Easy find of comet c/2012 F6

[fracs]

Inspired by this thread:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=100306

Found a break in the clouds on evening of 4th Feb. Used position information I obtained online. Managed to locate c/2012 F6 by hand with my 18" dob (SDM-063). Actual method as follows:

* Low power EP - 31mm, 82x, about 1 degree of sky.
* Used my Argo to point to the RA and Dec where comet should be.
* A few swoops by hand, and there she was.

Here's the (rough) position info from my records:
Date and Time: 04.02.2013, 11:00:00 UTC
RA: 16:30
Dec: -86d 25'

Through my scope, c/2012 F6 was larger than 47-Tuc and I would say a bit brighter also. I wasn't convinced I could see green/turquoise like I've read about elsewhere. It was generally a grey-white haze with an obvious nucleus. My observing site was the outer suburbs of Sydney.

Anyway, should be easy to find in binos. I encourage others to seek out this visitor if you haven't already done so.

Cheers,
Mike

[Scorpius51]

Good one, Mike.

I viewed C/2012 F6 this evening with my 10x50 bins, and 10" Dob with a 17mm EP (x74). It was quite easy to find with the bins, and then star hopping the 10", with the help of Stellarium to identify the star patterns in the area.

It did remind me of 47-Tuc. A relatively bright nucleus with a distinct fuzzy, fading envelope. I did see mostly grey-white haze too, but there was the slightest hint of green.

The seeing at the time was reasonable, as I am on the NE edge of Canberra, and the LP looking to the south was not too bad - probably quite a bit better than outer Sydney.

That was my only target for the evening, except for a quick look at Jupiter & M42, before the cloud took over! :sadeyes: However, quite happy about bagging my first comet with the new Dob and EP!

Cheers
John

[Lee]

Spotted tonight, with 8" dob, suburban Newcastle...
No goto here, just a basic star chart from Starry Night... pointed the dob in the basic direction, and panned around until the little triangle of stars headed by beta-Octans was in the finder, and c/2012 F6 is just adjacent..... it is actually visible in the finder too.... so an easy find....

[Astroman]

Showed my kids the comet tonight through the 80mm scope, then showed them through their little 76mm Newtonian :D amazing difference between the scopes.

[grantboxer]

We had a good view here in Perth last weekend and I have attached an initial image composed of 20 x 1 min subs.

[icytailmark]

im having trouble finding this comet in sydney. Where do i need to look? can i view it thru a finderscope or do i need something more powerful?

[Scorpius51]

It's actually quite easy to find at the moment, Mark. It can be seen in a finder scope. Quite easy in 10x50 bins. If you have Stellarium, it will show it as being slightly SE of 47 Tuc - and that's where it is. You will need to download the comet update data into Stellarium, if you don't already have it.

Cheers
John