JAN 17TH - C/2022/ E3 (ZTF) FIRST VIEW.

[paulastro]

At last a chance to observe E3.  Alarm on for 4.30am, and outside with the 8inch StarSense Explorer Dob ready to go at 4.50am.  Lying snow, very icey and -5, but clear.  Transparency not great, but the best opportunity I've had. Thin crescent Moon low in the East.

Switched on the SS Explorer App which has the comet in its data base, brought it up via search, pressed locate object, pushed the dob along the arrows leading to it on the phone's  screen, looked in the eyepiece and there it was, taking all of a couple of minutes to locate.

The comet, in the middle of the field, was immediately obvious, looking very much like an unresolved globular cluster.  On closer inspection it had a spherical coma which was bigger than I expected in the 24mm 68 deg ES.  As I became more dark adapted, there was a tenuous tail heading approximately toward the N.  Its exact length was difficult to assertain due to its ephemeral nature, but it was at least half way across the field, so  around a degree perhaps?

I put in the Baader Mk 111 zoom for a closer view.  Zooming up to x150, the nucleus became apparent within the coma which was not visible at lower powers.  

I realised that M13 and M92 were nearby and would make good comparison objects, it took less than a minute to move to and fro from the comet to these two globulars in turn.

M92 was clearly smaller than the comets coma. As far as I could tell M13 and the coma were around the same apparent size, though the globular had a less clear outline due to its edge consisting of thinning stars as you move outward from the centre.  In terms of mag, M13 was brighter, though not by very much.  The comet perhaps being in the mag 6.5 to 6.0 ball park?

The comet was lovely in the 8inch and is an easy object, very globular cluster like at present as I mentioned.  It's looking very good as it comes closest to the earth at the start of February.  If it does get to around to m4.5 and the tail brightens, it should be even better!  

Well worth getting up for 😊.

Below  position of comet at 5.00am, altitude 59.

Edited January 17, 2023 by paulastro
Location pic added.

[mikeDnight]

Freezing fog here from midnight until mid morning. 

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Freezing fog here from midnight until mid morning. 

Sorry Mike, there might be a chance tonight or tomorrow - though I fear it may be even more cold 😱.

[paulastro]

PS we are over 800 feet altitude, it was foggy until after 10 in Keighley and the surrounding valleys.