Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

[CentaurZ]

13 minutes ago, HaleBopp2007 said:

These look great! Except for the last one. I don't think the comet was so dim today. A 3rd magnitude comet would not be naked eye visible in the twilight. I think the comet is brighter than in your ephemerids. 

Thanks for your observational report of comet brightness. I used JPL magnitude parameters for computer input. Their ephemeris magnitudes are in agreement with mine.

Estimates of future magnitudes can be wildly off for comets. Your magnitude estimate made by current observation is far more likely to be correct.

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by CentaurZ

[HaleBopp2007]

Check out in COBS. The comet is now 1.6 mag, and there appears to be a tiny chance that the comet is in an outburst. 

[Corncrake]

45 minutes ago, HaleBopp2007 said:

The comet is now 1.6 mag,

Who said that, when ?

This is my mag estimate last night, 23:30ut.
A 60sec trail (it is easier to judge brightness in trails than condensed spots)
sky brightness does not affect the camera, but wisps of cloud might

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Corncrake

[Corncrake]

 

So I think it is 2.0 or dimmer !

Woaaaa it is getting dark, I spy a clear sky, time I jumped in my car for another peek

I wonder if I will get lucky with some Nocti ?

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Corncrake

[HaleBopp2007]

10 minutes ago, Corncrake said:

Who said that, when ?

Well, according to COBS, the estimated magnitude is 1.6, but it is obvious that they can be wrong... 

[Corncrake]

You mean according to an observation posted in cobs by an observer ?

 

[Waddensky]

For illustration, here's a graph showing the latest observations from COBS. The range in estimates is huge, varying between 1.2 and 2.0 over the last 24 hours. Possibly underlining the difficulty in estimating the brightness of a comet in twilight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a comet to see 😁.

[IB20]

Second evening viewing the comet, I could look at it all night. Such an incredibly beautiful celestial object.

[John]

It is still looking lovely and a bit higher up than it was last night. Not sure if it's brighter or not - probably around the same.

 

[Corncrake]

30 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

 huge, varying between 1.2 and 2.0 over the last 24 hours.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a comet to see 😁.

Yes, exactly ! No good quoting decimals without authority is there !

Good luck.

 

[Jonk]

I’ve just watched it drift behind some trees and I would say it looked better tonight than last night. Probably as it’s a bit higher.

It was also fairly easy to see naked eye, including hints of the tail.

That was just now, around 23:00.

The tail also appeared better in the bins than last night.

Such a thought provoking object to observe.

Love it!

[JamesF]

Going to be another hour or so for me I think.  Even Capella is still behind the trees.

James

[davhei]

Much better conditions today than my observation from two nights ago. I’m at a more southerly location and there is less cloud. Definitely a naked eye object now which is wasn’t two nights ago for me. Been sitting outside observing with binos for two hours now, time just flies by..

Image with mobile cam through binos. Pretty desperate I know...

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by davhei

[Davey-T]

Nice cloud bank on the horizon here, can just make out Capella occasionally.

Dave

Edited July 11, 2020 by Davey-T

[Waddensky]

Again, a wonderful sight tonight. Slightly less transparent air but the comet is a bit higher above the horizon. The coma and tail are quite prominent with the naked eye, the binos showed a nice but subtle structure in the tail.

The observation turned into an outreach event when some bystanders asked what I was looking for and I pointed a public tower viewer (normally used to view the sea) at the comet. People have heard of it!

[tony4563]

Wow! She's Beautiful! What a tail!

Taken with a Canon G5X Mk2 in Handheld Night Scene Mode

Edited July 11, 2020 by tony4563

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Even better tonight. Thank you weather gods! I went out into the back garden at 1130 and NEOWISE was an obvious naked eye object. Over an hour later I'm still turning around from observing Jupiter through the 102 Mak to sneak a peek through the binos. Magnificent!

[Jem7]

Much more difficult here in Ireland tonight, plenty of cloud about, but I was just rewarded with a brief break in the cloud to allow 20 minutes or so with the binos. Not as spectacular as last night due to the conditions, but still worth the effort. I think after two late nights I'll retire to my sack and enjoy all the wonderful pics that are rolling in for a while.

[andrew63]

Had a glorious few hours with Neowise tonight. I decided to go down the bottom of the road, with a clear northern horizon. From just after 10 till midnight, a lovely sight again, still a thrill on first view - unmistakable naked eye and alive in 10x50. I took a tripod with me and took some photos, I'm glad I did to have a record of this glorious visitor Comet Neowise.

Andrew

 

[Davey-T]

Still waiting for it to come out of hiding here, meanwhile, Jupiter and Saturn have been entertaining and now Moon ad Mars fit nicely together in the 11 X 70s

Dave

[Ouroboros]

It’s a fine sight isn’t it?  I hadn’t read very much about this comet apart from where to look and I was astonished tonight to realise it was visible with unaided eye. I’ve never seen a comet  bright enough to see without bins or a telescope. I’m really chuffed to have the privilege of seeing it. 

[tooth_dr]

It wasnt looking good tonight so I had written it off and was having a couple of beers.  Just heading to bed around 12:30am and it looked clearish, so I headed out across a couple of fields on foot and found it just about in the clouds.  It's very low at this time.  I grabbed a couple of shots, but yet to catch the ion tail.   If it moved round to NE then I can get it from my dome.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by tooth_dr

[JamesF]

I'm feeling that the separation between it and Menkalinan is obviously larger today than it was yesterday, but I'd say it's definitely brighter too.  Just capturing some shots with the DSLR at the moment.  It's a bit of a strange thing, using a DSLR and timer.  I'm a bit out of practice.

James

[mcrowle]

It's great seeing all these observations and photos!

I'm just about to head off to my NEOWISE observing spot, as seen in the photo below (from this morning).

By about 3:30 the comet should be visible from my garden, so I can turn a telescope towards it . I say "should", though because there appears to be some cloud to the North now - I just hope it doesn't stick around!

(By the way, the red on the fence and shrubs on the right of the photo is from the red light on the single track rail line).

Regards, Mike.

Edited July 12, 2020 by mcrowle

[Pixies]

The clouds cleared briefly enough for me to find it. Visible to the naked eye, but hardly obvious with local light pollution. Looks great in 10x50 bins, though.

Couldn't make out any structure to the tail but the nucleus is bright and distinct - more so than on Tuesday morning, but that was a bit later and nearer to dawn.

I was going to get a camera/tripod and take it down to the beach, but the clouds don't look promising, and I've had a few beers by now, so time for bed. Still nowhere near as bright as Hale-Bopp, but great to see another with the naked eye.