Comet Neowise To Pass Near Earth

[Dustyrose33]

https://www.accuweather.com/en/space-news/how-to-see-comet-neowise-in-the-sky/772795

Comet to pass near earth for the first time in 6,800 years.  That's incredible.  Perhaps if someone is fortunate enough to get a video of it you can post it on UM.  The article tells the best times to see it.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Dustyrose33

[ChrLzs]

I would offer, but sadly it's near the north celestial pole and is not usefully visible from my location.

  But as a consolation prize, here's a picture I took of the best comet I've ever seen, Comet McNaught, way back in 2007(-ish).  In front of me were several amateur telescopers, showing exactly how NOT to observe a comet, but I liked the result....  

Edited July 9, 2020 by ChrLzs
to correct the date..

[+OverSword]

8 minutes ago, ChrLzs said:

I would offer, but sadly it's near the north celestial pole and is not usefully visible from my location.

  But as a consolation prize, here's a picture I took of the best comet I've ever seen, Comet McNaught, way back in 2007(-ish).  In front of me were several amateur telescopers, showing exactly how NOT to observe a comet, but I liked the result....  

 

Great Picture!!

[stevewinn]

i hope to see it tonight as the forecast is for a clear sky. the best comet i've seen and really captured the imagination was the comet Hale Bopp. in 1997. never captured a picture but captured a memory. I hope to capture a picture when it returns in the year 4385.

[toast]

Rain-clouds-rain-clouds-rain-clouds.

#@%& !!!!!

[Helen of Annoy]

Neowise and noctilucent coulds above Zadar, Croatia

https://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/foto-nad-zadrom-istovremeno-snimljena-dva-nesvakidasnja-svemirska-fenomena/2196847.aspx

 

Photos in the article on the link were taken by amateur astronomer Natalija Kosović.

I simply can't resist posting the most amazing one: 

[L.A.T.1961]

COMET NEOWISE HAS A SUPER-SIZED NUCLEUS:

Now we know why Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is so bright. Its nucleus is huge. From its infrared signature, we can tell that [the nucleus] is about 5 kilometers across," says Joseph Masiero, NEOWISE deputy principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

https://www.spaceweather.com/

[L.A.T.1961]

I had a look for neowise in the early hours, conditions here were good and it was bright enough to find easily, although the noctilucent clouds reduced contrast a little. Shot with my point and shoot panasonic tz60. 

 

[stevewinn]

1 hour ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

I had a look for neowise in the early hours, conditions here were good and it was bright enough to find easily, although the noctilucent clouds reduced contrast a little. Shot with my point and shoot panasonic tz60. 

 

I couldn't see it, and the there wasnt a cloud in the sky, what time did you take the photo? i looked at 23:30, then 01:30, then 03:30. couldn't see it, found capella, went west of that, nothing even in Binoculars. even resorted to using stellaerium on my tablet. and yet still couldnt see it. is your photo representative of naked eye observation.  or achieved with a longer exposure?

[L.A.T.1961]

3 hours ago, stevewinn said:

I couldn't see it, and the there wasnt a cloud in the sky, what time did you take the photo? i looked at 23:30, then 01:30, then 03:30. couldn't see it, found capella, went west of that, nothing even in Binoculars. even resorted to using stellaerium on my tablet. and yet still couldnt see it. is your photo representative of naked eye observation.  or achieved with a longer exposure?

I took the photo at about 02:30, an on line guide suggested to look about one and a half hours before sun rise which would be around 03:30. But by then the sky was already too bright to see it easily unless you knew where to look.

A good unobstructed, dark, northern horizon view is essential, no light pollution. I would suggest looking between 02:15/02:45. 

The photo is a good indication of its relative naked eye brightness. 

I think you were unlucky, last night 01:30 was a bit too early to look and 03:30 a bit late. 

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by L.A.T.1961

[stevewinn]

3 hours ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

I took the photo at about 02:30, an on line guide suggested to look about one and a half hours before sun rise which would be around 03:30. But by then the sky was already too bright to see it easily unless you knew where to look.

A good unobstructed, dark, northern horizon view is essential, no light pollution. I would suggest looking between 02:15/02:45. 

The photo is a good indication of its relative naked eye brightness. 

I think you were unlucky, last night 01:30 was a bit too early to look and 03:30 a bit late. 

 

If I'm awake I'll look at  2:30. It's clear again tonight. 

[L.A.T.1961]

Very good conditions again here. Have just checked and surprised to see the comet is already visible, although its very low.  No moon or noctilucent cloud are helping to see it.  

[L.A.T.1961]

Not a great shot as the camera is struggling with the very dark conditions.

 

[Essan]

Woke up at 2.30am and went for a walk ..... Unfortunately I don't have a good northern horizon near my house, and these aren't the most spectacular of pictures, but I think they give an idea of how the comet appears to the naked eye

Edited July 12, 2020 by Essan

[stevewinn]

Missed it. Didn't wake up I was well away. Should have set the alarm. And tonight cloud cover is expected. It's going to be visible for the rest of the month. But I don't want to miss it. You know what our weather is like. 

[L.A.T.1961]

8 hours ago, Essan said:

Woke up at 2.30am and went for a walk ..... Unfortunately I don't have a good northern horizon near my house, and these aren't the most spectacular of pictures, but I think they give an idea of how the comet appears to the naked eye

The link won't work for me, or the images aren't there?

 

56 minutes ago, stevewinn said:

Missed it. Didn't wake up I was well away. Should have set the alarm. And tonight cloud cover is expected. It's going to be visible for the rest of the month. But I don't want to miss it. You know what our weather is like. 

Better luck next time.  

[gary1701]

All,

Taken about 90 minutes ago from just outside the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK looking North into the rural countryside. Initally looking with the naked eye at around 23:00 couldn't locate it. I decided to take a few night exposures using a very wide angle of the area of the sky where it should be. That found it, higher than what I expected  and once I looked closely at that exact spot I could see it with the naked eye, although it was still faint. Spent about 20 minutes shooting it and as the sky got darker it brightened. 23:30 BST I went home and by then I could see it visually from the house in a urban town and residential street. So it it should be relatively easy to see with the naked eye before midnight, as long as you've decent eye sight and don't have too much light contamination.

23:00 BST, 12/7, looking North from Suffolk.  Specs were a Canon Eos 7D MkII on a tripod at about 30mm. F5.6, 15 second exposure on a infra red release, ISO 800. Manual focus.

Gary

[micahc]

On 7/10/2020 at 3:44 AM, stevewinn said:

i hope to see it tonight as the forecast is for a clear sky. the best comet i've seen and really captured the imagination was the comet Hale Bopp. in 1997. never captured a picture but captured a memory. I hope to capture a picture when it returns in the year 4385.

i saw Hale Bopp while driving through the california desert near glamis and blythe.  there was no light polution. I just pulled over and stared for i don't know how long.  I wished i had thought to bring a camera.  It was so perfect it looked fake.  

[Essan]

Repost as google decided not to share my pics .....     See if this works?



 

[ChrLzs]

Essan, may I ask what steps are you taking to embed the images, and on what type of device/OS? 

[L.A.T.1961]

22 hours ago, gary1701 said:

All,

Taken about 90 minutes ago from just outside the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk, UK looking North into the rural countryside. Initally looking with the naked eye at around 23:00 couldn't locate it. I decided to take a few night exposures using a very wide angle of the area of the sky where it should be. That found it, higher than what I expected  and once I looked closely at that exact spot I could see it with the naked eye, although it was still faint. Spent about 20 minutes shooting it and as the sky got darker it brightened. 23:30 BST I went home and by then I could see it visually from the house in a urban town and residential street. So it it should be relatively easy to see with the naked eye before midnight, as long as you've decent eye sight and don't have too much light contamination.

23:00 BST, 12/7, looking North from Suffolk.  Specs were a Canon Eos 7D MkII on a tripod at about 30mm. F5.6, 15 second exposure on a infra red release, ISO 800. Manual focus.

Gary

Nice one. 

[gary1701]

10 hours ago, L.A.T.1961 said:

Nice one. 

Thank you very much. Weather was poor last night and looks like it will remain so for at least the next few days so no further chances. Here's another from the same time. It's actually the very first shot I tried and at that point the comet was unseen with the naked eye, so I tried a ultra wide angle to try and find it, and sure enough it appeared inbetween the two cables. The light on the field was from a car approaching on the road behind.

Gary

 

[L.A.T.1961]

7 hours ago, gary1701 said:

Thank you very much. Weather was poor last night and looks like it will remain so for at least the next few days so no further chances. Here's another from the same time. It's actually the very first shot I tried and at that point the comet was unseen with the naked eye, so I tried a ultra wide angle to try and find it, and sure enough it appeared inbetween the two cables. The light on the field was from a car approaching on the road behind.

Gary

 

I think the next good chance will be when it reappears in the evening sky, although I doubt the seeing conditions will be as good? 

The viewing conditions over the last few clear nights was exceptional, in my experience as a back yard astronomer nights like those can be counted on the fingers of one hand during an average year. So it was nice to see and capture it at the time.

Fingers crossed for the next few weeks.  

[Susanc241]

On 7/10/2020 at 8:44 AM, stevewinn said:

I hope to capture a picture when it returns in the year 4385.

Not if I see it first! 

[gary1701]

Hi all,

I had another go on Friday evening here in the UK. I was a little concerned as there was a cloud bank low to the north. Rather than head out North of my home town I decided to go South this time, towards the military airfield at Wattisham and look back as I know an old abandoned hardstand from Word War II, now on the edge of a field that has a clear panoramic of the Northern sky. I was quite surprised as the comet appeared a fair bit higher than the pics from five days previous, well above the cloud bank. I do think it is fainter than during the first attempt a week ago.

A relatively low level aircraft came through the image on a 15 second exposure, passing East to West. Given it was near midnight on a Friday evening, the only two airfields locally that would potentially be active is the commercial airport at Stansted, or just possibly a military aircraft positioning for the extended approach into RAF Mildenhall, the USAF operated airfield about 20 miles away. 

Finally, and to show you don't necessarily need to be in the wilderness or use a tripod, I shot this when I got home, with the camera sitting on top of the car roof in the street.

Gary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by gary1701