Comet C/2019 Y4 (Atlas) brightening fast

[Pete Presland]

The nice bright triangle of stars is a very convenient signpost to it at the moment. Unfortunately, because i was only planning a very short session out last night i didn't fit my dew shield. After a quick star-hop and fairly longish time peering into the eyepiece the penny dropped!  Another go tonight i think, weather permitting.

[Stu]

SkySafari was bang on for me last night, this is the position for 10pm tonight

[bish]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

SkySafari was bang on for me last night, this is the position for 10pm tonight

I spent a good half hour about 3 degrees out and assumed it was too faint. It better be clear over the next few nights!

[bish]

11 hours ago, John said:

I find Cartes du Ciel pretty much spot on with comets.

 

I've never tried that one. Can"t hurt to have another app on my phone! 

[Stu]

44 minutes ago, bish said:

I spent a good half hour about 3 degrees out and assumed it was too faint. It better be clear over the next few nights!

Yes, unless I knew exactly where it was I would have very little chance from here.

[John]

When I observed it Last night this comet was very close to the "small triangle" of the star hop route to M81+82 that Stu shared some time back:

 

It will be just off the top star of that triangle tonight at 9:00 pm so relatively easy to find its position:

 

 

[John]

15 minutes ago, bish said:

I've never tried that one. Can"t hurt to have another app on my phone! 

Not an app I'm afraid. Its a PC application. I tend not to use a mobile when observing especially when going for faint stuff.

[bish]

35 minutes ago, Stu said:

Yes, unless I knew exactly where it was I would have very little chance from here.

PANSTARRS  was at my limit and I knew exactly where to look 

[bish]

24 minutes ago, John said:

When I observed it Last night this comet was very close to the "small triangle" of the star hop route to M81+82 that Stu shared some time back:

 

It will be just off the top star of that triangle tonight at 9:00 pm so relatively easy to find its position:

 

 

I was the wrong end of the small triangle😟

[bish]

25 minutes ago, John said:

Not an app I'm afraid. Its a PC application. I tend not to use a mobile when observing especially when going for faint stuff.

PC is as good for me in my garden.

[Stu]

28 minutes ago, John said:

When I observed it Last night this comet was very close to the "small triangle" of the star hop route to M81+82 that Stu shared some time back:

 

It will be just off the top star of that triangle tonight at 9:00 pm so relatively easy to find its position:

 

 

Yep, those are the three stars showing in my chart which is a much larger scale than shown in yours.

Unfortunately, the LP round here means that dark adaptation is hard to achieve, but turning the brightness down as using a red mode can be very effective. I’ve used a phone at dark sites before and with a red film covering the screen didn’t feel it affected my vision adversely.

[John]

At least it's an easy star hop tonight:

Sigma 1 ------> Sigma 2 ------> Rho --------> ??????? now where is the darn thing ???????

 

[Ludd]

Here it is near the triangle, with M81 and M82 at the bottom of the frame, at about 10.30 last night 

[John]

I found this comet and Panstarrs again with my ED120 refractor tonight. Panstarrs is still a little brighter and a little larger. Both easy to overlook still.

 

[bish]

9 hours ago, John said:

I found this comet and Panstarrs again with my ED120 refractor tonight. Panstarrs is still a little brighter and a little larger. Both easy to overlook still.

 

Panstarrs seemed bigger to me last night, but that could have been the conditions.  Still no luck with Atlas despite Heavens above listing it as mag 8.

[Geoff Barnes]

Interesting article at https://www.spaceweather.com/ today, showing its position.

Well below the horizon here, hoping it will become visible here in May as it nears the sun and its brightness intensifies.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Geoff Barnes

[Paul73]

1 hour ago, Geoff Barnes said:

Interesting article at https://www.spaceweather.com/ today, showing its position.

Well below the horizon here, hoping it will become visible here in May as it nears the sun and its brightness intensifies.

The article is suggesting that this comet might become a bright naked eye object over the next few months..... Has anybody seen anything else reputable backing this view??

Paul

[Waddensky]

4 hours ago, Paul73 said:

The article is suggesting that this comet might become a bright naked eye object over the next few months..... Has anybody seen anything else reputable backing this view??

Paul

Surprisingly, Wikipedia has assembled some interesting views from several reputable sources on the brightness predictions of C/2019 Y4.

[JamesF]

On 14/03/2020 at 14:59, Mark at Beaufort said:

I have just decided to update Stellarium and Comet c/2019 Y4 (Atlas) is not on the download list - correction now done.  

Strange.  I'm sure I found it in Stellarium last night.

James

[JamesF]

Just now, JamesF said:

Strange.  I'm sure I found it in Stellarium last night.

James

Hah!  Misread the date of your post.  Today is 24th, not 14th

James

[Davey-T]

Had trouble finding it with Stellarium co-ord's tonight but Sky Safari got it in camera field of view which on 10"SCT and Atik314 isn't very big, Stellarium was one arc minute difference, not much but enough to miss it with GoTo, should have star hopped  😂

Dave

[Nova2000]

Prediction say magnitude -2. In last week for May . Interesting

[maw lod qan]

I read on an internet report that it could become brighter than Venus. If so, that would be quite impressive.

I guess though with a period exceeding 5000 years, it's a good bet I wont be around to see it again.

[lukebl]

20 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

I read on an internet report that it could become brighter than Venus. If so, that would be quite impressive.

I guess though with a period exceeding 5000 years, it's a good bet I wont be around to see it again.

I think that refers to the total magnitude. A fuzzy blob at mag -4 will look a lot fainter than an a concentrated object like Venus also at mag -4.

Still mighty impressive though.

[Nova2000]

Depends on how big that blob is

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by Nova2000