Hi all

Wednesday night has the promise of clear skies and the opportunity to observe the comet.  Reports are stating that it is green in colour, which should be an interesting sight.  It is located close to Pherkad in Ursa Minor.
www.heavens-above.com/comet.aspx?cid=C%2...loc=2&alt=274&tz=CET
There are reports that it will become naked eye in early February, though we might need a dark sky.

Paul

Latest estimates from cobs.si have it at mag +5.1, you may get the green colour in pictures, but not visually. A lot of the usual mainstream media reports over selling this comet as another Neowise etc which it is not.

Hello Paul and Neill. 

I'm planning to observe Come C/2022 E3 ZTF on Wednesday night 25th January 2023. 
It seems we will have clear skies over Dublin then. 
It will be in the southern part of Ursa Minor alright. 

Can either of you tell me what ZTF stands for?

Best regards from Aubrey. 




 

ZTF = Zwicky Transient Facility,  Zwicky Transient Facility - Wikipedia

Seeing was not the best last night,  high cloud and LED streetlights did not provide ideal viewing conditions.  I managed to see the comet with 10x50 binoculars, where it was just a fuzzy circular patch.  With 15x70s, it looked like an unresolved globular cluster, circular with a diffuse halo surrounding a slightly, very slightly, brighter core.  No tail and certainly no NEOWISE.

Paul 

No comet for me at all!
I need a better map for its location. 
I kept on moving the scope from Iota Draconis up to Gamma Ursae Minoris and there was no sign of it. 

The comet just isn't "friendly" with my refractor. 

I reckon I need to wait until it reaches Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris).  

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

I had clear skies early in the night, but couldn't observe at that point; then the clouds rolled in and I'm still waiting... in spite of a forecast stating clear skies and frost 

It seems that binoculars are better than telescopes on observing comets no matter what magnitude the comets are. 

Best regards from Aubrey. 

And just like that the clouds disappear and perfect viewing, albeit a 7-day Moon in Pisces. With averted vision I'm confident it was naked-eye, est mag 5.4. The image, 45 seconds with a 105mm DSLR lens, is from 2013 UT, 3.3 degrees east of Kochab and 30 million miles from Earth. That brings my comet count to 40.

Clear skies,
Finbarr.

That's great news, Finbarr!
Huge congratulations on reaching 40 comets! Wow!
Thank you for this sensational image also. 

My skies are clear too. 
But it's far too late to set up any optical equipment. And we are entertaining guests tonight. 
Still, I'm very much encouraged to try again to see Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF. 

Clear skies from Aubrey.   

Hello all. 

I chatted to our own Michael Murphy tonight at a meeting of the Irish Astronomy Society. 
He informed me that I could find our Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) using my Guide 9.1 DVD. 
He is right!
I just needed to do an update first. 

So I dabbled around the DVD, clicked on "Extras". 
Then clicked on "Comet/Asteroids Options". 
Then clicked on "Add MPS comets/asteroids. 
Finally "Click download updated comet data"
And Hey Presto: the Comet C/2022 E3 appears near Polaris for tomorrow night - 31st January 2023.  
The comet will be in Camelopardalis on Tuesday night near a magnitude 4.5 star that has a spectral class of K4 or K5. 
This star is called SAO 6022 or HD 49878. 
The view ought to be good for imagers. 
Anyway, I'm in business!
I will be setting up my 10X50 binoculars first before using the refractor. 
I'm not sure if I will have clear skies on Tuesday night. 
www.met.ie says we will have fairly strong winds and some cloud. 
I'll just have to wait and see. 
My special thanks to Michael for all his help thus far. 
I have now printed off a map. 

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

Hello everyone.
I have never had such a "labour of love" to find a comet in all my days. 
But I had great success in hunting down the Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF. 
It was even visible at 11x in my William Optics 70mm f/6 apochromatic refractor despite the bright gibbous -11.3 Moon.  
I star hopped my way up from Polaris, OV Cep, VZ Cam, and finally reached SAO 6022. 
At 40x in my main scope there was no problem seeing this 5.4 magnitude comet. 
It looked very like a good-sized galaxy with plenty of gas around it. 
I never saw any green colour. 
Silvery-grey I would say with a strange nucleus. 
The comet was constantly on the move upwards the more I observed it - moving away from some faint stars, and getting closer to others. 
The magnifications I used on it were:11x, 40x, 112x, 140x, 140x, 225x and 280x. 
Guide 9.1 DVD told me its distance: 42,663,818 kms from Earth. 
It's my 14th comet overall.
Maybe this Thursday night I will look for it again if it's clear. 

Clear skies from Aubrey. 
 

Cobs.si has observations of the comet at mag +4.5. Given it will reach predicted peak brightness today/tonight, this is probably as best as it will get etc.

Thank you, Neill, for the further information on Comet ZTF. 
Does anyone know what speed the comet is travelling?
Someone has asked me. 

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

According to the internet, it is 39 Km/s with respect to the Sun.

Michael.

flt158 wrote:

Thank you, Neill, for the further information on Comet ZTF. 
Does anyone know what speed the comet is travelling?
Someone has asked me. 

Clear skies from Aubrey. 
 

128,500 Miles/Hour or 206,000 Km/Hour according to Twitter.

Congrats on a successful observation Aubrey, the Moon will take over now and thereafter the comet will be fading....

Finbarr.

That's some speed, Neill!
Thank you!
Seriously fast for sure. 

Aubrey. 

Hello again, everyone.
It seems 2 professional astronomers first observed Comet ZTF. 
They observed the comet last March 2022. 
Their names are: Bryce Bolin and Frank Masci. 
They both work in the Zwicky Transient Facility. 
It's strange neither have their names on this comet. 

Best regards from Aubrey. 

 

Great thread gents...love your picture Finbarr!

I tried to observe the comet last Tuesday with a set of 10 X 50s, but no joy....I'll give it another go over the weekend as there are to be some clear spells.

I see on the 2023 Celestial Calendar that members of the Irish Astronomical Society receive that Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be passing near the 1st magnitude star Capella (Alpha Aurigae) on Sunday night (5th February). 

Of course reflectors will have a better time than refractors locating the pair, because both objects are at the zenith. 

I wonder what the weather forecast is. 

On another issue, I firmly believe that one needs to print off a map to have any hope of finding the comet.  

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

On another issue, I firmly believe that one needs to print off a map to have any hope of finding the comet.  

That's disappointing to hear Aubrey, as I think it gives another idea of the difference between urban and rural skies, and what you have to put up with there in terms of light pollution. The comet was effortless from here through 20 x 80 binoculars last Friday.

Clear skies,
Finbarr.

That's right, Finbarr. 
At the moment our Bortle level is 8 in Dublin. 
And I'm sure the city centre is Bortle 9. 

Do you know what your Bortle is, Finbarr?

Best regards, Aubrey. 

I would say Bortle 3 Aubrey, although tending towards 4 as the light from Limerick city encroaches ever more into the northern sky. Towns like Charleville, Kilmallock and Mitchelstown are also having an impact. Gigantic security lights seem to be a feature of every new house that goes up. I mean to get down to Kerry during the summer and see what the difference is.

Finbarr.

Hello everyone.
I found the comet again tonight Sunday 5th February.
I used 40x and 112x on it.  
It was very near Capella alright. 
But there was bad dew in the air. 
Plus because the comet and the brightest star in Auriga were getting higher and higher I found that my focusing knobs of the refractor were colliding with my Berlebach planet mount. 
I just couldn't keep the scope on the comet at all. Lesson learnt!
Turning the legs will solve that problem. 
But I will try to observe the comet again later in the week. 
The Full Moon was extremely bright of course tonight. 

Clear skies from Aubrey.