Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon

[meade expert]

Managed to image this comet last night , located near Crux.:D
Used Ed80 and Qhy8L 10mins .

I estimate brightness at 7.6 mag!

[stardust steve]

Nice one Meade expert. I got this one a few weeks ago at around mag 9. Tonight is shaping up ok so far so i might revisit it. Love that green glow, it's a beauty!:thumbsup:

[Liz]

Lovely image there!! Yes, your estimate is fitting in with others from down south. :thumbsup:

[Larryp]

Nice image!

[vaztr]

Hi All,

I managed to get a view of this comet last night around 10:55pm (local), this is my first comet since Halley's!!!

It was V low in the sky, so seeing wasn't great and it appeared as an almost inperceptable smudge against the black sky.

Wasn't visible through my 32mm and my 24-8mm zoom gave best views at about 18mm - there was a definate improvement with my 15mm, maybe that was because there was less 'glass' between me and the comet.

I'm hoping as the month progresses that I'll be able to show it to the kids, but the moon might have other ideas about that!!

VAZ

[Astroman]

Nice image, managed to look at this one visually lastnight with my 80mm refractor and 20mm EP, easily seen from Light polluted skies.

[doppler]

Caught a glimpse (in between clouds) this morning at 1.30am through 12 x 60 binoculars...... only just, it would have been hard to find if it was not in the midle of the southern cross. It should be near the jewel box tonight. I hope the weather is clearer so I can try and get an image.

Cheers Rick

[Shark Bait]

I tried to catch this comet around 12:30am this morning with 7x50 binos. From my location it is still not visible with binos and requires a telescope for viewing

[Liz]

As Rick says, it will be near the Jewel Box tonight, and should be a spectacular sight!!

Yes, we have MUCH cloud. :sadeyes:

Checking on Stellarium, which is not always correct, but it shows it closest on the 21st.??

[stardust steve]

Near the Jewel box you say ?! Hmmmm it is forecasted to clear. Might have to have a look:eyepop::):thumbsup:

[Liz]

Checked with Stellarium Stephen, and more so on th 20/21st by the looks. :)

[Rob_K]

Hi all - check this out for the progress of the comet through the Southern Cross, should be a fair guide for E Australia (bit different further west). I prepared it using Starry Night as a guide.
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/MovementofF6throughSouthernCross.jp g

Also, here's my pics from the last two nights:
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/C2012F6SouthernCross17Jan2013comp.j pg
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/C2012F6SC18Jan201312-42UT1500px.jpg


Cheers -

[doppler]

Here is bit of a blog about the path of the comet through the southern cross. http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/comet-c2012-lemmon-passes-through-heart.html.

I couldn't find it with the binoculars at 11.00 pm last night, I think the moonlight was still washing it out, so I think much later in the night will be better. Looking clear here at the moment and its Saturday night. :)

Rick

[Grahame]

Animated GIF (http://www.astro-photo.net/GIF/Comet-Lemmon-C2012-F6.gif)

Comer Lemmon passing through Crux this morning 0155 to 0220 WST, 9 frames of 60 sec each.

[DavidTrap]

Damm, that's moving quick! Great animation.

DT

[pixelsaurus]

Great animation. Had a squizz about 15 mins ago with 20X70 binos. It is none too bright being just a bit brighter than background. Skies here a bit hazy at the moment probably because of smoke drifting over from Oz.

[Suzy]

Cloudy here in Brisbane the last few days so grrrrr haven't been able to take a look.
I've found a fabulous link showing easy to use finder charts from now thru the upcoming months tracking the comet's speedy progress thru our skies (what pace!)

Mark February 14th down on your calenders for a visual/photographic feast, as comet Lemmon will come within 4 degrees of the Small Megellanic Cloud (a naked eye satellite galaxy of the Milky Way) & 47Tuc- the second largest & brightest globular cluster in our skies & visual candy just on its own!


http://freestarcharts.com/index.php/19-news-and-current-events/129-comet-lemmon-c2012-f6-brightens-faster-than-expected

[meade expert]

Took this this morning at 4am Comet Lemmon from Albion Park NSW:)
Wide shot 50mm F2 lens on Canon 60D on Tripod (2sec exposures-Total 1.5mins.)

[Liz]

Very smooth Grahame. :thumbsup:

Great image Meade expert. :thumbsup:

Yes, thats a good site Suzy, had put it up on FB last Saturday.:)

Cloud here now for awhile. :help:

[Pinwheel]

Why is it Green in colour? Most comets I've seen are white/grey in colour. Anyone able to do a spectrograph on it yet?

[Liz]

Hi Doug - quite a few comets are green and is to do with the gases in them. These can be ionized cynogen and carbon which can emit green radiation in green wavelength. These gases vaporise as they near the Sun.

[Analog6]

Terrific shot! And you made me realise i DO have a suitabel lens for astro - have hte canon 50mm f1.8! What program did you stack them with?

[originaltrilogy]

Beautiful!
Sky is clear today hope to see this in the morning myself!

[meade expert]

Deep Sky Stacker V3.33 beta (get it from yahoo groups website);)

[ZeroID]

Clouds again last night after a promising start. I even swung the obs roof back and powered the mount up but t'was all in vain. :shrug:

[ZeroID]

Cloud cover at 1pm, looking more promising for this evening.
(I've probably just jinxed it now :shrug: )

[meade expert]

managed to image Comet Lemmon this morning at 4am using 50mm f2 lens , 60D on tripod , total of 9 secs at 6400 iso.

[Larryp]

Nice work! Its so small

[ZeroID]

I need 6400 ISO eyes !! No wonder the binos can't spot it and we had high haze all night anyway. Seeing is absolute 'manure' at present and not likely to improve from what I've seen on the weather maps. I was up and imaging last night but it was more an exercise in getting the system all functional and testing setups. Pics were complete rubbish, just fuzz balls but got PHD going again no problem even through the haze. Might try going to bed early and waking at 3am or something over the long weekend. (We have Monday off, Auckland Anniversary). See if the skies are any better at stupid o'clock.

[Liz]

Good luck Brent, ha, no you dont need 6400 eyes. :camera:
It should be easily found in binocs, in good skies, at about mag 6.8 from reports today.

Waiting for cloud to clear up here too so can snaggle another look. :rain:

[originaltrilogy]

Each morning I get up and cloud gets up with me.

Hoping to find tomorrow morning. What time is best for seeing it?

[Rob_K]

Hi Petr - no more Moon-free mornings for a while and just at the moment any time is good although you like to get it higher in the sky and it is fairly low in the early evening. The comet is circumpolar and visible from southern locations all night. As long as you can see the Southern Cross you'll be able to see the comet. It's moving through Musca at the moment, just to the right of the Southern Cross as you look at it in the evening.

I viewed it last night around midnight with 4.5" f8 reflector & 21mm eyepiece (43x) and it was very easy to see despite the bright moon and poor sky conditions (light cloud & smoke). Also got an image, here:
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/C2012F624Jan2013textb.jpg

Good luck! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Merlin66]

A SWAN band filter is sometimes used to pick up the hydrocarbon bands (the "green" colour)

[Grahame]

Got some shots off this morning too - very close to meade experts imaging time I suspect :)

shot is 12 x 6 second shots @ ISO 6400 Stacked

Cheers,
Grahame.

[MortonH]

Nice image, Grahame. Is your Dob the goto/tracking version?

[Larryp]

Good shot, Grahame

[Grahame]

Thanks guys :)

Its not the goto version morton, I got a set of rings and mounted it to my G-11.

[ZeroID]

OK, clear skies here at present, where is it ??
I imaged above A Crux last night between HIP 61404 and HIP 60329 where the track sheet says it should have been on 28th but I can't find anything.
Possibly my CLS filter may be hiding it, need it to clear the moon glow in the sky.

[Shark Bait]

[QUOTE=ZeroID;940193]OK, clear skies here at present, where is it ??QUOTE]

From your location at 2130hrs, 2230hrs, and 2330hrs ignoring DST if it is in place:

[ZeroID]

Ta Stu, that's a bit further on than the track sheet I have got shows. I'll take another swing at it tonight. Fingers crossed.

[OzEclipse]

Finally spotted it just after I got home at 11pm tonight. I live in WNW Canberra looking SE over the population epicentre of Canberra(Woden Valley).

Thought I could see a tiny smudge in 7x35mm binos but not sure. Then I took out my Williams Optics 70mm f6.3 ED refractor at 14x Andrews 30mm 82 deg eyepiece and it was pretty easy. Easier with averted vision but definitely visible with direct vision.

Joe Cali

[Liz]

Great job Joe, always a very nice feeling to spot a comet. :thumbsup:

[ZeroID]

And here's the photo finally !!!! :D :thumbsup:
SONY A77 single jpeg pic., 30 secs @ ISO 1000 through 80mm f5 Achro with CLS filter (hence the blue\green tinge). Cropped but no other processing.

[Stefan12]

Comet Lemmon now has a noticeable tail on it now in long exposure photographs.
These images I shot last night were only 3 minute subs.
Sorry about the poor quality, I didn't put much effort into them as the moon was bright.

I couldn't see any signs of a tail last week when I imaged Lemmon, so I don't think it's been there for all that long.

Can't wait till the moons out of the sky so I can image the comet and it's tail properly.
:)

[ZeroID]

Can't see any tail in my pic but there is a discernible bowshock arc if you look carefully and some stretching of the coma I think behind it. I took a break last night, 4 nights of imaging was straining the family bonds a wee bit and I was tired. Plus there was about 250 emails to sort out !!

But ..

I got out with the 10 x 50 binocs about 10:30 and was going to ask if I spotted Lemmon close to a particular asterism ... but your pix above just confirmed that I nabbed it in the binos. Very dim. It is moving quickly isn't it ?

Thanks :thumbsup: nice one ..

[doppler]

It is much brighter than last week, must be getting closer to naked eye visabilty (once the moon is out of the way) I found it quite easily with 12 x 60 binoculars last night.
Rick

[meade expert]

Folks

Imaged Comet Lemmon with DSLR and 200mm lens on eq6--5mins:D

[doppler]

Nice image, good to see that it can now be imaged with a 200mm lens. Tried last night with a 50mm lens but its still too small to see. Cloudy here again tonight :(

[mrtonytj]

Just a question.. How can i find this? I have been outside all night and i can't find it? Am i missing something?

[Shark Bait]

These screen grabs from Starry Night for tonight should help. The first two are for 2030hrs EST (1030 UT), the second group are for 2130hrs EST (1130 UT) and the last is for 2230hrs EST (1230 UT). The Moon will rise just after 2130hrs EST. I hope you have clear skies.

[barx1963]

Tony
What are you using to look for it? A scope, binos, do you have charts etc.
If you have charts you can look up the current RA and Dec on Heavens above website, then star hop to the comet. It was very obvious in my 15x70s last night just west of Alpha Apodis

Malcolm

[ZeroID]

Heres the Kryptonite arriving ... quite visible in Binocs, not nekkid eye in my LPd site.

ISO 1600, 20 secs single shot in 24 meg jpeg

Tony, I just follow a line up through the long axis of the Southern Cross towards the SCP. Eventually I stumble across a green fuzz ball.

[Suzy]

I got in last week in my 10x60 binos when it was just existing the Southern Cross. It looked like a distant globular cluster- I didn't expect it to be as large as it was!
A clear sky then was needed tho- I had good clear views to the south, but there were clouds in the east and when they started travelling south east, it gave poor transparency to the south & I couldn't get it back. So I still haven't been able to get my scope on it. I hear it's mag. 6 at the moment and brightening. Tonight looks promising. :prey:

Some good finder charts here:

http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/ Click on the finder chart on the above the table on the left.

http://freestarcharts.com/index.php/19-news-and-current-events/129-comet-lemmon-c2012-f6-brightens-faster-than-expected

[Shark Bait]

It is a relief to have some clear skies at night Suzy.

I have just had a look through my 7x50 bino's and I did manage to track it down but it took some finding. There is some cloud low on the horizon which makes it a bit harder to find. Last time I looked at it through bino's was near New Moon and it was an easy object to find. Tonight it is a lot tougher to find, even though the Moon does not rise for another 30 minutes.

Edit: Glad I spent some time under semi-clear skies. Full cloud cover by 10pm.

[toc]

Its not visible in 7x50 bino's in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, at least for me its not :)

[meade expert]

Hi All

Managed to get a few pics of Comet Lemmon in between cloud breaks.
Its definetly brightening with a hint on my shot of a tail developing
Used 60D with 50mm f2 lens 3200 iso 10 secs--Total of 5 mins exposure.

[Curt]

I was watching Lemmon tonight. I can't believe how fast it's moving. Can't wait till its near 47 tuc, that's going to be a great sight.

[Stefan12]

Here's a shot I got the other night when the moon was up. Not a great image, but it does show the true extent of the tail.
Hope to get some more clear nights with the moon out of the evening sky now :)

Image details: 19x3min subs, taken with a modified canon 1000D through a william optics megrez 90 refractor
Image has been cropped from the original size.
Deep sky stacker and Photoshop CS5 were used for processing.

[Limax7]

Good image Stefan! but it's too much compression :(

[Stefan12]

If I'd moved the comets head to the bottom right of my cameras field of view I would of caught more of the tail. I didn't actually realise how long the tail was going to be, so that's why I cropped the image :)

Oh well, I'll remember next time :)
Hopefully I can get some better shots, if the weather lets me :sadeyes:

[Liz]

Great image Stefan - tail is looking good. :thumbsup:

Saw it last night in binocs and my scope .... very easy now as quite large, an impressive sight indeed. :)

[Blue Skies]

I saw it last night in binoculars and found it quite easy to locate. The green colour is quite distinct in this one.

[Shark Bait]

I got out again last night with the 7x50 binos. From my moderately light polluted urban location it is still a challenge to find this comet. It is partly due to it not being close to any bright stars at the moment. The faint stars that it is moving through do form a distinctive pattern though.

A couple of nights ago I thought I caught a hint of its green colour but was not willing to call it. Maybe it wasn't my imagination after all. :thumbsup:

[mozzie]

found it easily with my 9x63 bino's this evening.nice to see a bright comet no visable tail or tinge of green from my location...but my eye's are not to night addapted the cricket is going to be close :lol::lol:my wife also had a look in the bino's...

[Liz]

haha .. yep, the cricket is going to be close!!
This comet is brightening still mozzie,so keep looking, it will only get better!!:thumbsup:

[mozzie]

woo hoo aussie win..
yes liz there's some comets around at the moment..a glut of them..all that time when we use to wait for one.

[Larryp]

Finally found it tonight in 7x50s. Very hard from my light polluted area, and could only find it with averted vision.

[gaa_ian]

From our far northern location(12.2 Sth) this comet is quite low to the horizon (perhaps 10deg) but with my 16x60 Bino's I quite easily found it, looking like a fuzzy little globular cluster. I could not really see the green at such a low altitude. However it was worth the effort hunting for and finding this comet tonight. Especially given our unusually clear skies (for the wet season)

[JethroB76]

Basically how I described it in an email to my father, just then.
An easy find in binos here in Launceston, but on my rather rushed observation didn't pick up any colour or tail, will have to head out again later to see if I can't find some more detail

[mrtonytj]

I am using a 10 inch dob. No real charts except a few apps on my phone.. Is that too big to be viewing this object? I only just got it recently after upgrading from a 6 inch SCT..

[The Mekon]

Yes, spotted from the well lit back yard of my house in Whyalla. Easily seen in 7x35 binoculars. About 4 or 5 degrees from the SCP. looked like a 6th mag. globular cluster to me. No tail visible in the binoculars.

[ZeroID]

We have the remnants of Cyclone 'Evan' over here at present. Wall to wall cloud and light drizzle and wind. Hopefully will clear in a day or two and I'll have another go at it..

[Shark Bait]

This comet is going to show up very nicely in your 10" Dob. The finder scope will give a wide field of view which will be similar to that offered by binos. Binoculars are being used by a lot of people because they are quick and easy.

[madox]

Saw the comet from Bowral the other night as a fuzzy ball with my eyes
Checked with friends binos and yep it was Lemmon.:eyepop:

[JetDragon]

Saw Lemmon tonight with my 20 x 60 binos - no obvious tail or pronounced colour - averted vision helped greatly.

Thank heaven for a clear evening at last!!!

cheers

Dave

[barx1963]

Had another look with the 20" tonight. Noticeably brighter and larger. Tail was just visible.
It appears to be speeding up as motion was detectable within 10 min timespan.

Malcolm

[SpaceTas]

Seen in 50mm finder easily. Through 8 inch Newtonian looked like a fuzzball, with point-like core. Coma maybe slightly elongated. No sign of tail in 2deg eyepiece.
Site is suburban.

[John0z]

I spent a couple of hours outside looking for Comet Lemmon. I set up a DSLR with 300mm lens to take photos and locate it first, then found it with 10x50 binoculars. After an hour of fruitless searching with a 8" dobsonian, I brought out a Mizar 80mm refractor on alt-az mount and eventually managed to line it up and view it at about 30x magnification - just a smudge, but a bit bigger than through the binoculars.

[barx1963]

Oh one other aspect I hadn't mentioned, it displays clear colour, sort of an aqua green in the 20"

Malcolm

[SpaceTas]

I did a comparison with 47 Tuc, it is much smaller and fainter. I sense slight orange/yellow colour for 47 Tuc, but no green for comet Lemmon. Younger eyes and more aperture will help show colour. Observations stopped by cloud. I could just pick the Small Magellanic cloud, but not 47 Tuc by eye.
Seeing poor.

[meade expert]

Took 3mins of 4sec exposures at 6400 iso (Modded 1100D) of Comet Lemmon last night.
Very close to South Celestial Pole. :D

[John0z]

Tonight the sky was clear but I couldn't find the comet with my binoculars, so took some photos and went inside to examine them - found the comet in the photos, so went to line up again. I tried to get my Meade 10"/GM8 to see it, but no luck, so went inside to bring out the 8" dob. Of course stumbling around in the dark isn't much good, and when I went to pick up my small stool, the binoculars fell on the ground - now it is seeing double.

Anyway, I eventually used the camera and an inclinometer to line up the dob and was able to see the comet. I tried a zoom eyepiece also but couldn't resolve much of the comet, still looks like a smudge - no apparent colour, but my photo does show it as green.

[mithrandir]

John, I've just tried it with the binos and it is lost in the Sydney light pollution. More aperture required.

[orestis]

My result at this stunning comet. The tail is just visible in the image to the left of the coma. I have also uploaded a labelled version for anyone that can't identify it.

30 sec at iso 3200 f/5.6 on canon 550D EF lens 15-85mm.

I eagerly await the brightening of this comet.

cheers
Orestis

[John0z]

Hi, I use 10x50 binoculars and I have been able to see the comet from Dundas once I know where it is. I take photos until I locate it and then it is easy to find in binoculars. Now of course, after a drop onto concrete of only 10 inches, my binoculars are not working - I think one prism is out of alignment so I see two images. Now to borrow another pair of binoculars...

[ZeroID]

Hey John, you may find it is just one of the objectives has jumped threads where the tube screws to the body. Check to see if one of them has a minute gap at one side where they come together. My 12 x 50s suffered from this for years till I decided to strip them and rebuild with another pair I bought cheap ( broken focus adjuster ). Spotted the tiny gap, rethreaed the front objective assembly and bingo she was perfect. The thread is very fine so a one thread jump will affect it but not be apparent to look at the bins.

And on another note. Spotted Lemmon last night with 10 x 50 binos. Very poor seeing so no apparent tail or colour seen. My 12 x 50's will see it better but culdn't be bothreed going to the ob to get them. See how the weekend goes for another photo shot and I may try to get the 10" up to take a look.

[mozzie]

had a nice night with the 9x63 bino's viewed for around an hour.easily seen no visable tail or color..will move the 16" dob out to have a look tonight if the weather stays clear..fingers crossed.

[mozzie]

and nice to see the comet and south celestrial pole all in the same fov :thumbsup:

[seanliddelow]

I managed to see the tail visually from Tammin last night through my 12" LX90. It was at the 2'o clock position in my eyepiece (Going roughly towards the LMC), which meant that it was pointing away from the Sun in the sky. The tail is quite faint even with averted vision and as I have returned to the light polluted skies of Perth I probably won't be seeing it for a while. I didn't see any hint of color.

Sean

[doppler]

I have re aligned my binocular prisms a few times after the kids have knocked them around. It is quite easy once you know how. Have a look at this web page http://www.oberwerk.com/support/collimate.htm

Rick

[John0z]

Thanks Brent & Rick, I will take a look at my binoculars to see how to adjust the prisms.

Tonight, another reasonably clear night - I was able to eventually find the comet in my 8x50 finderscope, then was able to view it on my Meade 10" SCT. I used a WO DCL-52 eyepiece which has a huge eye relief - in fact I had to view it from over an inch above the eyepiece. I then thought I would try prime focus photography, but had trouble because the camera (Sony Nex5) shows only a blank screen. I had to move to another brighter star, then taking 10second photos managed to get it close to focus to be able to see it on the screen. Once that was done, finding the comet again took some minutes, but eventually I got it.

The stars are not quite round, so looks like focus is a bit out, but also my polar alignment on the GM-8 isn't right either. A 10 second shot at iso1600. Next photo is at iso6400.

[mozzie]

viewed lemmon in my 16" dob for around 2 hours last night.using naglers with that 82 deg fov.the comet glowed beautifully with the centre core very tight and bright emitting out and fading into a mottly looking g/c with the faintest hint of a tail...and through the occasional excellent seeing conditions the tail really did start to show it's self and was able to move the scope to follow it.the comet looked absoultly amazing in the eyepiece and was very happy.to the south i pick up light pollution from coffs and color while not noticeable in my eyes,i did see shades of grey/green on occasion but faintly..
tryed to see it early this morning but it was hiden behind the trees as to was panstarrs..
well worth the look for those that haven't yet.......

[meade expert]

Imaged Comet Lemmon last night with ED80 at F7.5 and QHY8L camera for a total of 10 mins of 2min shots.
Definetly see the extent of the tail especially in an inverted image.:eyepop:

[Liz]

The tail looks great there. :thumbsup:

[mozzie]

viewed comet lemmon again last night..very clear and spectacular was definate hints of color and able to sight some tail...very exciting

[andyc]

Lovely view of the comet and tail in my 4.5" reflector from Wilson's Promontory at the weekend - tail over a degree long. A hint of a tail in the 14x70 binos too. It was my first decent view of a comet's tail since McNaught in daytime from Scotland. Couldn't see a tail on Lemmon with the 16" last week in suburban Melbourne, though the coma was fairly big, bright and diffuse, concentrating to a tiny faint core. Cool object, though!

[meade expert]

Anyone seen Lemmon in the last week?
What magnitude is it at?:)

[stardust steve]

I think it's around 5.5. Here's a single frame from Early Sunday morning just gone.
177 sec tracked on eq3 500D efs 55-250 at f5.6 kit lens at 109mm. Heaps of noise, was a hot night.

[meade expert]

hey looks good to me...best ive seen in a week!:)

[ZeroID]

Hey Steve, thats excellent !!
47Tuc, a green comet and tail, what more could you want astrophotographically ?

Awesome :thumbsup:

[stardust steve]

A bright fireball ! Haha;)

Lets hope this comet goes even brighter as it gets closer to sun :)
Thanks Brent.