Who has seen the comet in the sky?

[kiwithrottlejockey]

I first noticed it yesterday morning when I headed out my front door about 4:10am to walk to work and thought I was seeing things. It was visible even though my street is well lit. Instead of walking to work along the usual street, I walked around the riverbank to work to get away from the street lights and the view of the comet (with the naked eye) was awesome. Then, while waiting in Wellington locomotive depot for the car shunt to place my train back to a platform so I could couple the locomotive onto it and head back to Masterton, I opened The Dominion Post newspaper and saw the story about this comet (I also searched the STUFF website for the Dominion Post story and also located the other two articles). It is still around....I got out of bed at 4:00am this morning to take another peek, then went back to bed for another couple of hours sleep before going to work. If the skies are clear where you live tomorrow morning, get out of bed around 4:00am and take a look at the comet. It's just above the horizon (sticking straight up) in an east-southeast direction. So long as you have a clear view to the horizon, you cannot miss it.



Tail of Comet Lovejoy visible

The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Friday, 23 December 2011


COMET LOVEJOY: Photo taken on December 22nd at 4:14am
from Himatangi Beach, Manawatu. — Photo: STEVE CHADWICK.

STARGAZERS MAY CATCH A RARE GLIMPSE of a comet this week after it had a close solar encounter.

Horowhenua Astronomical Society president Steve Chadwick took this photograph of Comet Lovejoy at 4:14am yesterday at Himatangi Beach, Manawatu.

Lovejoy was discovered last month by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy and it was thought to be heading to its demise as it hurtled towards the Sun.

It came within 200,000 kilometres of the Sun's surface but emerged intact, sporting a long tail.

The superintendent of Canterbury University's Mount John Observatory, Alan Gilmore, said the comet's tail would be visible for several days.

It would fade quickly as it moved away from the Sun. "It's standing up in the eastern dawn twilight sky," he said. "I would advise people to get out and have a look at it as soon as they can."

"It won't get any brighter."

Lovejoy was a fragment of a larger comet that had broken up, he said, and it was not known if it would be seen again.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6181451/Tail-of-Comet-Lovejoy-visible

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The sight of a lifetime

By JONATHON HOWE - Manawatu Standard | 8:49AM - Friday, 23 December 2011


MORNING SPECTACLE: Comet Lovejoy puts on a display for
earthlings living near Feilding. — Photo: NOEL MUNFORD.

A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME COMET is sweeping across Manawatu skies this week, but stargazers will have to wake up in the middle of the night to see it.

After surviving a close encounter with the sun, Comet Lovejoy is now delighting the southern hemisphere's astronomy enthusiasts with its extraterrestrial displays.

Palmerston North Astronomical Society spokesman Noel Munford said Comet Lovejoy would be visible in the southeastern sky for the next few nights.

"It was not expected to survive but, defying all odds, it did, and has burst out into our southern pre-dawn sky in spectacular fashion," Mr Munford said.

"Because of this little spell of fine weather, the next two or three days are probably going to give the best views."

"After that, if it's still visible, it will be further away from the sun and therefore the tail will get smaller and smaller and it will get fainter."

The best time to see it is from about 3am in areas away from the bright lights of the city, including Feilding, Longburn, Glen Oroua, Kimbolton and Halcombe.

"If you get up at 3am, just chuck on a warm jacket and a hat and head out to Awahuri or something like that ... you'd get a really good look at it."

"If you take a pair of binoculars, you'll be blown away."

Comets like Lovejoy are rare, but an even more impressive phenomenon was seen in Manawatu skies when Comet McNaught came near Earth in 2007.

"It's particularly lucky," Mr Munford said. "You're looking at 20, 30 years before you see a comet like [Lovejoy] and we've had two of them in five years."

The comet was named after Terry Lovejoy — the amateur Australian astrologer who discovered it — and is part of the Kreutz Sungrazer family of sun-grazing comets.

www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/6182900/The-sight-of-a-lifetime

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An earlier news story from Associated Press....


Comet dices with a toasty death

Associated Press | 11:35AM - Saturday, 17 December 2011


HOT TOPIC: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught
Comet Lovejoy emerging from its scorching close
encounter with the sun. — Photo: NASA.

A SMALL COMET survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.

Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt Thursday night when it came close to where temperatures hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived.

But astronomers watching live with NASA telescopes first saw the sun's corona wiggle as Lovejoy went close to the sun. They were then shocked when a bright spot emerged on the sun's other side. Lovejoy lived.

"I was delighted when I saw it go into the sun and I was astounded when I saw something re-emerge," said US Navy solar researcher Karl Battams.

Lovejoy didn't exactly come out of its hellish adventure unscathed. Only 10 per cent of the comet — which was probably millions of tons — survived the encounter, said W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which tracked Lovejoy's death-defying plunge.

And the comet lost something pretty important: its tail.

"It looks like the tail broke off and is stuck" in the sun's magnetic field, Pesnell said.

Comets circle the sun and sometimes get too close. Lovejoy came within 75,000 miles (121,000 kilometres) of the sun's surface, Battams said. For a small object often described as a dirty snowball comprised of ice and dust, that brush with the sun should have been fatal.

Astronomers say it probably didn't melt completely because the comet was larger than they thought.

The frozen comet was evaporating as it made the trip toward the sun, "just like you're sweating on a hot day," Pesnell said.

"It's like an ice cube going by a barbecue grill," he said.

Pesnell said the comet, although only discovered at the end of November by an Australian observer, probably is related to a comet that came by Earth on the way to the sun in 1106.

As Comet Lovejoy makes its big circle through the solar system, it will be another 800 or 900 years before it nears the sun again, astronomers say.

www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/6156270/Comet-dices-with-a-toasty-death

[mumbles]

From my place a little after 4 this morning. Easy to spot, not as easy to photograph with the lenses I have



Will try again tomorrow.

[ErrolC]

I'll probably have a go in the morning. A great pity that I won't be able to get up One Tree Hill (or rather, don't want to spend the time at that hour to walk up it), but there is a reasonable viewing spot a couple of hundred metres away I think.

Really liked this shot from the Waitakeres.
www.hellophoto.co.nz/showthread.php?6704-Comet-Lovejoy

[Dave Homewood]

Nah, it's Santa!

[steveh]

Got up at about 4am on Friday morning, nice & clear so dragged the kids out of bed & drove about 5 mins to a spot I knew had no street lights & after we'd negotiated the cars on all night park ups ( if its rocking don't bother knocking ;D ) we had a good view. The head was still down below the hills to the east but the tail very clear. A half hour earlier might have made it even clearer as the first glow of dawn was visible to the east as well. My brother in Lower Hutt said he saw it clearly from his veranda on ( I think) Saturday morning.
Steve.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Comet Lovejoy close encounter

By JARED NICOLL - The Marlborough Express | 7:40AM - Tuesday, 27 December 2011


CLEAN BREAK: The Comet Lovejoy came within 200,000 kilometres of the Sun's surface,
survived, and is visible without binoculars from now until early January.
— JARED NICOLL/The Marlborough Express.

THE COMET LOVEJOY is close enough to the Earth to be seen without binoculars by looking southeast between 3am and 4.30am from now until about January 05.

The Marlborough Express' Kaikoura reporter Jared Nicoll took the above photo on Friday.

The comet is named after Terry Lovejoy, a Queensland-based astronomer, who discovered it last month.

Retired Canterbury University biology professor and astronomy enthusiast Larry Field said Lovejoy was tracked by NASA satellite as it flew ever closer to the Sun, only to reappear on the other side with its tail evaporated. "It was unbelievable — this thing came out the other side without its tail."

"Comet Lovejoy was thought to be heading too close to survive in its turn around the Sun but, as it moved behind the Sun, astronomers were surprised to see that its bright head had survived.

"The tail was evidently blasted away by the solar wind and it soon established another tail which is what we now see," Professor Field said.

The comet will only get dimmer, so now could be a good time to try to photograph it. The best way would be with a high-speed ISO setting, 1600-3200, a high aperture setting, f-stop two to eight, and a lengthy time exposure of at least 10-15 seconds, with the camera kept very still.

www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/kaikoura/6191874/Comet-Lovejoy-close-encounter

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Close encounter with comet

By ISSAC DAVISON - The New Zealand Herald | 5:30AM - Wednesday, December 28, 2011


Comet Lovejoy over Cooks Beach. — Photo: Jane Dove Juneau.

A COMET which survived a close encounter with the sun can now be seen searing our skies in the early hours of the morning.

Comet Lovejoy came within 200,000km of the sun's surface three weeks ago, and was subjected to temperatures of several million degrees centigrade. Although 2000 similar comets on this orbit have melted, Lovejoy emerged from the sun's corona intact.

The comet lost its tail, but a 10th of it survived and it has developed a trail of dust and ice visible to the naked eye.

Photographer Jane Juneau took the above picture of the comet from Cooks Beach in the Coromandel at 3.45am, using a slow exposure from a fixed camera.

"It was the first clear night in a while, bright and beautiful and I just experimented a bit. If you take too slow an exposure, it catches the stars moving as well, so this one was just right."

Stargazers wanting to see the comet should look east to southeast between 3am and 4.30am before January 05. Once Lovejoy disappears, it will not be seen in Earth's skies again for another 800 to 900 years.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10775546

[flyjoe180]

Those are magnificent photos. Sam, awesome shot given the limited equipment you have. Cheers.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Duelling comets compete for stargazers' attention

By CHRIS HYDE - Manawatu Standard | 1:47PM - Thursday, 28 February 2013


IN THE EVENING SKY: Comet Lemmon (left) and comet Panstarrs (right).
— Photos: STEFAN KRIVAN and IAN COOPER.

DUELLING COMETS are competing for the attention of Manawatu stargazers as they blaze across the region's twilight sky.

Palmerston North Astronomical Society President Ian Cooper said it was only the third time in 160 years that two comets had been visible to the naked eye in Manawatu.

"It's pretty rare actually. And they're an easy target for people to spot too because they're both in the southwest part of the sky."

The brightest of the two comets is Panstarrs — an orange ball with a dusty tail which can be seen each night between 9pm to 9.45pm.

The other comet, Lemmon, has more of a green tinge and less of a tail and is visible at the same time as Panstarrs.

Both are making a close flyby of the sun for the first time after being dislodged from their seemingly stable orbit in the Oort Cloud at the furthest reaches of the solar system.

Cooper said the clear conditions had made it perfect for the public to get a good view of them, and with more clear weather forecast he recommended people check them out for themselves.

Panstarrs is around until about the March 8th and Lemmon will follow Panstarrs to the northern hemisphere at Easter.

______________________________________

How to view the comets

• Head out of the city and get to a place with a clear view of the low, south-west horizon.

• If you cannot get out of the city, get to the north-east side of a large nearby park at about 9pm and look towards the south-west sky.

• Binocular use is recommended.

• Panstarrs is the brightest and can be seen between 9 and 9.45pm.

• Lemmon can be found at the same time to the upper-left of Panstarrs at a distance of a little more than an outstretched hand at arms-length.

www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/8364545/Duelling-comets-compete-for-stargazers-attention

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[jjdavies]

The last few nights in Christchurch have been too cloudy to view these comets unfortunately. :-(

[kiwithrottlejockey]

I saw them in Masterton on Thursday evening, but only for about ten minutes before they disappeared behind the Tararua Ranges. That green comet really stands out, but you've got to look hard to see the second comet.

[scrooge]

Might have a look the next couple of nights while I'm at work, anyone have a good star chart app for a Samsung Galaxy S2? Had one but it kept crashing the phone.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

One in 110,000 year chance to see comet

The Dominion Post | 10:45AM - Thursday, 07 March 2013


RARE VISIT: The Panstarrs comet, photographed from
the Brooklyn wind turbine, is not expected to visit
the area near Earth for another 11,000 years.
— Photo: CHRIS PICKING.

A COMET visible from Wellington this week won't return for 110,000 years.

Carter Observatory astronomer John Field said the Panstarrs comet was right now between the Earth and the Sun, heading towards the Sun.

The comet was closest to the Earth on Tuesday, when it was 163 million kilometres away.

Another comet, called Comet Lemmon, would be visible to the naked eye during the next two weeks, making for a busy time for star gazers.

It was on a large orbit and would not be visible from Earth for another 110,000 years.

It was thought to be the comet's first trip around the sun, which it was expected to pass on Sunday.

Each night it was visible near the horizon of the western sky but disappearing earlier each evening.

Dusk towards early evening was the best time to see it.

While it was visible to the naked eye it was better through binoculars.

"It looks like a little bright star with a hazy tail," Mr Field said.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8393862/One-in-110-000-year-chance-to-see-comet

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Both comets are still visible in the early evening sky.

I saw them early yesterday evening just before I went to bed.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

From the Los Angeles Times....

Has comet ISON survived its solar flyby?

By MONTE MORIN | 10:47AM PST - Friday, November 29, 2013


ISON appears as a white smear heading up and away from the sun. ISON was not visible during its closest approach to the sun,
so many scientists thought it had disintegrated, but images like this one from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
suggest that a small nucleus may be intact. — Image: ESA/NASA/SOHO/GSFC.

• PHOTOS: Comet ISON journeys through the solar system

HAS Comet ISON survived its suicidal flyby of the sun? Scientists expected the dirty snowball to break apart as it flew within 730,000 miles of the sun on Thanksgiving, but NASA reported Friday that its nucleus may have survived.

"As ISON appeared to dim and fizzle in several observatories and later could not be seen at all by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory or by ground based solar observatories, many scientists believed it had disintegrated completely," read a NASA statement.

"However, a streak of bright material streaming away from the sun appeared in the European Space Agency and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory later in the evening. The question remains whether it is merely debris from the comet, or if some portion of the comet's nucleus survived, but late-night analysis from scientists with NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign suggest that there is at least a small nucleus intact," NASA said.


Another view from SOHO's C2 chronograph shows Comet ISON appearing bright as it streams toward
the sun (right). it can be seen as a dim streak heading upward and out in the left image. The comet
may still be intact. — Image: ESA/NASA/SOHO/Jhelioviewer.

Earthlings have been tracking the comet's journey for more than a year after Russian astronomers first spotted the brilliant object. Nearly two dozen spacecraft, including NASA's Hubble and Spitzer telescopes, have trained their eyes on ISON and eagerly awaited its date with oblivion — or not.

When ISON passed by Mars, instruments aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter measured its nucleus as about two-thirds of a mile across, relatively small by comet standards. The nucleus is made of ice and space dust.

The comet originated from the distant, icy reaches of the solar system, in a region known as the Oort Cloud, scientists say. Its journey began an estimated 5½ million years ago. On Thursday it encountered temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it reached perihelion, the point at which its orbit is closest to the sun.

Related news stories:

• Comet ISON arrives at perilous encounter

• 3 days until comet ISON survives or disintegrates (Photos, video)

• Look! Comet ISON has sprouted a pair of wings

• Comet ISON, visible in binoculars, now with a double tail

www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-comet-ison-may-have-survived-20131129,0,3531963.story

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from the Wairarapa Times-Age....

Comet a dawn visitor to Wairarapa

By NATHAN CROMBIE | 6:48AM - Wednesday, January 07, 2015


Comet Lovejoy will be visible to Wairarapa viewers this month.

STARGAZERS will have to rise early to catch a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of Comet Lovejoy hurtling across Wairarapa skies.

Comet Lovejoy — discovered last August — was racing north across the heavens at up to 30km a second, according to Dr Grant Christie, from the Stardome Observatory in Auckland.

The illuminated mass of ice will come within about 70 million kilometres of Earth and while being named after its Australian discoverer, Terry Lovejoy, was known less romantically as C/2011 W3.

The comet, believed to be about 5 kilometres in diameter, would be visible to the unaided but expert eye over the next few days and could be seen most easily with binoculars.

The lone wanderer would be difficult to see by the middle of the month before vanishing beyond the horizon in late January and not returning to our skies for several thousand years.

Wairarapa astronomer Richard Hall says the comet is at its brightest at present as its orbit is completed about the Sun “before heading off into deep space again”, and was best seen at dawn from about 4am in the southwest part of the regional sky.

“If you're an astronomer it's visible but certainly easier to see with binoculars. It's not something that is easily visible at the moment to the general public. You've got to get up in the early hours of the morning — a dawn sky — you can just spot it, if you know where to look, with the unaided eye,” he said.

“It's just like a fuzzy spot and nothing really spectacular like we've had before. Of course it can brighten.”

The full moon on Monday made viewing somewhat more difficult, he said, when “what you ideally need is a nice inky black sky” to contrast the comet as solar winds boil and turn its icy substance to a tail of glowing gas and dust.

There had been some reasonably good images captured of the comet in New Zealand and astronomers throughout the country were in the early morning tracking its progress as “comets can be wildly unpredictable”.

“On occasion you can get explosions and it can brighten right up and suddenly become very visible to the naked eye. It can be affected by solar activity as well and if there was a big eruption on the sun, that in turn can dramatically affect the comet.”

www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11382860