Comet Lovejoy, C/2014 Q2

[frogesque]

A new Comet Lovejoy, designated C/2014 Q2, is heading our way out of deep space and out of the deep southern sky. It may brighten to 5th magnitude from late December through much of January as it climbs into excellent viewing position for the Northern Hemisphere, high in the dark winter night.

 

More from Sky and Telescope

 

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/binocular-comet-lovejoy-heading-c2014-q2-lovejoy-1211142/

 

At mag 5 this comet should be visible with the naked eye on a clear night and in early January should be easy to spot below Orion

[Steve C]

A new Comet Lovejoy, designated C/2014 Q2, is heading our way out of deep space and out of the deep southern sky. It may brighten to 5th magnitude from late December through much of January as it climbs into excellent viewing position for the Northern Hemisphere, high in the dark winter night.

 

More from Sky and Telescope

 

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/binocular-comet-lovejoy-heading-c2014-q2-lovejoy-1211142/

 

At mag 5 this comet should be visible with the naked eye on a clear night and in early January should be easy to spot below Orion

 

Thanks for the information. I do like to try and spot these.

[frogesque]

According to Spaceweather http://spaceweather.com/ Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 is now a naked eye object (M4.2)  from dark sky locations. If the cloud holds off I'm going to have a shot at spotting it with the bins tonight. Just past full moon though so not sure if I'll get the through the pollution and cack from the back door.

[Stargazer]

Saw the comet easily with binoculars in a heavily light polluted sky yesterday evening around 7pm before it clouded over here - it's to the right of Orion moving northwards rapidly, and will be about halfway up in the south around 9pm.  If we get any decent clear nights in the next week or so there should be a few opportunities to see it before the moon reappears in the evening sky.  If you have a dark sky it should be fairly easy to see with the naked eye.

[frogesque]

Saw the comet easily with binoculars in a heavily light polluted sky yesterday evening around 7pm before it clouded over here - it's to the right of Orion moving northwards rapidly, and will be about halfway up in the south around 9pm.  If we get any decent clear nights in the next week or so there should be a few opportunities to see it before the moon reappears in the evening sky.  If you have a dark sky it should be fairly easy to see with the naked eye.

Thanks Stargazer  We've been hit with torrential rains and the gales here so haven't had an opportunity to get the bins out. Looking like we might get some clear spells tonight.

[frogesque]

Poor night for observing but managed to get a glimpse between the low scud. Next door's security light coming on didn't exactly help either.

[Mesosphere]

Managed a break in the clouds earlier around 9.30/9.45pm, bagged it just to the upper right of Orion. Centered Aldebaran (in Taurus) in the binoculars then dropped south slightly and edged right. Rather diffuse in nature and could have sworn I saw ever so slight movement against the background stars. Just visible to the naked eye as a faint smudge, averted vision needed though. 

Edited January 10, 2015 by Mesosphere

[Gray-Wolf]

Cheers Guys had seen reports from the southern hemisphere so didn't know whether she'd be high enough until I copped a picture from a Spanish observatory. Hopefully some clear conditions before the midweek storm?

[frogesque]

21.15:

Fairly easy to spot tonight with the bins. A wee bit below the Pleiades (or Seven Sisters) now and after getting properly dark adapted just about visible with the naked eye. A fierce cold wind made for a very short observation but through the bins I could make out some faint blue/green colouring in the coma rather than a simple grey blob. No tail to speak of was visible but maybe just a very faint hint.

 

As comets go it's really a fuzzy blob without a decent telescope but it is there and the Pleiades are a decent marker from which to work downwards.

 

Nice pic on Spaceweather today

 

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Edited January 15, 2015 by frogesque

[AderynCoch]

Yes had some good views of it in recent nights. It looks rather like a globular cluster through binoculars.

 

Soon it will be easier to find as it passes between the Pleiades and Hamal.

[frogesque]

Finally! A decent crystal clear frosty night.

 

 

its the slightly fuzzy bluish green dot right of centre at about the bottom third of the pic. Pleiades are to the top left.

 

Wide angle fast 20mm lens 6 sec exposure, f1.8 at iso eq. 400 .No tracking

 

6 sec is about the longest exposure I can get without bad star trails - well pleased I managed to snap it given the dreadful light pollution round here.

Edited January 17, 2015 by frogesque

[Crepuscular Ray]

I'm green with envy! Not a cat in hell's chance of seeing it from central London.

[Summer of 95]

It's still around, now it's just above the star Almach in Andromeda. A bit fainter now than a couple of weeks ago (when it was a definite naked eye object) but still a nice sight in binoculars. Looks remarkably like a bright globular.

In fact it resembles objects like M3, M15, M2 and M13 so much that I now understand why Messier made a list of such objects.