Comet NEOWISE is now naked eye

[MarkS]

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now a naked eye object:
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=164248&fbclid=IwAR170dqNzAnFqlRekGNZx5T91AzXLL-4_UKaagANYg6M7Dz2tKaiC9GMrQg

It means getting up well before sunrise and you need a good NE horizon.

Mark

[Carole]

Have you seen it Mark?

Carole

[MarkS]

Have you seen it Mark?

Not yet.  It's obscured by trees for me.  But there's somewhere else I could try tomorrow morning.

More info:
https://britastro.org/node/23033

Over the next few days it will be higher in the sky and (weather permitting) easier to see.  You probably need to be out there around 3:00BST or slightly earlier.

Mark

[Carole]

Roger and I are going to attempt Cairds next week, if the weather is OK.  But they are not letting any-one on to the campsite unless they are toilet and shower independent. i.e. no shared loos which is good.  Also means we won't have the parade of torches going to the loos late evening.   

As I have sold my van I will be using the POD and Roger the Cabin with his own private key for the shower and toilet. 

These were the only days that the POD and Cabin are available, not 100% ideal as still a bit of Moon around, so if we manage to get there, we should have a good horizon for the comet. 

Carole

[Rick]

It means getting up well before sunrise and you need a good NE horizon.

I might manage the first, and that'd be looking straight over Nympsfield from one of the front rooms (or out the back and up to the top level), but the clear sky might be harder to arrange...

[Rick]

I was up at a bit before 03:00 UTC and had a good look to the north-east, but the sky was already quite light, and there was a bank of cloud over to the north and north-east, so couldn't see the comet. I did see some faint noctilucent clouds peeking round the side of that bank of clouds, though.

[MarkS]

I was up at a bit before 03:00 UTC and had a good look to the north-east, but the sky was already quite light, and there was a bank of cloud over to the north and north-east, so couldn't see the comet. I did see some faint noctilucent clouds peeking round the side of that bank of clouds, though.

Yes, there were definitely noctilucent clouds last night, near the horizon (Neowise not in this image):



Mark

[Rick]

Checking with Starry Night, it looks as if I should have been comet-hunting before going to bed rather than waiting til an hour before sunrise, as the comet is at present pretty much a circumpolar object, and the sky would have been darker then. Maybe tonight...

[MarkS]

Checking with Starry Night, it looks as if I should have been comet-hunting before going to bed rather than waiting til an hour before sunrise, as the comet is at present pretty much a circumpolar object, and the sky would have been darker then. Maybe tonight...

At the moment there's a slight advantage in the early morning hours but from Wednesday onwards it will be higher in the evening sky than in the morning sky.

Mark

[Rick]

My northern horizon has Gloucester and Cheltenham shedding light upwards, but they're bit-players in the light-pollution stakes compared to London, so I'll definitely give it a try. Much easier to look before going to bed than trying to wake up in the middle of the night.

Weather forecast suggests Sunday night may be better than tonight, but if I'd realised there was a chance last night it would have been a fair option. Here's last night's just-after-sunset weathercam picture.


North is approximately bottom centre. Zenith is about a third down from the top centre.