Comet C/2007F1 leonos

[astroron]

Has anyone observed comet C/2007 F1 LEONOS yet?
We have had clouds every day for the last five days:( so no joy here:cloudy:

[fringe_dweller]

no not here, but i have seen some obs on the net one from WA 34 s, along with a NH one..
might be easier to c&p here from yahoo comet obs? i think it is most helpful way

'C/2007 F1 LONEOS:
2007 Nov. 1.5UT: m1=5 Dia=3' DC=8 Very faint tail 12' in PA 88 degrees
25x100B.... Jim Gifford (Bridgetown, Western Australia.)
Comet still in twilight, Alt 4 degrees, no correction made, limiting
magnitude 8 in this part of the sky with these binoculars. Clear rural
sky.

Regards, Jim Gifford
Bridgetown, Western Australia
34S 116E'

[astroron]

Thanks Kearn, it was just a general enquirie as I had seen no posts and with crap weather we are having on this side of the continent, thought someone
might have sneaked a look in between the clouds.
:thumbsup:Ron

[Outbackmanyep]

All cloud here in Walcha, man this is depressing!

[astroron]

I agree with you wholeheartedly:( and it doesn't even rain only clouds:mad2:

[Meadehead]

It sure is frustrating, I agree.

Purchased my new eyepiece set 2 weeks ago and still haven't used them:( Now it's the long weekend and I was hoping to pull an all-nighter but I doubt that. I'm spewing:mad2:

[WadeH]

Last night before tea margaret and I decided to give C/Loneos F1 a go.

Clear skies, looks good. After sunset find Antaries, go down about 12 degrees and of to the right about 5 degrees and the it was sitting next the star Graffias (just left of)!

As the darkness slowly set in the view got better. The comet through 30X100 binos (I just love these, great buy) was quite good, an elongated smudge and faily faint but easy to find and see. Margaret was impressed and requested that we get up to see C/Holmes, shall post these details later.

[Outbackmanyep]

As Cartman would say "GODAMMIT!"
Yur making me so jealous Wade H!

Great stuff though, keep us informed! Does it show a tail at all??

Cheers!

[fringe_dweller]

thanks for report Wade, sounds promising! i hope to see this one too soon :)

btw Michael Mattiazzo's website has a space observatory pic of loneos :)

dont forget its a great place for charts and up to date info for comets at mid southern latitudes - i always keep an eye on it, he does great work!!

http://www.yp-connect.net/~mmatti/

edit: boy it sure does go by some juicy bits of the sky!!

[WadeH]

Yes, we are lucky this year. Three naked eye comets, although Loneos just.

I did not get a chance to spend much time at the eyepiece but I assume the smudge was some of the tail.(I am a beginer concerning comets).

Monday night(5th 11 2007) about 8:15pm WDST seems to hold good potential according to StarryNight. Antares, M4 the Cats Eye Globular and Loneos F1 should all fit the FOV for the 30X100 binos. Also I plan to set the scope up as well.

Fingures crossed!! :)

[Blue Skies]

There was a club meeting last night so we made a group effort to track it down. It was finally spotted to the left and above Graffias. Reasonably easy to see in binos, a bit a like small planetary nebula. In a 8" scope it reminded us of a globular cluster and there was a little discussion on whether we had picked up M80 by accident but in the end it was decided that we where too far below M80 for there to be a mix-up. I hope this gives some idea of what brightness it is at at the moment.

The person who first spotted the comet was the one who also reckoned there was a small tail visible in the scope. Due to the comet being low to the horizon and a lot of people about I didn't get a really good look at it before it sunk too low. But I suppose as it gets higher each night it might be easier to tell.

[Outbackmanyep]

This nice image shows a blue ion tail....
http://astrophoto.de/Index2.html?17PHolmes.html

[astroron]

Managed to get aquick view at about 18:30 low down and through some cloud, also still in twilight
Using the 16" and 13mm nagler was slightly bluey white, only had about 2 minutes observation time before the clouds covered it for good.:mad2:
I waited all night for a look at comet Holmes, Through the 16" it is umungous,:eyepop: must be at least a third of a degree in Diameter, again only a short time before the clouds covered it.:mad2:
Called it a night at 00:20.
A rewarding night but very frustrating.
I set the 8" sct up to take some pics but it went into the clouds never to come out again.:(:(:(

[jjjnettie]

damn clouds.
I'm glad you got a look in Ron.

[Outbackmanyep]

Ok i seen it tonight but only through binoculars, i imaged it with a tripod shot....

If you look closely you will see the comet and a long thin tail which has trailed in the image, just under sigma scorpii

I didn't have time to drag my scope out tonight, so i took heaps of tripod shots! :thumbsup:

This image has not been processed!

[iceman]

Nicely done! How long was your exposure?

[Outbackmanyep]

60 sec exp @ f/5.6 @ 55mm

I only have the 18-55mm lens for this camera, incidentally does Mogg Adaptors do rings to adapt Minolta Bayonet to EOS??? I have a 300mm Minolta (japan) lens i could be using!

Cheers!
:thumbsup:

[fringe_dweller]

wow you've done it again OBM!! you have at least a 3- 4d tail there. so far, sure is a pretty 'typical' comet. like recent Pojmanski was too, tail lengths seem pretty common in this sort - shes a 10 to 20d blue ion tail with a longer guided digital widefield shot then, and maybe 5/6/7/8d in binocs from dark skies, no dust so dark skies are mandatory? less it does something out of the ordinary? :)
interestingly going through that part of the sky might not be the photo op you would normally think it is, it is one of those rare bright ones that goes through the brighter milky way.
i remember when Comet C/2001 Q4 NEAT was in canis major, tail in/thru puppis, early may 2004, then seeing it out of the milky way a little later, i couldnt believe it was the same comet. the contrast you lose with ion tails in the MW is substanial, even visually - not that its going stop anyone or me :P just had a flashback to it thats all lol - i think it happened famously with halley's last time round of course.

oh to live in the countryside *sigh* :) its a rather big hassle to get to really dark skies from where i live for me
keep em coming OBM
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Outbackmanyep]

I wish these clouds would go away sometime soon! :sadeyes:

[Garyh]

Good report and image there Outbackmanyep! havn`t had a clear western horizon as yet but I am keen to get a peak and a pic..
cheers

[NQLD_Newby]

Well I had a look for this comet last night, I think I saw it, unless there is something else in that area that my charts don't show. The actual chart I had printed out from the net howed it just south east of M4. This is where the confusion sets in. The very faint smudge I saw (looked almost like a galaxy was so faint, and large) was north east of M4. I have seen M4 many times before but the twilight was very confusing. I am wondering if the very faint object was M4 and what I thought was M4 was the comet??????? either way I guess you could say that I have seen it, just don't know which was it and which was M4???? I know NGC6144 is also in this area, but I have seen it many times before also and know how faint it is when its dark, so don't believe that I could have been looking at it, besides the smudge I saw was too big and was not in the right position in relation to antares. I guess if anyone else was looking that night they could help me out by answering the following for me please.

Was the comet larger than M4?
Was it brighter than M4?
Which direction from M4 was it?

Any help would be appreciated. Please remember my scope is small so it would have looked a lot fainter for me than for some of you lucky people with huge scopes.


Edit: I did some further research regarding updated orbital info etc from the site that Outbackmanyep has supplied in other comet threads on here, (thanks OBM) and after sorting through all the data etc supplied on said website edited the info in my skywatch program for this comet and it shows it to the left of M4 as shown on my printed skychart I had. This leads me to believe that what I thought was M4 was in fact the comet, and the large faint object I saw was in fact M4??? still not 100% sure but i think thats correct.

[WadeH]

Had another more concentrated look at Loneos F1 last night allowing the sky to darken as much as possible first, about 8:15pm WDST. This was after some horrible cloud banks disapeared just at the right time.

Through the 30X100 binos could easily see the coma and a hint of nucleus, and right at the limits of my visual range I could just make out a thin stream of the tail leading up and to the north (towards Antares).

Hi Rex, Loneos is a little brighter than M4 but much smaller. If you were looking directly below Antares that was M4. Loneos F1 is a similar distance as between those two but off to the south and in between forming a triangle.

All three of the above could almost fit in the FOV for the 30X100's (2deg.)but not quite.

[NQLD_Newby]

Thanks Wade, I am planning on having another better look tonight. weather depending of coarse. We have storms forcast but we will see.

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi guys!
Its been raining here! I know we need it but according to reports from Con Stoitsis and Michael Mattiazzo the comet is beginning to dim, i wish these clouds would POQ! hehe
The comet does look very much like M4 NQLD_Newby, but it is about 1/4 the size, and it has a very fast proper motion, so if you see it try and sketch it, then tomorrow night sketch the field again and see if the motion has changed!
You can do it at higher magnifications too but you want the widest possible angle with good resolve. Something between 25 to 40mm is good enough!
I know when i observed C/2004 Q2 Machholz in January 2005, it moved 2 degrees per day!!

But if you're unsure, sketch what you see in the eyepiece, then try sketching it again the next day and you'll quickly see what moves and what doesn't!

Cheers!

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi WadeH,
Whats the 30x100's like to use?? Do they hurt your eyes at all, and whats the edge of field like as far as coma goes??

Cheers! :)

[fringe_dweller]

ouch, fading a mag a day eh :C ho hum never gonna be a naked eye comet, hmmm oh well cant win em all :D

OBM never seen any bright comet move faster than B2 through the night sky in march '96! 15d a day at one stage at least, could see/watch it move during/over session, specially in scope at high power

[Outbackmanyep]

My recollection of Hyakutake was a big fuzz ball in the murky Penrith skies, i took star trails of that comet from my backyard, i wasn't driving then so i had to sit that one out!
I heard from many other people it was just as spectacular as P1 McNaught as far as "awe" goes!
If you look in David H Levy's book "Guide to Observing and Discovering Comets" he shows a long duration star trail image of the North Celestial Pole and you can see the trailed image of Hyakutake on a 30 degree (or so) angle against the background stars, it certainly moved alright!!!!
But my recent memory was of Q2 Machholz, i was amazed at how much it moved from night to night.....
But B2, moving 15 degrees a night though....AWESOME!.....would have been a guiding nightmare!!!!!

Cheers! :thumbsup:

[fringe_dweller]

I would easily put/rate my personal B2 experience over P1, just to start with, just simply coz it was in dark skies when at best.

your right OBM, re guiding nightmare, thats mainly why there isnt many, if any, 'awesome' *truly* representative all encompassing view photos of it, that and the gigantic length of tail. boy if modern digital cameras were around then :eyepop:

[circumpolar]

Finder chart found here at CometChasing/Skyhound
http://www.cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/2007_F1.gif

[WadeH]

Hello Outbackmanyep.

The 30X100's do take a little getting used too seeing as how they have such a small FOV, supposed to be 2 deg. but I suspect really 1.8. Will measure it one day. Also my tripod needs an upgrade to something more sturdy but it will do for the time being.

I know that some people will say that for the mag. and objective size they would get perhaps a refractor or other scope, but you cannot beat it for grab and go viewing and I will also take it away on camping trips etc were space (sorry bad pun) is limited.

There is a little coma around edges but not bad enough to distract or stand out while looking at the object which,again, with such a small FOV will be in the centre and that is were your eyes stay.

I think that they are great valua for money!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, cheaper than a 100mm Achro and a Binoviewer!!!!

[Outbackmanyep]

Santa better have a BIG sack this Christmas!

I would like to have a look through a pair before i buy i reckon! But it sounds like good value for money!
I tried a pair of Saxon 10x50's and OMG....looking through them was ok but when i took them away my eyes stung badly.....i settled for 7x50's that didn't do that, i got them at the same time i got my 10" dob....so i better take a look through a pair first!

I'm chomping at the bit now! Thanks WadeH! :thumbsup:

[WadeH]

Not sure what you mean by stinging your eyes but it would definatly pay to try first. It is a sizable outlay. Also remember to allow for a strong tripod at some stage. It is essential.

I also looked at M6 Butterflycluster and M14 globular and the views were great. M6 filled the entire FOV.

[NQLD_Newby]

Well it's official. What i thought was M4 the other night was definately Leonos. I found it last night quite easily as there wasn't anything else anywhere near it that would look like it. Looks very much like M4 does in the dark, but a lot smaller. Couldn't make out any hint of a tail, but twighlight lasts till about 8pm EST and by that time it is very low on the horizon. As it gets higher up each day (hopefully won't faid too much) the view should get better. It would be an amazing sight in total darkness.

[Rob_K]

I observed it again last night through 12x50 binoculars - head still quite bright and it had moved about 5 degrees up from where I saw it two nights ago. No 15 degrees, but it's still moving fairly fast!

Cheers -

[Outbackmanyep]

Hey WadeH,
I must have suffered eyestrain badly, i picked the bins up, held them to my eye, focussed on a nearby telegraph pole and as soon as i took them away my eyes hurt like buggery, i reckon if i had kept it up i would have had headaches or something!

BTW..$419-00 from AOE, not a bad price but maybe i'll wait till after christmas, they might be on special by then! :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Attached is the latest chart for Sydney latitudes, facing West at about 8:25pm.

Star Atlas Pro is reporting it at mag 8.67 - is that right? That'll barely be visible in binoculars..?

[WadeH]

[quote=iceman;269753]
Star Atlas Pro is reporting it at mag 8.67 - is that right? quote]

Starry Night Pro has it updated at mag 6.92. But I wont get another observation chance until tomorrow night.

Margaret wants lessons in how to use all this computer planaterium stuff and how to access IIS so look out.

[fringe_dweller]

its roughly somewhere in the 7's tonight Mike

[iceman]

Damn, fading quickly.

I updated the comet data today and it still said > mag 8. :shrug:

[iceman]

Yay, I finally saw (and imaged) Leonos tonight. I left for work early and set up on the edge of the old Pacific Hwy at Mount White, on my way to work.

There was a spot with a good shoulder off the road and a good view to the west so I set up my EQ6, ED80 and 350D for some imaging.
I also set up Jacob's 20x80's on a tripod to help spot it. I couldn't really find it visually, especially when it was still twilight. I used Star Atlas Pro to pinpoint the location visually, and then saw the faint fuzz in the binoculars, and got the ED80 pointing to the same field, took a 10sec test exposure, and there it was - green fuzzball.

So I took a load of exposures ranging from 30-60 seconds, but I didn't polar align properly (didn't have time) so got some trailing at exposures longer than 45 seconds. It appeared that the tail mostly started to appear at longer exposures and helped when it got darker too.

By 9pm I had to pack up and get to work, and this co-incided with the comet dropping below the tree line from where I was setup. So, I finally saw it!

It was a very difficult target in binoculars - if I didn't know it was there I may not have even known it was a comet. It seems it's fading quickly.

But it is getting higher in the sky too, so it'll be visible when the sky is darker, allowing for some longer exposures. Next time I'll try to set up where I can do some auto-guiding too to get the long exposures without trailing.

Anyway, images will come later on when they're processed.

Very happy I saw it.

[Outbackmanyep]

Great stuff Mike!
Another cometary notch in your belt!
:thumbsup:

[iceman]

Thanks Chris, was glad to have caught it.

My Leonos images here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=25716)

[Kal]

Just went out and saw this tonight in my 25x100 binoculars. Very faint, but that may be due to the fact that I had to look over the rear neighbours house and they had the back porch light on. My limiting visual magnitude was about 9.5