Unpromising to start with but ultimately well worth turning out

[John]

Pretty poor skies earlier have now improved somewhat so getting the 12 inch dob out to see one comet has delivered somewhat more !

Here is my report on spotting comet C/2020 R4 Atlas, followed by another post when I found comet C/2020 T2 Palomar - both within 2 degrees of each other just now:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/375031-c2020-r4-atlas/?do=findComment&comment=4081253

Add to the comets improving views of the globular clusters M3, M13 and M92, the Cat's eye nebula and the fine double stars Izar and Eta Draconis and my initial misgivings about the conditions have been replaced by a grin and an enjoyable session.

Might even see if the supernova is still glowing in Draco

 

[John]

Despite some streamers of cloud starting to interfere, I managed to find NGC 3147 in Draco and, with a little difficulty and using 257x magnification, managed to tease out supernova SN 2021 hpr which is currently gleaming dimly at magnitude 13.8 or thereabouts.

Ended the session with a quick look at Nova V1405 Cas which I thought looked a little brighter than my last viewing - maybe magnitude 7.5 tonight ?

Overall a pleasing session with some challenging targets amongst more regular gems.

Any session with 2 comets on view is a good one

[wookie1965]

You get a lot more chances to get out than I do and I love the reports from your different scopes really appreciate even what a small refractor will get you.