Observing Report: Comet C2013 R1 Lovejoy.
3rd November, 2013.
1am – 3.15am.
Equipment: 10” f/5 Newtonian on dobsonian base.
Eyepieces: Pentax XW 5 (240x), XW7 (170x), XW10 (120x), Denkenmier 15mm (80x) . No filters.
Sketch info: Here’s my dodgy sketch- am not the best sketcher around! The first sketch is using 80x. The second sketch is about the size at 240x- however, the detail is accurate as per 120x (just the size is larger!).
Report:
120x: Comet is a good size and hard to miss. Large diffuse coma, brightening towards middle. Slight elongation to the east seen at times. Stellar core. At first I needed to use averted vision to pick up the stellar core but as the seeing improved, it was easy to spot.
This magnification gave the best overall view.
240x: It filled up a good portion of the 72 degree widefield eyepiece, however there was no detail. Even the stellar core could not be made out. Everything was smudgy.
170x: Very slight increase in detail to 240x, but not much to see.
80x: Much smaller, but was a pleasing view. I found it hard to make out the fuzzier outer coma graduating to the brighter inner coma, so appeared overall the same for me. Stellar core still very noticeable. Elongation to the east could be made out. A short thin streak extending from the elongated coma was visible just the once. Clouds rolled in so couldn’t observe further. Very easy to find at 80x.
And now for the filler details:
I started observing out in the front yard as it was my best view at the time, as it was rising at 1am at 16 degrees. Street light outside floodlit next door’s driveway making it so bright. Trying to keep my distance from the overhanging grevillea trea to the right of me- wouldn’t be good for the mirror getting it covered in honey, yikes. Every mosquito in the front yard tried to bite me. A possum ran in front of me, scared the hell out of me. Around 2am, my guide star, Altarf in Cancer is now behind a palm tree, so time to move. Uh-oh, dob is stuck doesn’t want to move, what’s going on I say so I take a look. One of the 4 wheels has worked loose and decided to jam up against the base. Grizzle, grumble, I had to drag that thing lifted up on 2 wheels all the way to the back of the house to continue my observations, took me ages. Re-aligned the electronic guidance. Phew, sat down for a moment to gather my breath and enjoy the northerly view. I see Gemini gracing the sky with Castor and Pollux dazzling in their glory. His majesty, Jupiter snuggling up to the twins right side. It was a beautiful moment to embrace. So as a quick treat, I observed Jupiter- really wasn’t the best move as my now dark adapted eye felt like it was popping out its socket from shock. But behold! What a beautiful sight I see- Europa is hugging the edge of Jupiter just about to disappear behind him. It looked like Jupiter had a pimple! This is the first time I’ve seen a moon just about to be occulted, so it was very special. Now, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to also see The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) sitting just one degree away. It was so close in fact, that one of the very bright diffraction spikes off Jupiter connected it. So this is my first time observing this planetary nebula. The central star was easily bright and visible while the outer ring blinked in and out. I couldn’t help wonder how similar this is to the Eight Burst Nebula (NGC 3132). Okay, so now 10 mins or so on, I’m now back to observing comet Lovejoy till 3.15am until the clouds rolled in. And as soon as that happened, the batteries died in my electronic guidance so it was all very timely. I could’ve observed longer without it though as the comet was sitting a mere three degrees from Altarf . Pays to know your stars lol.
Thanks for reading,
Suzy.
P.S. Boy, I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted an obs report here- my apologies guys and I will endeavor to do so a bit more often like I used to. I've just been very slack at typing up my reports lately grrrr.