C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto

[Mostlycloudy]

Just found comet Iwamoto about 4 degrees east of Regulus. Just a fuzzy patch about magnitude 9, possibly elongated to the north west, small maybe 5’ across at 114x. Tried O3 and UHC filters, but apart from darkening the background they didn’t seem to improve the view. Helpful finder chart on the astronomynow website. 

 

Enjoy the cold.

[Doc]

Well done Mark, I will have a gander next time I'm out.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Doc

[+Bino-viewer]

Thanks for the heads up Mark.

I see its well positioned in Leo for the next couple of days, before it heads into Cancer, and Gemini by the weekend ?

Its a fast mover.

 

If i get the chance i will see if i can spot it.

But a Mag +9 i'm not too hopeful.

I have a very poor track record at finding comets ; certainly from home.

They can't be seen easily at all, and are swamped in Derbys light pollution to my south.

 

Even with a 12" Newtonian, i was unable to see Wirtenen, the last one that passed by in late December.

 

EDIT : Sky Safari is listing it as Mag 10.0  

          I'm even less hopeful i'll be able to spot it !  ?

Edited February 12, 2019 by Bino-viewer

[Mostlycloudy]

The moon will be a problem by the weekend, but hopefully it will be clear one night before then. Comets are notoriously disappointing, the integrated magnitudes offer spectacular things, and are usually undetectable. Has anyone ever tried a ‘swan band’ filter?

[BAZ]

Well done on the comet Mark. I hadn't heard of Swan filters until you mentioned them, they seem to be more popular in Europe and I'll bet you can find something similar here. Personally, I would try a UHC to increase contrast a bit.

[Doc]

Well I spent 1 1/2 hours tonight tracing this comet down. I star hopped via Iota Cancri which btw is a wonderful double star to Nu Cancri and then to the exact spot where both my planetarium software programs say the comet is. Appartently it's mag 10 now so with my sky conditions I think it's out of my reach.

 

With a little averted vision and intense looking I did see some mottling of the background but not enough to say I saw it for sure.

 

Will have to wait until the moons gone and maybe the comet is a little higher in the sky and try again.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Doc

[Mostlycloudy]

Only just found it tonight with averted vision, had to wait 20 minutes for it to move past a star to be sure. It’s now a few degrees south west of iota cancri, you can star hop along a curve of equally spaced, ever fainter and reddening stars.

 

Not a great night for it with a misty moon, not to mention the neighbours 2000 watt security light that has to monitor the safe passage of yet another cat along the fence.

 

Happy hunting.