Howdy all;
Last night I viewed Comet Lovejoy, still easily seen at 2 AU out from
the Sun. I am in the RV park in Wickenburg now and it is too low to
pick out. All in all, a great observing run, I know the wind blew but
it did stop eventually and we had some nice nights and lots of folks.
Clear skies;
Steve Coe
Apr 19 2015
Antennas site Seeing and transparency 6 out of 10. Comet Lovejoy is
only about 20 degrees above the northern horizon. With the 8X42
binoculars just as it gets dark at a location about 100 miles from
Phoenix, Arizona. With the binoculars this comet is small and pretty
faint. It has a brighter middle and is off white in color even in the
small binoculars.
Using ED 80 RFT with no filters. At 30X the comet is bright and
obvious. I see it as elongated 1.5X1 with a bright stellar nucleus that
comes and goes with the seeing. It is a very light green in color.
Raising the magnification to 70X makes the nucleus and elongation more
prominent. I am still fascinated by how bright and active this comet is
when it is four months after perhelion. That is a unique comet, I can
only think of Hale-Bopp as a comet that is so active for so long.
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