Comet Neowise

[Pete Presland]

Comet Neowise is putting on a very good just before dawn at the moment. It looked wonderful in my 15X70 Binoculars this morning. A very very easy spot just below and to the East of the constellation of Auriga. A very broad fan tail is easily observed through them. Not quite visible to my naked eye though, it will interesting to see how it develops over the coming weeks.

[Mike JW]

Enjoyed seeing F3 this morning. Once located with 8 x 32 bins I could just pick it up with the naked eye at 3.10am before loosing it to the twilight. Core had a golden/yellow appearance and a sharp curving tail.  (Equally wonderful was the moon close to Jupiter/Saturn, Mars high in the sky and Venus sparkling away low in the East.)

Mike

[Pete Presland]

Yes trio of the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter was a welcome sight at that unearthly hour 🙂

[andrew63]

I had a stunning view of Comet Neowise this morning from 3.15 onwards. It was an easy naked eye sight in crisp clear conditions. In 10x50s it was just spectacular -  the nucleus sparkling and breathtaking with the tail pointing straight up and filling half the field. I could see it fanning out with a dark split in the middle, in fact my first impression was it looks like a photograph. I think it was around +1. The ISS passed overhead, it was a memorable morning!

Andrew

[Pete Presland]

Incredible sight again tonight/this morning. A real treat in my 15x70's, a lovely bright nucleus and a very long broad tail.

It's a must see object!

[John]

11 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

...It's a must see object!

It certainly is !!!!

[gurneyfan67]

Finally got a look at Comet Neowise this morning at a darker site out side of the city. Just an amazing view in the 10x50 Pentax bins. I could easily find it using bright Capella as a guide. The yellowish nucleus easily seen and the long tail a slight orange, I hope to try and see it with my scope when it emerges in the twilight in the next few days. Definitely worth seeing!

[sputniksteve]

Wonderful view in my 15x70 bins last night 11.30-12.30pm. 

[Pete Presland]

2 visits to the countryside Friday/Saturday morning, just after midnight and again before Sunrise. It is just amazing to see this hanging in the sky just above the northern horizon. The tail looked quite a bit longer from the last time i viewed it through my 15x70's, going to take a tripod and my 20x80's next time as well.

[Marvin Jenkins]

I am using a 1970s pair of 10x30s and the view was incredible. Held against the side of a convenient telephone pole to remove hand shake.

Marv

[HollyHound]

I’ve just seen it, as it’s starting to get dark here. Visible both by eye and also with my 8x56 binoculars... incredibly amazing sight 😀

[George Jones]

It was clear all day yesterday, and the forecast was for mainly clear all night, so, at 11:00 pm, I set up scope for a visual session with Jupiter and Saturn before bed. By the time I was ready to align the scope, the sky was mainly cloudy, and Jupiter was not visible. i came inside to read, while periodically sticking my head outside to check on the situation. Things did not improve, so at 12:15, I decided to take down and put away the scope.

When I finished, I came in through my back deck door, noticed my 10x50s sitting by the door, and thought "I should take these into back garden and see if there is a break in the clouds to the north." There was! I easily spotted Capella, looked left, and immediately saw NEOWISE with my naked eyes from a city of 80000. This was first sighting of NEOWISE, as I've had clouds, clouds, clouds. Put my bins up, and was floored by the sight!

I went back inside to get collect my 15x70s and my wife, who was still up in her home office. NEOWISE was spectacular in my 15x70s. My wife saw the comet with her eyes, and with the 10x50s, but she had no interest in trying the 15x70s,

If it is clear tonight, I will get my 13-year-old daughter up to have a look.

Awesome!!!

[Pete Presland]

I took my 20 x 80's last night, but i prefer the view in 15 x 70's and they are easier to scan other parts of the sky without the tripod attached. Neowise still looking superb even from my bedroom window in town as well.

[gurneyfan67]

I have yet to view it in the evening sky but plan to go out west of town tonight where I can get a good horizon view. I plan on taking my Pentax 10x50s but also my grab and go Tal Alkor for a higher mag peek. The view in the dawn sky was awesome!

 

[Pete Presland]

Not seen it now for a couple of days, hopefully there are some clear skies coming.

[Marvin Jenkins]

I got a look last night a little after 23:00 my time. I wanted to see the flip side so to speak, after observing it Sunday morning and getting a few pics. Nice to see the difference between sun down and before dawn.

It was a fair bit higher in altitude than I thought it would be, but I almost gave up thinking Stellarium must be wrong! I walked back down the lane and gave one last forlorn look and bang there she was. Quick about turn and run back to my spot.

That transition from last light to almost darkness is critical. Just those few minutes made all the difference. I took some photos (15 for first attempt at stacking a Comet) and had a good look with my old 10x30s. 
 

Quite different from Sunday morning. The tail wasn’t quite so bright, but another hour might have solved that. The core though was so much tighter and defined, like a bright point of light rather than a diffuse ball at the head of the tail.

so happy to have had a second stab and managed to top and tail the experience especially as the weather has no idea what it wants to do. Hopefully clear on the weekend and I will attempt to get the 130 newt on it.

I will post the picture on Imaging Wide Field and Comments if anyone wants to see another Neowise.

Marvin

[AstroPhil]

Sucess here as well - using my Opticron 8x32's just a few moments ago. Fair bit of light pollution, but despite that, diffuse tail and a compact core both very obvious. Super nice!

[Alan White]

A look last night, much dimmer I feel now.
But spotted naked eye and super in the Olympus 10x 50's.
 

[Paul M]

I think my naked eye view last night will be my last. Fading fast now and it's slowly reducing altitude means it'll be lost all too soon even for telescopic observers in the N hemisphere.

[Pete Presland]

I have just had another look tonight, still a quite bright sky at the moment though. Looked like a definite green tinge to the core through my 15x70's, i am going to look again around midnight and capture a few images, clouds permitting of course!

[gurneyfan67]

Out viewing in my yard last night with the Tal Alkor to see Saturn and Jupiter at close approach. While waiting for my targets to clear the trees I had a look for Comet Neowise. I had difficulty seeing the comet without optics but when I tried my Pentax 10x50s I found it quickly. Definitely dimmer than when I saw it in the dawn sky and color is now more greenish in hue. Still a glorious sight though.

[Pete Presland]

Its been a great journey so far, hopefully we have a few weeks left to view this beauty!

[scarp15]

On 15/07/2020 at 21:43, Pete Presland said:

I took my 20 x 80's last night, but i prefer the view in 15 x 70's and they are easier to scan other parts of the sky without the tripod attached. Neowise still looking superb even from my bedroom window in town as well.

That is interesting. I traveled to a lofty dark site on Sunday night and observed the comet between 11.30pm and 2.10am, taking my 16 x 70 Lunt's and a TV-85. I took a mix of ultra wide field focal lengths for the refractor, whilst good the image was not as satisfying as provided by the binoculars. The image in the binoculars was quite astounding, a bright blue tinged nucleus vast long tail, very good contrast. It was hard to take my eyes off and whilst taking advantage of some planetary alignments and some brighter deep sky object, I was greedy for more observations of Neowise. I mounted the binoculars which are very light for the size, on a monopod and sat back on my adjustable observer's chair. A surreal night, in the far distance in this part of Northumberland, I could just hear the night (military) exercises from the Otterburn Ranges.

[philhilo]

Interesting you say blue tinged nucleus, I was getting green in last nights images along with some others, suggestions it is off gassing CO2. Didn't see this in previous images.

Edited July 21, 2020 by philhilo

[scarp15]

11 hours ago, philhilo said:

Interesting you say blue tinged nucleus, I was getting green in last nights images along with some others, suggestions it is off gassing CO2. Didn't see this in previous images.

Yes a blueish tinge, this became apparent late on in the session, no artificial light pollution from my location focused on observing due NW / N, average sky brightness readings were 20.03, good for my latitude 55.14N for this time of year.  

Edited July 22, 2020 by scarp15