Astrophotography

Johnny,

Thanks for the link.

Dean


On 04/01/2017 06:17 PM, Astrophotography wrote:
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> Thanks for all of the kind words. You can follow comet Lovejoy at this link if you don't already have a planetary program.
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> https://theskylive.com/c2017e4-info
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> The comet is heading north and will take a dive east around perihelion on April 26. The Moon will start to become a problem after the 10th, but will rise with the Sun on the 26th. I'll be an easy binocular object along with M31 in the same field of view starting on the 20th to the 22nd. However, you'll need a low eastern horizon of 15 degrees or less to catch it before twilight begins.
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> Johnny
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Astrophotography" <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2017 4:19pm
> To: "johnnyb@reagan.com" <johnnyb@reagan.com>
> Subject: re: Comets C/2015 ER61 PanSTARRS and C/2017 E4 Lovejoy <<$169600734032$>>
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> Great catch Johnny! You got a 2-fer on the same night…. Wow!
> On Mar 31, 2017, at 6:37 PM, Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
> Got out the past two mornings to image two comets. ER61 PanSTARRS has been heading toward to Sun since its' discovery in 2015 and is about on schedule as far as brightness, about 9 mag. at this time going for a possible 7th mag in June.
> The big surprise is comet 2017 E4 Lovejoy. This is the 6th comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer, Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it on March 9th when it was at 12th mag. I was expecting a 10th mag. comet as it was listed at last observations. But, to my surprise, as I focused it in with my 12.5" Newt. at 47X, it's greenish hue was very obvious and sporting a much brighter coma at between 7-7.5 mag! That's almost a 5 mag. jump in just three weeks! At that pace we could be looking at a 2nd or 3rd mag. comet when it reaches perihelion around April 26th. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks, because as comets go, anything can happen. Or, it could easily fizzle out as it approaches the Sun; we'll see.
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> Comet PanSARRS is sporting a faint, and short, dust tail now. Comet Lovejoy also has a tail. It's a very thin ion tail pointing 1 degree to the upper right (west), but barely visible in my image. I needed a longer exposure in a darker sky, but I had to wait for it to clear a tall cottonwood to my East, and twilight was in full force at 6:23 am.
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> Both images are 2X45 sec. at 6400 iso taken with my Canon T4i and the 12.5" f/6 Newt.
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> JohnnyAttachment(s):
> Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (435.2 KB)
> Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (443.1 KB)
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>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<<
> You have received this message as a member of: Central Texas Astronomical Society
> Change preferences (including opt-out): https://CTAS.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=13&club_id=901132
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Thanks for all of the kind words.  You can follow comet Lovejoy at this link if you don't already have a planetary program.

https://theskylive.com/c2017e4-info

 

The comet is heading north and will take a dive east around perihelion on April 26.  The Moon will start to become a problem after the 10th, but will rise with the Sun on the 26th.  I'll be an easy binocular object along with M31 in the same field of view starting on the 20th to the 22nd.  However, you'll need a low eastern horizon of 15 degrees or less to catch it before twilight begins.

 

Johnny

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Astrophotography" <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2017 4:19pm
To: "johnnyb@reagan.com" <johnnyb@reagan.com>
Subject: re: Comets C/2015 ER61 PanSTARRS and C/2017 E4 Lovejoy <<$169600734032$>>

Great catch Johnny! You got a 2-fer on the same night…. Wow!
On Mar 31, 2017, at 6:37 PM, Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
Got out the past two mornings to image two comets. ER61 PanSTARRS has been heading toward to Sun since its' discovery in 2015 and is about on schedule as far as brightness, about 9 mag. at this time going for a possible 7th mag in June.
The big surprise is comet 2017 E4 Lovejoy. This is the 6th comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer, Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it on March 9th when it was at 12th mag. I was expecting a 10th mag. comet as it was listed at last observations. But, to my surprise, as I focused it in with my 12.5" Newt. at 47X, it's greenish hue was very obvious and sporting a much brighter coma at between 7-7.5 mag! That's almost a 5 mag. jump in just three weeks! At that pace we could be looking at a 2nd or 3rd mag. comet when it reaches perihelion around April 26th. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks, because as comets go, anything can happen. Or, it could easily fizzle out as it approaches the Sun; we'll see.

Comet PanSARRS is sporting a faint, and short, dust tail now. Comet Lovejoy also has a tail. It's a very thin ion tail pointing 1 degree to the upper right (west), but barely visible in my image. I needed a longer exposure in a darker sky, but I had to wait for it to clear a tall cottonwood to my East, and twilight was in full force at 6:23 am.

Both images are 2X45 sec. at 6400 iso taken with my Canon T4i and the 12.5" f/6 Newt.

JohnnyAttachment(s):
Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (435.2 KB)
Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (443.1 KB)

Great job on both of those, Johnny.

Willie



> On Mar 31, 2017, at 6:37 PM, Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Got out the past two mornings to image two comets. ER61 PanSTARRS has been heading toward to Sun since its' discovery in 2015 and is about on schedule as far as brightness, about 9 mag. at this time going for a possible 7th mag in June.
> The big surprise is comet 2017 E4 Lovejoy. This is the 6th comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer, Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it on March 9th when it was at 12th mag. I was expecting a 10th mag. comet as it was listed at last observations. But, to my surprise, as I focused it in with my 12.5" Newt. at 47X, it's greenish hue was very obvious and sporting a much brighter coma at between 7-7.5 mag! That's almost a 5 mag. jump in just three weeks! At that pace we could be looking at a 2nd or 3rd mag. comet when it reaches perihelion around April 26th. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks, because as comets go, anything can happen. Or, it could easily fizzle out as it approaches the Sun; we'll see.
>
> Comet PanSARRS is sporting a faint, and short, dust tail now. Comet Lovejoy also has a tail. It's a very thin ion tail pointing 1 degree to the upper right (west), but barely visible in my image. I needed a longer exposure in a darker sky, but I had to wait for it to clear a tall cottonwood to my East, and twilight was in full force at 6:23 am.
>
> Both images are 2X45 sec. at 6400 iso taken with my Canon T4i and the 12.5" f/6 Newt.
>
> Johnny
>
> Attachment(s):
> File: Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (435.2 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1695546_0_Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg
> File: Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (443.1 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1695546_1_Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg
>
>
>
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<<
> You have received this message as a member of: Central Texas Astronomical Society
> Change preferences (including opt-out): https://CTAS.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=13&club_id=901132
>
>

Good image Johnny
Dave
---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Astrophotography" <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org>
To: "jde209@netzero.net" <jde209@netzero.net>
Subject: Comets C/2015 ER61 PanSTARRS and C/2017 E4 Lovejoy <<$169554619843$>>
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 18:37:08 -0500




Got out the past two mornings to image two comets. ER61 PanSTARRS has been heading toward to Sun since its' discovery in 2015 and is about on schedule as far as brightness, about 9 mag. at this time going for a possible 7th mag in June.
The big surprise is comet 2017 E4 Lovejoy. This is the 6th comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer, Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it on March 9th when it was at 12th mag. I was expecting a 10th mag. comet as it was listed at last observations. But, to my surprise, as I focused it in with my 12.5" Newt. at 47X, it's greenish hue was very obvious and sporting a much brighter coma at between 7-7.5 mag! That's almost a 5 mag. jump in just three weeks! At that pace we could be looking at a 2nd or 3rd mag. comet when it reaches perihelion around April 26th. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks, because as comets go, anything can happen. Or, it could easily fizzle out as it approaches the Sun; we'll see.

Comet PanSARRS is sporting a faint, and short, dust tail now. Comet Lovejoy also has a tail. It's a very thin ion tail pointing 1 degree to the upper right (west), but barely visible in my image. I needed a longer exposure in a darker sky, but I had to wait for it to clear a tall cottonwood to my East, and twilight was in full force at 6:23 am.

Both images are 2X45 sec. at 6400 iso taken with my Canon T4i and the 12.5" f/6 Newt.

Johnny

Attachment(s):
File: Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (435.2 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1695546_0_Panstarrs-2X45-3-31-17.jpg
File: Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg (443.1 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1695546_1_Lovejoy-2X45-3-31-17.jpg

Got out the past two mornings to image two comets. ER61 PanSTARRS has been heading toward to Sun since its' discovery in 2015 and is about on schedule as far as brightness, about 9 mag. at this time going for a possible 7th mag in June.
The big surprise is comet 2017 E4 Lovejoy. This is the 6th comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer, Terry Lovejoy, who discovered it on March 9th when it was at 12th mag. I was expecting a 10th mag. comet as it was listed at last observations. But, to my surprise, as I focused it in with my 12.5" Newt. at 47X, it's greenish hue was very obvious and sporting a much brighter coma at between 7-7.5 mag! That's almost a 5 mag. jump in just three weeks! At that pace we could be looking at a 2nd or 3rd mag. comet when it reaches perihelion around April 26th. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks, because as comets go, anything can happen. Or, it could easily fizzle out as it approaches the Sun; we'll see.

Comet PanSARRS is sporting a faint, and short, dust tail now. Comet Lovejoy also has a tail. It's a very thin ion tail pointing 1 degree to the upper right (west), but barely visible in my image. I needed a longer exposure in a darker sky, but I had to wait for it to clear a tall cottonwood to my East, and twilight was in full force at 6:23 am.

Both images are 2X45 sec. at 6400 iso taken with my Canon T4i and the 12.5" f/6 Newt.

Johnny