No joy on Lovejoy

[David P Osborne]

Failed to locate Lovejoy tonight but think I was a little out. Pretty sure from other posts that should be able to pick it up in 9x50 finder. However I had a great time in and around Orion - M42, M78, Melissa cluster with my new SW Myriad 9mm which gave great views. First time I have really stayed with M42 for some time and amazing how detail starts to appear - resolved the trapezium. Then spent time on Jupiter and again Myriad performed well and detail came out as I stayed with it. I know folks keep saying that it pays to take time but really is so. Despite missing comet had a good session. Next clear night will try for Lovejoy again - it appears from maps nearer to Orion and Hades than I thought.

[David P Osborne]

Sorry - Melissa should be Melissa and Hades should be Hyades

[David P Osborne]

Predictive text does not like Meissa. But after three types it finally does not correct

[ghostdance]

At least you had a good time with Jupes et al

Lovecraf....er, joy will be around and higher over January (Cthulhu needs it for the correct star align to raise Rl'yeh) so still time...once you're in the area with the Rigel, you should see it as a misty patch in the RACI (bit of hunting usually req'd). Good luck.

(Nurse, the screens. ' E's gorn Lovecraft again.....)

[DaveS]

Just seen Lovejoy through my 7x50s. No chance of naked eye from here.

[Qualia]

Your best bet, David is to download Stellarium if you haven't done so already and plug in the coordinates of Lovejoy. JB80 wrote an excellent way of doing that which you can find here. Recall that the comets official name is C/2014 Q2.

After you've got Lovejoy displayed on Stellarium, hone in to a comfortable screen shot for star hopping and print that page out. If you are using your reflector to star hop, flip the image north side south if you fancy. If you're using a RACI don't bother 

To get some idea of what to expect, have a little look at this post. I've just put together a little star-hop for 21:30 UTC which gives some idea of what you could do leaping from Taurus. Hopefully you'll have some clear skies Sunday evening and good luck   

[frugal]

We were lucky enough to be able to see it in a pair of binoculars tonight in between patches of cloud.

[David P Osborne]

Thanks for the tips. I'm sure I was not quite in the right area and too far away from Riel and/or Hades. Thanks for the star hop chart Qualia. I am hopeful for next attempt and as it gets a little higher I may be less affected by local light pollution.

[FenlandPaul]

It was definitely visible to the naked eye from here last night. Amazing. No discernible tale to my eyes though (even through the bins).

Paul

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[David P Osborne]

Thanks Qualia for the link re Stellarium plug in. Having updated from my existing version it worked a treat. Fast forwarding to tonight just for example (as forecast is lousy here for tonight) I see I was definitely hunting last night in wrong area - as I suspected a little too far away from Orion. So here's hoping for some clear skies soon and I can put it to the test/practice

[Astro Imp]

Good luck David.

As an aside I find Stellarium a really great piece of software, I keep finding out more and more ways to make it useful and downloaded the comet plug in last night.

[jason.p]

I've only got the mobile version of Stellarium on my tab. Don't think you can programme comets etc. Desktop PC is dead. I might try and get the laptop away from Mrs.P long enough to download the full version. (Anyone with shares in ebay might notice a slump...Apologies!!)

[philhas]

Found it first time in my 7x40s really surprised, went and got the 15x70's on it and it looked superb. Went to get the scope, back outside and high hazy cloud had turned up. With a bit of luck it will clear and I can have a look through the scope.

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[mikeyrea]

Gap in the clouds around dusk so I loaded up my telescope and headed off to a dark(ish) spot.  Couldn't really pick it up with the naked eye but found it pretty easily in the 9x50 Finderscope.   Nice fuzzy blob.  Thought I might get a better view from an EP but couldn't seem to focus...

That was then I realized the cloud had rolled in

Found this helpful - http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html - easy to print off as well!

[Jase_v2]

I too managed to get a very brief view of Lovejoy last night also - first time the scope has been out in weeks with this weather. Well worth it though - easily in the bino's and RACI and a lovely view my lowest power EP. Didnt get a chance for much else  - clouds within minutes!

[Hermit]

Managed just 5 seconds last night through the 10x50s via high thin cloud, then thick cloud rolled in.

Still time yet... 

[starman1969]

I first saw it when it was well below Rigel, but the weather has been so bad I've only spotted it once since then. Just need a clear spell in the next week or so to get the best of it before the moon comes back.

[ccfcbob]

Found it easy enough on Stellarium but it did require an update to the databse.

Any idea how long we will get for good views and Lovejoy? Weather hopeless around here, half a chance for couple of hours Friday.

[David P Osborne]

Now there is some joy. Some clear sky earlier to night and picked it up in my 8x42 bins. Here's hoping for clear sky at weekend when I can then get the scope on it

[Qualia]

Any idea how long we will get for good views and Lovejoy? Weather hopeless around here, half a chance for couple of hours Friday.

You've still got time As far as I understand the situation the comet is moving away from Earth and sailing towards the Sun. It will reach perihelion around the 30^th January. It will gradually fade (have no idea to what extent) as it moves towards the Sun, then will eventually be out of sight (March time) and reappear around May as quite a faint object near the northern pole. After that I guess it will gradually fade away from our perspective as it hurtles into the freeze of space. 

[Astrobits]

Got a lovely view of it during a break in the clouds around 7PM last night. Saw it NE and with 15 x 50 bins there was a suspicion of a tail.

Nigel

[David P Osborne]

Tried again last night and clouds rolled in just as set up. But better luck tonight and got some great views. Really quite cuffed as this is my first comet. Looked lovely. Thanks for all the help on here.

[David P Osborne]

Chuffed not cuffed!