Comet NEOWISE

Using SharpCap for other Astro Imaging such as all sky cameras and meteor detection
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oopfan
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Comet NEOWISE

#1

Post by oopfan »

Has anyone seen it?

I checked C2A planetarium software. At my 41N latitude and 73W longitude sunset is at 8:26pm. At 9:30pm the Sun is about 12 degrees below the horizon which corresponds to the beginning of astronomical twilight. This is when I know that the sky is dark enough to begin polar alignment. Stars are visible but the sky isn't pitch dark yet. According to C2A the head of the comet will be 16 degrees above the horizon, looking directly northwest. Astronomical darkness occurs at 10:25pm when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. At that time the comet's head will be 10 degrees above the horizon. These figures are for tomorrow July 17, 2020. Unfortunately the weather has been terrible.

Brian
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#2

Post by admin »

Hi Brian,

not yet – it was visible in the UK in the very early hours about a week or so back, but I did manage to drag myself out of bed to see it. I think that the visibility is improving now that it is moving away from the sun, but we've had cloud for the last three or four nights.

Cheers, Robin
BlackWikkett
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#3

Post by BlackWikkett »

I've missed out so far while it was visible in early AM and now since it's moved to being visible in the evening. Unfortunately the tree line at my observing locations are too high. Don broadcast on NSN last night (7/15/20) and was able to show C/2020 F3 NEOWISE for well over an hour via SharpCap! Was an awesome sight.

-Chris
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#4

Post by donstim »

We actually had some clear weather finally and it happened to coincide with Neowise being visible in the night sky as well as the morning sky for us starting about 10:45 PM local time. I wouldn't worry too much about using your normal observing locations; just take some binoculars (and a DSLR and tripod if you have them) to wherever you can get a good view from.

Don
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oopfan
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#5

Post by oopfan »

Thanks, Don. Yes, I did see it for the first time tonight but there was a layer of haze. I did see it though. A decent length tail.

Brian
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

I got my first look at NEOWISE too last night - certainly a good deal more impressive than Comet Halley was back in 1986 – clearly visible to the naked eye.

Unfortunately my observatories in completely the wrong position to be able to view low down near the northern horizon, so I was limited to visual observing and some DSLR shots taken with the camera sitting on a beanbag on a garden bench.
IMG_1589a.jpg
IMG_1589a.jpg (207.87 KiB) Viewed 6416 times
This was just a couple of seconds at high ISO. Unfortunately the colour noise was so bad that I had to convert to greyscale.

Cheers, Robin
RonAM
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#7

Post by RonAM »

Nice shot for low in the sky and using DSLR. Here in Midwest US I hear folks saying it’s a naked eye object now but they must have dark skies and fully unobstructed horizon view. I was able to find a “window” of low horizon viewing near home but light polluted skies. The attached photo shows two images 25 minutes apart, bottom at 21:54 and top at 22:19 local time. You can see the motion of Neowise against the background stars in this time difference, especially looking at the two stars near the head of Neowise. Camera is ZWO ASI294MC-pro at 10-deg C, 200mm Cannon FD lens at f4, 1.3-second exposure per frame, 250 gain, 120 seconds total exposure time.

Cheers and clear skies, Ron
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Neowise 17-July-2020 Midwest US Motion Against Stars
Neowise 17-July-2020 Midwest US Motion Against Stars
EE95D72A-7173-4AD6-A3E5-DC0948417358.jpeg (879.17 KiB) Viewed 6408 times
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#8

Post by admin »

Hi Ron,

great images – it was definitely naked eye visible here on Friday night – we are approximately Bortle 5 skies here and it was more than just a fuzzy blob – you could see the vertical extension of the tail (or some hint of it) with the naked eye.

Cheers, Robin
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#9

Post by oopfan »

I'm glad you Gents are having luck with it. I saw it for the second night but it is underwhelming mostly due to the haze. Nice views of the Cygnus Milky Way overhead but if you look below 40 degrees altitude the atmosphere becomes thick and easily reflects light pollution. Hoping for another chance tonight and tomorrow night.
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Re: Comet NEOWISE

#10

Post by umasscrew39 »

Finally giving it a shot tonight with my DSLR on a tripod and if that fails, perhaps my 80mm with a CMOS on Monday night. A tight window between 8:34 and 9:00 to see it at best at very low in the horizon.
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