Comet 2023 H2 Lemmon

[andrew63]

I was able to observe comet H2 Lemmon tonight in 8x42 binoculars. It's in Hercules and has moved a lot in a few days and is well placed in a dark sky. It's very diffuse and quite large, I estimate brighter than 8th magnitude. Nothing more than a faint smudge but it's always good to view a binocular comet ☄️

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

Sorry I just posted in the wide field section in my excitement. I have a Lemmon in the bag.

Marv

[IB20]

I’m not seeing it with the 15x70s. I know I’m in the right area as I’m around 110 & 111 Herc but my skies are just a little bit too bright lower down in that direction. Think I need it to be a higher altitude so will try again earlier on tomorrow.

[andrew63]

Yes in forms a triangle with those two stars - it's very diffuse so the darker the skies the better.

[John]

I got it with 11x70's about 4 hours back. It's dimmer than M27 but about the same apparent size through the binoculars.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by John

[johnturley]

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

I’m not seeing it with the 15x70s. I know I’m in the right area as I’m around 110 & 111 Herc but my skies are just a little bit too bright lower down in that direction. Think I need it to be a higher altitude so will try again earlier on tomorrow.

It was hard to spot through my Esprit 150, quite large and diffuse, but obvious through my 14in Newtonian though.

John 

[IB20]

Caught it tonight when at a much higher altitude. I have to say it’s a relatively tough spot in the 15x bins but luckily is easily to locate just south of Deneb al Okab. Mag 6.8 HD 176873 is just next to it and I’d say that’s probably a fair representation of its brightness despite being more diffuse! It’s certainly not the best comet I’ve seen that’s for sure.

[Nik271]

I saw it last evening at 6:30pm when it was near Zeta Aquilae. It was easy to spot in my 20x80 bins,  quite large in size as others have observed. It is also moving very rapidly, about 10 degrees per 24 hrs. This should be the expected peak of its brightness as it is passing very close to us  - less than 0.2 AU away according to Stellarium.

[lunator]

I saw it Monday in my 15x70s. It was tricky but definitely visible.