Where Can I Find Comet Lovejoy in the Sky Right Now?

[davenn]

Comet Lovejoy is well placed in the sky for the next week or so... it has just gone past peak magnitude of M4.2 around 4 days ago ( 9th Jan). But it is still a bright and easy object particularly with binoculars
Visually ( from a dark site) or in binoculars, its a bright fuzzy blob ... sort of similar looking to a globular cluster ... It takes a good telescope or a photo to pick the blue/green colour.

As of today 14 Jan it is passing through Taurus

Here's a couple of finder charts with appropriate orientations for the northern hemisphere ...

and the southern hemisphere ...

cheers
Dave

 

[Bystander]

the blue/green colour.

I give up. Anything known or suspected causing the color?

 

[davenn]

yup

actually its not an uncommon colour in comets

"The green color is due to two gases emanating from the comet: cyanogen and diatomic carbon, which both fluoresce green when UV sunlight strikes them"

so I'm told ;)

Finally a clear nite here after 5 nites of cloud, have the car packed with telescope and camera gear and am heading out to a dark site
hopefully get some reasonable pixcheers
Dave

 

[Bystander]

cyanogen and diatomic carbon

They'll drum me out of the ACS for this. Cross your fingers the weather breaks for my neck of the woods. I haven't seen sun, moon, stars for close to two weeks.

 

[davenn]

I haven't seen sun, moon, stars for close to two weeks.

:( not good mate

OK just got home from a trip to a dark site
here's a quick pic before I go to bed it's after midnite ... no processing other than cropping and resizing for the forum
400mm, f6.3, 30 sec @ 1600 ISO

cheers
Dave

 

[DaveC426913]

I want to go out in the next couple of nights to see it, and I might send some less experienced friends out to look, so I've made some maps that I think will help them find it better than than pro maps davenn provided.

It's passing south of the Pleiades, which shouldn't be hard to locate, but it's dim enough at 5.0 and dropping that I've included a zoomed in version of the most proximal stars as a star-hopping aid.

 

[davenn]

Hi Dave

It was in its correct location as indicated for the 14th ( I'm in Australia) It was easily naked eye visible from the dark site I was at

so if you get clear skies go for it ! :)

cheers
Dave

 

[DaveC426913]

It was easily naked eye visible from the dark site I was at

A mag 5.0 object would be at the limit of my my half-century-old eyes.

But I have my 6" scope at a friend's farm, so I will see if I can make my way up there this weekend.

 

[davenn]

A mag 5.0 object would be at the limit of my half-century-old eyes.

LOL I know the feeling ... I'm 55, but my main problem is double visioning ... prismed lenses in my glasses help a lot
the worse thing is I cannot focus really close up and trying to make sure objects are in focus through the camera is extremely difficult :(

seeing how bright it was last nite I would estimate it to be M 4.5 - 5.0. Haven't seen any official figures as yet

the 6" scope will give you a great view ... it was huge in 7x50 bino's last nite

D

 

[davenn]

so Dave,
did you get a chance to see it ? hope so

OK, that pic above was a single 30 sec exposure
This one is a combination 7 x 30 sec exposures, I use a program called DSS ... Deep Sky Stacker
It takes all your individual images, aligns the stars within them and produces rendition that can then be worked on in photoshop etc

cheers
Dave

 

[DaveC426913]

so Dave,
did you get a chance to see it ? hope so

I went out for a constitutional* down by the lake last night, but wouldn't you know it, a bank of high clouds rolled by just as I got to a good observing site.

I'll try again tonight, but holy snarpin' arses it's cold out there.

*cigar

 

[davenn]

ok on the cold
tis really hot down in this part of the world

good luck for tonite's viewing :)

 

[DaveC426913]

:( Full overcast.

 

[davenn]

crap :(

only thing in your advantage is that its climbing higher into the sky

for me its heading towards the NW horizon I am looking at going out tonite again, even tho I have to be up early in the morning
Its going to be about the last chance to get to see and photo it before our weather craps out over the next few days

Dave

 

[Garth]

Thank you for your finder chart.

I saw it last night with binoculars, it was just a blob. I possibly saw the tail but nothing like Comet Lovejoy's Tail . (APOD 17.01.15)

Garth

 

[davenn]

Hi there Garth
Well done ! :)

I went out again on Friday nite. Still a very easy naked eye object around Mag 4.5. Huge blob in the bino's couldn't see any tail visually
That only came out in the photos

its takes serious photography and post processing to produce a tail looking like the one in your link :)

cheers
Dave