JAN 29TH 4.30AM, C/2022/ E3 ZTF

[paulastro]

Woke up at 4.15am, looked through window and saw some clearish sky in the N.  By 4.30 outside in dressing gown with the 10×50s.

Fast moving cloud and hazy gaps but easily picked up comet, navigating from Kochab.  The coma was very large, when I came in I estimated size from nearby stars on SkySafari, the coma was around 8/10 arcminutes, the edges being rather fuzzy and irregularly shaped.   Bear in mind this was in less than ideal conditions and with the comet at an uncomfortable high altitude for hand held binocs.

I could not see the tail with any certainty, either it was too hazy or not bright enough to be seen in the conditions. Watched the comet on and off until 5.10am before heading indoors.  I was lucky to have had my unexpected view.