every 20 seconds.  It just looks like a grey blob, but there's always a chance I might capture something more?  Who knows, I think it's worth a try.