comet neowise

[retired jerry]

anyone see comet neowise?

supposed to be visible to naked eye in eastern sky before dawn

next week - in northwest sky after sunset

[BurnsideBob]

Thanks for the tip RJ!

I was able to see the comet naked eye this morning, July 9. This morning it was between the constellation Auriga and the horizon. I started outside at 3:40 AM. In the time it took me to find the comet, go back to the house for a camera and tripod, and return it was 4:05 and the sky was brightening. The comet was still visible, since I now knew where to look, but a cloud bank moved in and that was that.

Here are two articles on where the comet will appear in the sky over the month of July.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/comet-neowi ... his-month/
https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-c ... f3-neowise

The comet will be highest above the horizon morning of 11 July before sliding lower. Later in the month the comet will be visible just after sunset.

Good luck spotting it. With a little luck, the comet will continue to brighten, making it easier to see and photograph. Each night the comet's location against the stars changes, but it will be below Auriga for the next couple of days. Auriga is barely above the horizon at 3:00 AM, so 3:30 to 4:00 AM is the sweet time slot thru 13 July.

BurnsideBob

[retired jerry]

were you away from city lights?

I think I'll have the opportunity July 12

[BurnsideBob]

Hi Jerry:

I was away from city lights. While the comet has brightened to -1 magnitude, that is the light projected by the whole of the comet. A -1 magnitude star would be very bright, but a -1 comet of this size is a smudge. Now if you were at tie-in rock on Cooper Spur, you would have a most excellent vantage point that would be higher than the low level stratus clouds we get coming up the Columbia at night.

I did take a number of photos, but by the time I figured out, in the dark, how to make my auto DSLR camera focus the comet was already obscured by cloud. In the attached photo the comet's head is centered in the red circle. Before the cloud moved in the comet's tail visible to the naked eye was about the diameter of the circle. So it was quite spectacular.

The photo was taken about 4:10 AM and the first light of dawn was already swamping the comet. I'll try again tonight but the odds that 1) I'll wake up at 3 AM and 2) there won't be any clouds are slim at best.

BurnsideBob

[retired jerry]

I like that picture

[BurnsideBob]

Comet Neowise 11 July 2020

[BurnsideBob]

This morning (13 July) Comet Neowise appeared fainter but with a longer tail. The comet rose behind clouds on horizon so I didn't spot it until it rose above them. The light on the clouds is from the moon and Portland Metro area.

Happy viewing!

Photography notes: shooting .raw with a 6 second exposure with bracketing at 1 stop above and below, asa 800, F 4.0, using 18-135mm lense at different focal lengths--this exposure is 6 seconds plus 1 stop at about 120mm with post processing tweaks to color and contrast to bring out tail. The comet is so dim I can't see it thru camera viewfinder--I line up shot using trees on horizon as reference points. I can see the comet naked eye, but if you are in an urban area you may have difficulty doing so. I have tried to view with a 20-60 zoom spotting scope, but it is very difficult to get on the comet at that magnification and when you do, you can only see the head. So I would suggest binocs. if you want enhanced vision, preferably ones with low magnification but big objectives.

BurnsideBob

[BurnsideBob]

Comet Neowise is now visible evenings at about 25 degrees west of north. This photo taken 10:46 PM 7/13.

Comet Neowise

[BurnsideBob]

A very clear sky last evening, a residual effect of China's shut down? Nary a cloud in sight and the coast range was sharp and clear on my horizon, a great indicator of atmospheric clarity.

Comet Neowise seems to be fading.

Comet Neowise at dusk 14 July

The milky way was wonderful and about as brilliant as I remember seeing it here on the Willamette Valley floor. The bright objects at left are Jupiter and Saturn.

Milky Way over Filbert Orchard 14 July

An excellent web resource for sky watching and object identification--you can set it to your location and, by clicking on the clock at bottom right, you can change the sky view to any time you want. https://stellarium-web.org/


BurnsideBob

[Guy]

Last night at Vista House.