I saw it last night in binoculars and found it quite easy to locate. The green colour is quite distinct in this one.
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.
Last edited by Shark Bait; 03-02-2013 at 09:18 PM.
Reason: spelling
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 my wife also had a look in the bino's...
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 my wife also had a look in the bino's...
haha .. yep, the cricket is going to be close!!
This comet is brightening still mozzie,so keep looking, it will only get better!!
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)
I quite easily found it, looking like a fuzzy little globular cluster.
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
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
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..
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.
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..
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
