Lovejoy

Davidth88

Guys

Have I misses Lovejoy , or is it still visible ?

Thanks

David

gizmo555

There's an informative piece by Alan Pickup in yesterday's "Observer":

A month ago I promised an update on the progress and appearance of Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy as it climbed to the right of Orion in our evening sky. The comet has not disappointed and, although not an impressive naked-eye object, it is probably now at its best. It shone near magnitude 4.5 as it swept closest to the Earth (70 million km) on 7 January and is unlikely to dim much before the month’s end.

Even in last week’s moonlight, it was obvious in binoculars, appearing as a round smudge up to half as wide as the Moon. There is a brighter core around the nucleus and a hint of tail slanting north-eastwards away from the Sun. With the Moon now out of the way, the comet shoul certainly be visible to the unaided eye if we have a decent dark sky and the tail may be less of a challenge. Lovejoy’s greenish colour, obvious in photographs, comes from molecules of cyanogen and diatomic carbon as they fluoresce in the ultraviolet light from the Sun.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/11/starwatch-the-path-of-comet-lovejoy

Iancar29

Davidth88 wrote: »

Guys

Have I misses Lovejoy , or is it still visible ?

Thanks

David

It'll be very close to the 7 sisters friday evening

Knifey Spoony

Just got a break in the clouds there and was able to find it quick enough. It is within a (10x50) binocular's field of view from Lambda Tauri. Still not quite naked eye where I am, but it really stands out in the binoculars. Looking forward to seeing photos of it next to the Pleiades.

Zubeneschamali

Clouds broke up around 11.00 last night, and I had a quick look. Dead easy to find with 10x50s, even in a town with light pollution, took about 5 seconds.

It could be naked-eye visible with a dark sky, I'd say.

ThunderCat

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Clouds broke up around 11.00 last night, and I had a quick look. Dead easy to find with 10x50s, even in a town with light pollution, took about 5 seconds.

It could be naked-eye visible with a dark sky, I'd say.

Just saw it there now with binoculars. Similar to Andromeda through the bins but with a blueish green hue. Great to see it. Any idea how far away from us it currently is?
Quick guide to finding it - if you use the hyades and the pleiades as two points of an equilateral triangle then the comet is the third point.

Dr.Teeth

ThunderCat wrote: »

Just saw it there now with binoculars. Similar to Andromeda though the bins but with a blueish green hue. Great to see it. Any idea how far away from us it currently is?
Quick guide to finding it - if you use the hyades and the pleiades as two points of a triangle then the comet is the third point.

Any guide for a layman...north, west etc...I know where the plough is ;-)

ThunderCat

Dr.Teeth wrote: »

Any guide for a layman...north, west etc...I know where the plough is ;-)

South. About 45 degrees or so at this exact moment. Id recommend downloading stellarium or google sky if you dont have them in order to get a better idea

emo72

its a wee bit under the pleiades, yep it only took about 5 seconds to find it. its a fuzzy ball not a sharp point of light. still its another one on the list ive seen.

Zubeneschamali

I could not see a tail as in this cartoon, though.

Hmmzis

This one's in the bag for me as well. In the 10x50 binos it was very apparent, no tail though. Naked eye was a bit of a challenge but averted vision and knowing where and what to look for did the job (barely but there). Now, if the winds would calm down a bit I could get out the scope and see if that can tease out the tail.

MayoForSam

Just had a look earlier with my 10x50's and it is visible as a fairly indistinct green smudge, no trace of a tail however. It's very close to the Seven Sisters tonight (Pleiades) - slightly right and down. Clouds are coming and going so it's pot luck for clear skies.

muskyj

spotted it tonight in 10x50s too. fuzzy blob. definitely no tail. tried to find it with naked eye but no joy. light polluted skies where I am though. Venus and Mercury just after sunset were a fantastic sight side by side.

greedygoblin

Just saw it this evening through binos as well. It's a fuzzy smudge.

Took a look at the Orion nebula as well with the 10x50s and was lucky enough to catch a meteor streaking through the field of view at the same time.