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Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin)

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Author Topic: Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin)  (Read 22404 times)
Tyler
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« Reply #225 on: February 25, 2009, 10:22:35 pm »

Thanks Martin, yeah I figured it would look a little green, but it wasn't, maybe if in "darker skies" your image shows the color well Martin Smiley

Nice widefield there John

did you guys see the animation on spaceweather! oh gosh it's excellent!

this has been too fun, what are we going to do when it fades? lol
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John9929
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« Reply #226 on: February 25, 2009, 11:42:35 pm »

what are we going to do when it fades? lol

Thanks Tyler, watch for NLC'S Grin
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« Reply #227 on: February 26, 2009, 12:07:02 am »

Quote
this has been too fun, what are we going to do when it fades? lol
Comet 22P/Kopff is supposed to be around mag. 9 in June & July, and it's quite reasonably placed in the Aquarius region.

What's wrong with Saturn?

The waxing crescent Moon is excellently placed (for northern temperate observers) in early Spring.
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martinastro
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« Reply #228 on: February 26, 2009, 03:21:36 am »

The next really exciting phenomena are Noctilucent Clouds from May onwards. I expect the forum to be an extremely busy place then. Before that is the Lyrid meteor shower then into the Aquarid and Perseid showers. Hopefully there will be something else unexpected before then. A great comet or bright Nova would be more than nice  Smiley
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Big Dipper
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« Reply #229 on: February 26, 2009, 03:47:20 am »

Just packed up after a break in the clouds at around 2.30am appeared and I could see Saturn & Regulus through the window. I decided that I was going to take a few exposures with my AstroTrac and then set it up & wasted valuable minutes taking a few short exposures to frame the comet before handing it over to the remote timer. To my dismay, the clear slot was short lived but, obviously as I'd set everything up, I decided to wait to see what happened. Over the next hour or so I was only given 'teasing glimpses' of Lulin before the sky thickened up fully again (and still is). Frustrating but you learn to accept that and acknowledge what's done is done & tomorrow is another day. Just looking around the sky & getting fleeting glimpses of the likes of the Plough, Arcturus, Spica - and briefly while setting up, Saturn & Regulus still gives me a level of the 'feel good factor'. Looking forward to its close encounter on Friday evening.
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Andy
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« Reply #230 on: February 26, 2009, 10:47:43 am »

Cheers,Martin. No wonder I despaired. I've tried finding stars  straight off through the camera on the spotting scope. Nowhere near enough of a field of vision.I have 12 x 50's  bins. I really should have thought of that tbh. Still very cloudy here.
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« Reply #231 on: February 26, 2009, 11:06:00 am »

Still no sign of Lulin from here. Only had the one oppo, on Saturday night, and I was unable to locate it in my 15x70's, ok it was probably a bit low, but the clouds came in by 2300 and have been firmly emplaced ever since. Good catches everyone, some good shots of it.
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John
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« Reply #232 on: February 26, 2009, 04:00:42 pm »

Andy, I'm delighted you got a chance to catch it in the gaps. Your dedication paid off!

Here's a noisy snap from last night in the gaps...

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Tyler
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« Reply #233 on: February 26, 2009, 04:18:51 pm »

It look really bright when not near any "bright" stars Martin!

I forgot to mention that on my last observation, as I was scanning the sky, I panned from Northwest to southwest and as I panned, I picked up a meteor and followed it about 50-60 degrees across the sky brightening to roughly the 1st magnitude, it was pretty cool. Any ideas what it might have been? I think it came out of Cassiopeia or the eastern half of Perseus.

Oh Friday doesnt look good here now, looks like a couple inches of snow  Angry
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« Reply #234 on: February 27, 2009, 12:01:19 am »

I had about an hour clear this evening, so popped the 15x70's on the tripod, checked on HA, and pointed them at about the right place... Straight away, there's the comet. YES!!!!...

No clouds around, so I figured I'd try and image it. Dragged out the HEQ5 and scopes, used the RDF to point to the rough location, used the Konus and 17mm ep as a rough and ready finder scope (that's one helluva finder 23x80  :mrgreen: ) as I couldn't find it in the camera viewfinder. Tried a single sub of 2.5 minutes



and a stack of 7 x 2.5 minutes
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John
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Big Dipper
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« Reply #235 on: February 27, 2009, 02:18:06 am »

Wow John, you must be really pleased with them! Martin thanks for the kind words. I also very much like your widefield shot which brings out the strong green colour very well.

I'm keeping tabs on the window by my computer as I can easily see Saturn/Regulus from here as the room is dark. Doesn't look promising though.......  Sad
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Andy
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« Reply #236 on: February 27, 2009, 02:20:02 am »

Fantastic images John!!!
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martinastro
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« Reply #237 on: February 27, 2009, 03:36:28 am »

John, well done on getting two excellent images of Lulin. Your dedication really paid off. I reckon, from what I've seen so far, that those are probably the best Lulin images taken from the UK to date.  Wink Gorgeous long anti-tail on both but the 1st is my fav due to the long tail and the obvious motion of the comet, evident by the trailing of the false nucleus contrasting with pin-point tracked stars on either side, which shows that Lulin is really moving at phenomenal speed - fantastic!. I read it's producing 800 gallons of water each sec.

Andy, thanks very much. Keep watching because I got a some very good clear gaps here a few times. Lulin was visible with the NE to the L of Regulus and looking great. I'm convinced over that last two nights that the comet has faded slightly. We are loosing the opposition effect now but the anti-tail could become much more interesting as the geometry changes.
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Big Dipper
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« Reply #238 on: February 27, 2009, 04:30:49 am »

Andy, thanks very much. Keep watching because I got a some very good clear gaps here a few times.

LOL - spot on Martin!. Just come back in with my 10X50 binoculars as another cloud bank is now rolling in! I, too was thinking that it was looking slightly fainter than when I last saw it - so it's glad to read that you were thinking the same. Nevertheless it was well worth staying up to view as it heads towards Regulus. Tomorrow is the one I'm looking forward to when it passes about 40 arcminutes south of Regulus.  I will set up my AstroTrac then as well. Conditions for Oxford are looking favourable. Even Metcheck is forecasting less than 10% cloud cover after midnight (however, I won't count my chickens just yet).........


John, well done on getting two excellent images of Lulin. Your dedication really paid off. I reckon, from what I've seen so far, that those are probably the best Lulin images taken from the UK to date.  Wink 

Steady! It'll only go to his head!  Grin Grin
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Andy
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« Reply #239 on: February 27, 2009, 06:30:05 am »

Well this is the biggest thread on the forum  Grin
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