Comet Lovejoy, Moon, Mars and Glittering Venus

Cycling home from work is always a relief, tempered by the generally hostile roads and unpleasant temperament towards cyclists of some of those driving upon it. The winter months are of course the worst but compared to recent years, where I have cycled in temperatures as low as -14, or been blown off the cycle path by a blizzard, this season has been relatively comfortable.

As I'm still travelling in the dark, I'm not getting to see much in the way of life when I'm leaving or arriving work, but tonight was different. There was a beautiful smiling moon falling softly into the west, the earthlight giving a deep indigo cast to the unilluminated portion. And below that, Venus pearl bright bossing its nearby companion Lord Mars into a tragic lack of conspicuity.

I missed last night's triple conjunction when the moon was much nearer to the two planets due to poor weather, but the view tonight was just as attractive. Both Venus and Moon had a special silveriness about their reflected light tonight, and it gave me some rare beauty to enjoy on the way home.

Once I was home, there was a chance to have a quick go at spotting Comet Lovejoy. Initially, I got me "something andromedae's" mixed up and homed in on the Andromeda Galaxy - really I should know better! - but quickly I found my space legs and located the comet halfway from "the peach star" Gamma Andromedae to Cassiopeiae. It has gotten noticeably smaller as it gets further away, and now it is rather fainter than the Andromeda Galaxy. It looks rather like an elongated globular cluster, with suggestions of a tail...just!

Despite this, it is still an easy object for binoculars, and if you can't find it, well, there's plenty else to see on a dark, clear night such as this. Give it a go!

Si

The Moon and Venus

Smiling Moon above my flat

A Quick Glance at Comet Lovejoy

Seriously clear tonight, and the moon is well out of the way early evening. The comet is still in the same binocular field as gamma andromedae - which in my mind shall always be known as "the peach star" from now on.

Comparison indicates the comet to now appear almost identical to the Andromeda Galaxy nearby, so it is indeed fading, it was a couple of notches brighter a few nights ago. My eyes were trying to convince me a tail was visible tonight, but my brain is also trying very hard not to be fooled.

Other things were worth looking at on such a sharp night. Messier 42 in Orion is something we take for granted I think, being such an obvious object, but it is always worth looking at, illuminated by the hot young stars of iota, the so called "Trapezium". Messier 35 in Gemini was resolved by my 10x50s tonight, which is not always the case. All three Auriga clusters were visible, M36, M37 and M38, but don't ask me which is which.

Finally I had a look over at Jupiter through my sycamore tree. I had the usual shaky hands syndrome, which made the giant planet appear to be constantly looping the loop, but two moons were definitely visible, and there was possibly a third too.

All this visible in very average binoculars. So much to see up there, and you needn't spend a fortune.

Si

Comet Lovejoy: Not Dead and Loving it

On noticing the clear sky early evening when I got home, I rushed inside, grabbed the 10x50s - the 16x50s have been officially deemed "useless" for astronomical purposes - and without knowing where the comet would be, or once again whether I'd be able to see it at all, started waving the binoculars around in an unscientific search pattern.

Well alright, it had a bit more aim than that, I'm not an utter dunce. I'd last seen it in Triangulum and could extrapolate roughly where it might be when you join up the (stellar) dots back to the Pleiades and beyond.

I found it smack in the same binocular field as the exquisitely coloured double star gamma andromedae, at one end of the celestial princess. Obviously the secondary is invisible in my optics, but the primary alone makes up for it. I swear it is the only peach coloured star I've ever seen. It is beautiful.

As for the comet, it really hasn't faded much at all since perigee. No chance of a naked eye viewing, but it is still brighter and larger than the Andromeda Galaxy, a handy comparison being not far away. There is less detail apparent, any nucleus is hard to see, and the teardrop shape of early 2015 has now become more rounded. But it is still there, and even from a town garden, very easy to find as an early evening object, with the moon now starting to get out of the way somewhat.

I wish you luck finding it. The moon that wore a snow veil last night is now bright as a lamp, but the comet is very much there, and very much alive.

Si

Comet Lovejoy and the Triangle

Mananged to get a sneaky peak, as they say, at Comet Lovejoy after I arrived home from work.  It is easy to find despite the near first quarter moon, lurking in the same binocular field of view as Gamma Triangulum, the star that marks the eastern point of the base of the celestial triangle.

Again, there seems to be less structure around the nucleus; it may be because of the moon but the comet seems to be sporting a rather rounder, more evenly bright look than before. Perhaps it is because Lovejoy is getting further away.

I'd certainly recommend trying to get a look tonight or perhaps tomorrow night, because with the moon getting brighter, and the comet fading, it may get quite difficult to observe with binoculars.

Ah Triangulum, that most romatically named of constellations. The most does-what-it-says-on-the-tin constellation. It looks like a triangle, so they called it the Triangle. The Babylonians tried to be interesting and call it "The Plough" thousands of years ago, but the Greeks called it "Deltoton", because it looked like the Greek letter delta, which is triangle shaped. Since then, it has been "The Triangle" to Ptolemy and everyone else into the modern era. A boring name for a boring, three cornered little group of stars.

The actuality is that it is an interesting little patch of the sky, with Messier 33 the Triangulum spiral, also visible in binoculars; 3C 48, the first quasar to be observed, and various other nearby galaxies observable in moderate telescopes.

There are plenty of other dull constellations that could be called "Square", "Circle" or "Squiggly Line" but poor old Triangulum gets the bullet. Presumably a triangular one.

Si

After a Comet Lovejoy Holiday...

It's been a while since I've been able to observe the comet - put that down to cloudy skies, work schedules, and I'm afraid on one night a total inability to withstand the cold.

I thought it would be a rather more difficult object to find, having seen reports on twitter that it was now fading, but it was easily observable in my 10x50s despite the presence of a waxing crescent moon not too far away. It has now moved away from the Pleiades in a North Western path, and is now in the vicinity of Aries and Triangulum.

In fact the two stars that for the base of the narrow Triangulum triangle are almost pointing to it.

It has faded somewhat, but is still an easy object in binoculars and looks rather similar to the Andromeda galaxy at the moment. The condensation of the nucleus seems less apparent, but the teardrop shape is still present, although I can't get any hints of a tail. The magnitude is probably around 4.5 or so now, having dropped from the peak of 3.7-3.9 it seemed to reach at perigee.

If you wish to observe it, it is now an early evening object, culminating due south at 6-7pm.

Good luck spotting it!

Si

Comet Lovejoy, Venus and Mercury

So, it has been a busy old day, in the night sky.

I've been doing a lot of walking today, two of an hour duration each. On my second one, after the sun had set after a long day shining but not warming anything up in the slightest, I noticed Venus shining above the rooftops of the sheltered housing on Balderton Gate.

I gave my eyes a moment to adjust, and lo and behold, there was Mercury, looking slightly pinkish against the twilight, and considerably fainter than "the planet of love". It is only the second time I've ever seen it, and I was feeling rather proud of myself. It always makes me think of the beautiful transit sequence in the movie "Sunshine".

You can't see Mercury in the below mobile phone image, but it was at 3 o'clock from Venus about 3-4 degrees away.

After the sun had set, it was time for the sky to darken sufficient for Comet Lovejoy to be seen. I have had two looks at the comet again, and once again the sky is clear enough for it to be a just visible naked eye object with averted vision. 

In 10x50s the comet is barely out of the same field of view, WSW of the Pleiades cluster. Tonight, the condensed nucleus, and elongated teardrop coma were clear, and my eyes were trying to convince me there were hints of a tail. 

It's always such a danger, trying to convince yourself you are seeing things you expect or want to see. The same thing happened later on, when I wondered if I was picking up Barnard's loop around Orion on the binoculars. 

Aside from Comet Lovejoy, what I did definitively see was a lovely starry night. Starfields around Monoceros and Orion were beautiful - I saw all three of the main Monoceros clusters; The Christmas Tree, the Rosette and Messier 50, and all three Auriga Messier clusters. 

The night is yet young, so there's plenty of time for everyone to take a look up, optically aided or naked eye. It truly is beautiful up there.

Si

Comet Lovejoy Meets the Pleiades

Before the approaching storm blew in a mess of cloud to block out the starry sky, I managed to snatch a couple of glances of Comet Lovejoy, now moving rapidly north-east through the sky as it approaches perihelion in a few days time.

It was very easy to find tonight, almost in the same 10x50 field of view as the Pleiades, the glittering star cluster of the seven sisters in Taurus. I have observed the Pleiades many times over the years, and under really dark skies I've been able to see 8 or 9 of them, but tonight, it was the usual six.

One of the Seven Sisters is rather hard to spot from urban locations, in less than perfect skies.

The comet tonight was again less impressive than a few nights ago on account of the cloud, listed magnitude is around 3.9 which would put it as easy naked eye viewing under a dark clear sky, but in Newark tonight, there was neither.

It is still presenting as a teardrop shaped object, with the suggestion of a more condensed inner area, with a more elliptical, fainter outer.

Perhaps a little like a cross section of a malteser type "Revel"!

Si

Comet Lovejoy in the Newark Haze

Newark has always had a peculiar micro climate. The twin effects of the River Trent, the valley it flows along, and the emissions of the sugar factory, always seem to be the recipe for a hazy sky at certain times of the year. Sadly, tonight seems to be such an occasion; the night sky has an odd glow about it too, the reflection of the much mentioned sodium streetlights.

In the garden, the wind is still strong, moving the dangling chimes around with errie chings of metal on metal. A motorbike is growling in endless oblongs of irritation around the block. There are foxes too, howling in the distance.

Breeding season will soon be here, if this mildish winter hasn't triggered it already.

So it is an atmospheric night, but sadly, not a great one for comet observations. The haze might not be affecting star visibility too badly, but it is a deadly suffocant for the light of diffuse objects like comets and nebulae.

Nonetheless I was able to find the comet quite easily in my 10x50s, lurking rather closer to the Hyades now, almost in the same field as the star at the cluster apex. In appearance, there is a very definite elongation to the North-East, with hints of a tail, even in this poor seeing.

I've read the magnitude is now something around 3.9 which means under a clear moonless sky it should be easily visible to the naked eye, highest in the South at about 8pm-9pm. But in town, you will still need binoculars to get any kind of decent view of this once-every-eight-thousand-years visitor.

Who's eyes were watching Comet Lovejoy the last time it was here?

Si

Naked Eye Comet Lovejoy

After a day at work where the only view of the outside I had in twelve hours were snatches of the Showground fields being wheeled over by gulls painted scorching white by the sun, I was glad to return home to dark clear skies.

A chance to get the binoculars out again, and hunt down Comet Lovejoy.

I headed out into the garden, knowing that the comet was now skulking in a very undistinguished part of the sky in the badlands between Cetus and Taurus but thinking it might take a bit of finding. But before I even put my 10x50s to my wind blasted eyes, I felt I could see a very very dim blur with averted vision.

And I must have been right, because the comet was in the field of view as soon as I looked.

The comet looks markedly different with the moon out of the way. Easier to see, obviously, but also more condensed. It is a definite grey-green tear drop shape now, and there might just have been a very faint hint of tail.

As I became more dark adapted, it became clear that the comet was visible to the naked eye with averted vision, although it felt like I was straining my eyes so hard they began to stream. I'd put the magnitude at about 4.5 perhaps a little better, and far easier to see than the open cluster Messier 34 in Perseus not too far away, by means of comparison with another fuzzy object. It looked smaller than Andromeda, but more condensed at its core.

It is past nearest point to Earth now, that was a few days ago when the moon was still a nuisance, but it may still get a little brighter as it reaches perihelion in a week or two.

Further Comet Lovejoy Observations

The day shift was running, another 15km along the Owl Road with no owls, past the fieldfare fields between Hawton and Farndon, and watching a huge buzzard being pursued across the Trent to the power station by a couple of brave and naughty crows.

The night belongs to astronomy, and more specifically Comet Lovejoy.

It was easy to find  even in a rather barren area of sky, about ten degrees West of Orion's Belt, and in my 10x50s the effect was of a slightly smaller and fainter Andromeda galaxy forming the apex of an isosceles triangle with two 6th magnitude stars in Eridanus. There is a definite teardrop shape about the comet, but there is no tail in view; hopefully it may become apparent in the run up to perihelion.

The magnitude I would guess is about 4.8-5, and in my urban skies there is no chance of it being a naked eye object unless it brightens to 3.5 - 4. But comets are unpredictable, if it outbursts at perihelion, it may appear rather brighter.

It's only a rare comet, like Hale Bopp of 1997, that really looks like the common mental image of one of these magical visitors from the depths of the Oort Cloud. Lovejoy is not such an object, but I always feel great joy in being able to spot a comet, especially from an urban garden.

Si

First Sight of the New Comet Lovejoy

A little over a year ago, I was writing excitedly about spotting Comet Lovejoy, a 4th magnitude object seen in the morning sky in Cancer near the famous beehive cluster. It was a bitter night, and it seems I was well dressed and "fortified" against the cold.

2013 Comet Lovejoy Observation

Last night was probably colder, and hampered by a near full moon dominating the southern sky. I also had a 6am cycle to work ahead of me and was nervously anticipating another icy and nervy slideathon on untreated roads. I thought I had no chance of spotting it.

But I grabbed the 10x50s, tried to get out of the way of the trees and streetlights, and waved my binoculars underneath Orion like a drunk with a shotgun. I thought I had no chance of seeing it, but below Rigel, to the north-east of a star that may have been 11 Eridani, I came across a grey green elongated blurry patch in the binocular field of view.

Passing through a very barren part of the sky, it was the new Comet Lovejoy, 2014 edition, dallying with the trees and rooftops. Even with the strong moonlight it was easy to see, but harder to describe; it was rather like looking at a more condensed version of the galaxy Messier 33, a ghostly smear on the dark window of the sky. It seemed to be longer in the direction of Rigel and Orion's belt, but it was hard to make out real detail. 

But it was a comet, and I don't see many! I suspect in a week or two, as the comet moves higher and further into the evening sky, and the moon gets out of the way, it might present quite an impressive binocular sight although I doubt it will be a naked eye object from my urban garden. 

To find it, use this guide ; Position of Comet Lovejoy through January  - to put it simply, for the next week, look to the right of Orion in the sky with your binoculars, from the darkest spot in your locality you can find.

Si

Alas Comet ISON, I never knew you

You may well have read my blogs talking about my observations of Comet Lovejoy, but there was always an underlying hint in my writing, I think,  that I was hoping for something bigger and better elsewhere...

My attempts to view ISON were always thwarted. Clear skies at the wrong time, clear skies when I was asleep, a bad horizon from my urban location. I woke up at 5am one day to try and observe it, then probably fell asleep again. A few more days and ISON was much too close to the sun to observe from any Earth based observatories. It was up to the battery of solar observation satellites out in space to try and keep us in the picture.

And it was looking really good, for a just a painfully short time. After some earlier reports suggesting that ISON was already starting to disintegrate, the comet passed through a rough patch, and then brightened rapidly. By the time of perihelion, the comet had reached an estimated magnitude of about 0, and was showing a beautiful pair of tails - a dust tail, and the straighter, narrower ion tail.

ISON just before perihelion 28.11.13, image from NASA SOHO satellite.

ISON then whipped out of view behind the sun for a short time, and observers held their breath. By the time it reached its closest point to the sun, at less than a million miles, ISON was being heated to 4000K and was travelling at 800,000 mph - 0.11% of the speed of light.

ISON was travelling so fast, it was undergoing relativistic effects. Time was running slower for the comet!

Clearly subject to such temperatures and forces, it was never a given that the comet's one mile or so nucleus would survive. Initially, it seemed that nothing had survived, but then this SOHO picture gave hope.

Had Comet ISON (at 11 o'clock) survived?

Something had clearly made it around perihelion, but what?

Hopes were high that some, or perhaps even all, of ISON's nucleus had survived, but then sadly, it became apparent that the image captured above was just a remnant of gas and dust from the comet's tail, with no solid nucleus present. Over the next two days, it gradually smeared out, and disappeared to nothing.

It may be that the comet springs one last surprise on us; the debris around its orbit may give us a new meteor shower when the earth crosses ISON's orbital path early next year. But this is unknown at present.

Comet ISON may be dead, and I may be sad to never have seen it. But the study of this comet, and the interest it generated, was unprecedented, and that is Comet ISON's legacy.

Now get your binoculars out, and look for Comet Lovejoy!

Copyright Cream Crackered Nature 02.12.2013

Comet Lovejoy, with Rum this time

Last night was clear, but pretty cold out. This time of year, my scale of sky clarity is usually based around “How well can I see Lepus tonight?”, and last night most of the stars of this fairly undistinguished constellation below Orion were in view from my urban garden, as was the tail of the Great Dog next door.

Behatted and begloved, and fortified with a rum and coke, I headed out at 2am with my 10x50s, and took in a few easy targets while dark adapting. Messier 41 was an easy spot last night, below Sirius, and as always, the starfields of Orion and Monoceros were an attractive sight to sweep lazily around. I spotted the Christmas Tree cluster in Monoceros, looking like exactly that, a tiny inverted Christmas tree, and the Rosette cluster nearby, almost in the same binocular field of view.

Messier 35 in Gemini was spotted, and high above all three Messier clusters in Auriga too. As ever I gave special attention to Kemble’s Cascade, and took in the faint mag 9 stars that form a long straight line in between the brighter stars.

Now it was time to comet hunt.

I didn’t actually know where Comet Lovejoy was, I hadn’t looked up its position, so took a guess that it was near Cor Caroli in Canes Venatici somewhere, beneath Ursa Major. I initially panicked when it wasn’t, but some slow sweeping picked up further east, roughly halfway between Alkaid and Cor Caroli about a degree NE of a 6^th magnitude star.

Last night it was showing at about the same brightness as my last sighting, about mag 4.5 at a guess, and very definitely elongated in a NW direction. To my eyes there were definite hints of a tail visible, as well as some uneven structure in the coma. It no longer has a globular cluster feel about it in the 10x50s. There was a last quarter moon interfering with my view a little, but it was still a good sight.

Seeing as more and more reports suggest Comet ISON is in the process of disintegrating, Lovejoy is probably the only comet I shall observe at this time of the year. And I'm glad I found it.

Copyright Cream Crackered Nature 26/11/2013

Comet Lovejoy and Cachaca

As the sun set last night, I watched the rainy skies catch fire in the west, and then watched intrigued as the cold weather front cleared the sky, a long purple-grey to blue divide advancing from the horizon.

I was excited. This meant clear skies later, this meant comet hunting. Never mind the cold.

And by 2am, it was really cold. No dark rum in the house, so I whipped up a rather crude sort of capirinha affair with Christmas present cachaca, and headed outside.

I took a look at the moon first, a couple of days past full, but it was a very wobbly moon as I struggled to keep my shivery hands still. It was obviously going to wash out decent deep sky observing, so I headed over to the non obstructed garden view to the North-East, lifted up my binoculars to my eyes, expecting a difficult search…

….and it was there straightaway!

I suspect without the moonlight it would have been a much more impressive sight than it was. About half a degree, or nearer, to a 5^th mag star in the lower reaches of the Great Bear, Comet Lovejoy was presenting as an elongated “splodge” now rather larger and brighter looking than Messier 13 (as I observed it a week or so ago), and again with the sort of two distinct degrees of condensation I reported previously.

To my eyes, there was no sign of the green colour very apparent in photographs and from other observer reports. There was a tantalising hint of tail pointing to the North-West, but no amount of averted vision could persuade even me I was seeing a tail.

And no amount of cachaca would either. So I headed inside for an impromptu fried egg sandwich and a cup of tea, to warm me up!

Copyright Cream Crackered Nature 19/11/13

Yes! I've seen Comet Lovejoy!

Having seen reports of this Comet putting on a good show in the morning sky near the famous Messier 44 Beehive cluster, I was excited to get home from my local pub and have a look for it.

So excited in fact, I kept putting the moment off! I mopped up Kemble's Cascade - really trying hard to spot the 9th mag stars in the chain, took in the Orion Nebula, enjoyed the Orion starfields, managed to glimpse Messier 41, and observed Monoceros and the Christmas Tree and Rosette clusters found within.

Then I shifted my location, and looked for Messier 44 over the rooftops. It was about 230am. The Beehive is visible to the naked eye from my urban "garden", and I had a good view in my 10x50s. But the comet had of course moved, and I had to rove around a little beffore I found it, a condensed, slightly elongated, teardrop shaped, blob of light, brighter than Messier 13 but of similar size. The elongation seemed to be pointing back towards the cluster. There was no sign of a tail.

The condensation wasn't uniform. There seemed to be two different levels, with a distinct nucleus.

It was just out of the same 10x50 field of view as M44, at about 8 o'clock in tthe direction of the Leo sickle.

I punched the air in delight. It's still a big deal for me to see a Comet. But I did have to have a panic, as I wondered if it might perhaps have been Messier 67. But it looked rather too bright and condensed, and further checks today indicated that it must have been the comet, as Messier 67 lies further away from M44 in the direction of the head of Hydra.

So there we go. It wasn't an amazing sight, perhaps I would have picked up a tail under country skies, but I was still thrilled to see it. And by all accounts, it is putting on a much better show than ISON, for which those -18 magnitude estimates seem a very long time ago. Another tick on my comets list - from an urban sky, I think I do well to see them!