Have tried the last couple of nights but too cloudy, and MOON getting bigger.
Still a bit of time for us though.
Closest to us 20/10 at .10 AU, and perihelion 8 days later.
It will be a good target for the November challenge.
I don't think you'll have any trouble Liz, just make yourself a chart and make sure you include all the Messier objects etc in the vicinity so you don't get them confused.
I think it will be washed out under full moon!
Am soooo glad I already have it Chris, but would like to see the change in brightness. I know the Moon will be a PIA, but will perservere to observe it a bit brighter than what it was.
I was hoping to catch Hartley this morning before the full moon, but it's raining
On 6/11 the comet will be 7 degrees from Procyon.
Here is the SkyMap Pro comet path for November at 4am.
Magnitude 7 Hartley will be between M46 and M47 on November 29.
Keep trying Glen, Moonset tomorrow am just before 4am.
Checked skies a few times, but cloudy, then at 4am it had cleared a bit, so managed a few pics before it clouded over again.
Still really faint, and dont think caught it naked eye, quite a bit of hazy cloud around, but saw it again in binoculars. Has brighted only a little from when I saw it last week.
Hopefully it will brighten a little more as it heads towards the Sun.
Didnt see any meteors, despte the Orionids about to peak.
Full moon is just before noon today so I didn't think I would see Hartley this morning, but I did! I tried to see it with 20x80 binoculars and just managed to pick it up. Then I used my 12" Dob with a 30mm EP (1.5 deg field) and the core was easy to see. I couldn't pick the edge of the comet however. The comet formed a triangle with two stars magnitude 7.5 and 8.0.
Some comet data: Distance: 0.1216 AU (18.2 million km) Right ascension: 5h 52m 30.7s Declination: +34° 24' 4"
Full moon is just before noon today so I didn't think I would see Hartley this morning, but I did! I tried to see it with 20x80 binoculars and just managed to pick it up. "
Well done Glen!!!
Clear up here, but have been working, but would also love to pick it up again.
The Moon is too close to Hartley now. It will be better on 31/10.
Mag 4.7 Hartley will then be 28 deg SW of the last Q Moon.
On 31/10 the comet will be 2.5 deg east (to the right) of mag 2 gamma Gem at 4am at:
Right ascension: 6h 48m 30.5s, Declination: +15° 35' 41"
I had a look at Comet Hartley this morning with my 12" Dob.
The 60% phase Moon makes magnitude estimates difficult.
The comet's nucleus is similar in surface brightness to the magnitude 10.7 stars near it.
The out of focus comet is a bit brighter than the nearby out of focus mag 8.4 star. (SAO 96032)
I had a look at Comet Hartley this morning with my 12" Dob.
The 60% phase Moon makes magnitude estimates difficult.
The comet's nucleus is similar in surface brightness to the magnitude 10.7 stars near it.
The out of focus comet is a bit brighter than the nearby out of focus mag 8.4 star. (SAO 96032)
Good work Glen! Yes, the moonlight would make magnitude estimates difficult. Big surprise, our skies actually cleared up for a while late last night - unfortunately all except for the vital strip low down in the NE!!
Visual was out of the question but I did hastily set up the camera gear on spec and was very surprised to see that the comet showed through cloud bands in the three short poor subs I was able to get. So I suspect it has pretty much retained its brightness, although with pouring rain now, a flood warning and poor forecast for the next week, they might be the only comet photons that trickle through in our neck of the woods for quite a while!
Here's a link. 103P is the greenish object bottom-left of the bright star (Alhena, or Gamma Geminorum).
Well done Ken!!
I also managed to check it out again before the Moon rose - Was brighter tham when I saw it a couple of weeks ago.
Tried the comet filter on it, and helped...... with averted vision I thought I could see (imagine) a fannish tail.
Had been out of town with our club, got home 1.30am, but Moon up then - took a few images (had left camera battery at home ) but comet barely showed as Moon up.
Saw the comet last night as the moon was starting to rise. Boy it was difficult to see in 15x70 Binocs for a 5th magnitude comet...definitely need a dark sky for this one. Anyway managed to get a 10 x 60 second image of the comet with the C8 Hyperstar + QHY9 camera and I've attached a 1.6 x 1.6 degree Field of view crop.
hi all i was at minnie waters camping for the weekend and both mornings i tried and bugger me there was light cloud around didnt see, but orion was still good and taurus plieades in my new binos was wow....
I found Hartley with an 8x50 finder-scope this morning. It was between the stars 35 Gem and 38 Gem. The comet was fainter than the mag 5.7 star 35 Gem, using out of focus 12x60 binoculars. I thought I saw a tail using a 30mm EP (50X) and a 12" Dob, but the 37% phase Moon made it hard to tell. The tail was not visible in 20x80 binos.
Well done Glen and Terry. Yes, I maybe thought I saw a tail 2 nights ago, but not 100%.
Ooh, bad luck Mozzie. New bins sound good though.
I tried this am again, but cloudy.
There was no Moon when I looked at Comet Hartley this morning and it was clear in that part of the sky.
In 12x60 binoculars it was a bit fainter than M35 (mag 5.1) and similar to M46 (mag 6.1) and also similar to the OC NGC2477 (mag 5.0).
M35 was a naked eye object, the comet was not. I think the comet is about magnitude 5.5.
In a 12" Dob it looked a bit fan shaped, but it was hard to tell.
Here are some images. http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/...-pictures.html
