Regrettably from light-polluted suburban Melbourne skies with the odd tree in the way, it was just missable . The haze combined with horizon clutter was just too much, and by the time the comet rose high enough the twilight was too bright. I could see NGC6231 in the binos no probs so was in the right area too. In a day or two the comet'll be well above my horizon. But ... had a lovely hour or so under a pretty clear sky around dawn with the LMC, Eta Car and Omega Cen visible to naked eye, and a bit of Milky Way too. Mercury visible late on too. So not all lost!
And some of the photos on here today are exceptional , and definitely make up for missing the main show of the morning. The time-lapse video is beautiful too.
andy
I saw it this morning, too. I'm in Albany, on the south coast, at the moment. I set the alarm for 3.20am and was expecting to see clouds. I couldn't see anything out my bedroom window but went around to big front windows and there it was! Luckily to the right of a big Norfolk Island pine, too. Plus I had a street light about ten metres to the left, but could see it no problems. So if you are in the suburbs with a bit of light around, don't give up, it is still easily visible. Twilight had already started down here. Looking forward to the next week, to see it does, now.
Well done all, agree it is very exciting, this is the best comet I have seen since the brilliant Hyakutake in 1996!! I imaged it this am, and is the best image of a comet I have taken as well, though not in the league of colin, Ian and crew.
We in North Qld missed out on Comet MacNaught ( :rain and are still getting over that, so beautiful Comet Lovejoy is a welcome sight!!
Relativistically belated congratulations to Terry, what a lovely present!
I was showing my non-astro relatives some of the SOHO sequences, to some "oohs and aahs", when my niece (who was watching very quietly indeed for her) suddenly asked (with a quaver in her voice),
"Did Santa fall into the sun?"
Restrained LOL.
She was so gratified to see "Santa" coming around the other side of the sun.
I wish we could teach our littlies less about bizarre and fantastical confabulations and instead show them the astonishing wonder of the real world. Sigh.
Regrettably from light-polluted suburban Melbourne skies with the odd tree in the way, it was just missable . The haze combined with horizon clutter was just too much, and by the time the comet rose high enough the twilight was too bright. I could see NGC6231 in the binos no probs so was in the right area too. In a day or two the comet'll be well above my horizon. But ... had a lovely hour or so under a pretty clear sky around dawn with the LMC, Eta Car and Omega Cen visible to naked eye, and a bit of Milky Way too. Mercury visible late on too. So not all lost!
And some of the photos on here today are exceptional , and definitely make up for missing the main show of the morning. The time-lapse video is beautiful too.
andy
Where in Melbourne were you looking this morning Andy? I'm assuming if I get out to the eastern sububrs tomorrow with a flat horizon (eg. Berwick) the remaining light pollution will be no worse than the twilight?
In a few days time I guess it will need a really dark sky as it gets fainter but into dark sky?
Where in Melbourne were you looking this morning Andy? I'm assuming if I get out to the eastern sububrs tomorrow with a flat horizon (eg. Berwick) the remaining light pollution will be no worse than the twilight?
In a few days time I guess it will need a really dark sky as it gets fainter but into dark sky?
Phil
Eastern suburbs (Mount Waverley area). Had thought of finding a really low horizon (not all that easy to do with all the trees and houses around), but thought the garden would do OK as I have a pretty low southeastern view. Unfortunately the lost 5deg. or so of lowest sky and an unfortunately-placed tree got in my way and scuppered the view. Will just have to try harder next time! It should be straightforwardly visible with a completely flat horizon around 4am - 4:30am, but pick the site well as haze and light pollution will hurt the tail length. I don't doubt it will be quite an easy sight in 1-3 days from here, given the clarity of the sky (from the stars I could see along its projected path), especially seeing others' photos.
From Berwick I'd imagine the LP would be much less of an issue, esp to the SE!
I might call it "Terry's teaser" after this morning...
Not getting much sleep but hey who needs sleep?! Had another lovely view of the comet last night wandering the shore of the Estuary. It's quite unique down there. The Perth and Mandurah sky domes light up the northern half of the sky, while the east and south east are pitch black (except for a couple of small towns). The north glow is enough to walk by once dark adapted.
Anyway, while wandering I came across a small embayment with still water and nice reflections of the comet. Used the same settings as last night to get the attached shot.
Great shots Ian, Graham and Steve. Thanks again everyone for the kind words.
Not getting much sleep but hey who needs sleep?! Had another lovely view of the comet last night wandering the shore of the Estuary. It's quite unique down there. The Perth and Mandurah sky domes light up the northern half of the sky, while the east and south east are pitch black (except for a couple of small towns). The north glow is enough to walk by once dark adapted.
Anyway, while wandering I came across a small embayment with still water and nice reflections of the comet. Used the same settings as last night to get the attached shot.
Great shots Ian, Graham and Steve. Thanks again everyone for the kind words.
Another beautiful shot, Colin!
What settings? Is that light from the town or the sun?
Another Awesome Shot Colin.
Sadly up here in the NT it's all rain and brewing cyclones !
I hope to get some views when I am back in Cairns from Xmas Eve.
Your delightful shots prompt me to bring a new Canon Camera to the top of my shopping list.
great coverage of your shot and video on spaceweather today too, well done.
Are you a professional photographer ?
Enjoying all the beautiful pics/charts/obs from everyone, thank you all.
Can anyone make out the nucleus of this comet yet?
From what I've come to understand, there is a strong possibility it could be headless?
Some info on our last Kreutz....
Our last bright Kreutz sungrazer was 40yrs ago back on May 18th 1970- Comet White–Ortiz–Bolelli (C/1970 K1) which reached ap. mag. +1.
It was discovered by Graeme White in Wollongong, NSW thru binos at sunset. Later it was a naked eye object and by 2oth May, the tail spanned 10deg. in length until it faded out of view on June 1st.
Comet Ikeya–Seki 1965 is the most recent very bright Kreutz sun grazer, reaching between -10 & -11mag. (comparable to first quarter moon) with a tail spanning 25deg!
This discovery also makes him the only person to have discovered Kreutz sungrazers both from ground based observation and from images obtained by spatial telescopes
Mike, it's a small town. I was pretty annoyed when the comet rose bang in the middle of this, but fortunately it drifted north and was clear for the shot.
Settings were almost the same as the other shot. 13 s, iso 3200, 70 mm, f/4.
While I found an unobstructed view this morning, I wasn't happy with the light pollution. I'm going to go out for a drive later tonight to see if I can find a better vantage point.
Hey guys there are a lot of wonderful wide angle photos appearing here. But we also need higher resolution images around the coma to be used for astrometry.