C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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WCGucfa
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Hey everyone! What Mike said!
At 2100hrs the comet will be really close to the Garnet star at about a 9'40" separation. It should be striking in a small telescope!
It may be difficult to see the smudge of Jacques until it gets really dark. Enjoy!
Bill G.

Comet Jacques this morning 08/30/2014 at 0159EDT. Still beautiful, still easy. Antares 152mm, 25x, 74seconds, Canon T1i,ISO800.
Image
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Apollo XX
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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Hope everyone got a chance to see the Jacques/mu Cep duo tonight. The sky was variable from my place, but I first spied the pair at about 8:30pm and packed it in just before 11:00pm. Throughout that entire time frame Jacques and mu Cep easily fit into a 1* FOV @ 60x, but the amount of movement was incredible! I was able to just watch the comet slide right past that big ol' star. Interestingly, I think this was the last time we'll be able to see Jacques in 10x50 binos. Early on when it was very close to mu Cep I absolutely could not get it in the binos, but later when it had moved away from the star a bit (and was closer to zenith) I was BARELY able to pick it out. It was no problem in the scope. This has been a great object and really made for some special viewing this month.

Mike M.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Paul D
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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WOW!!! what a night last night. A bunch of us started a chain call, twelve in total and we all ended up at Frosty Drew in Charlestown RI. Of course after looking at the moon which was up during the day I went right to comet Jacques. It was a easy find especially if you know where the garnet star (Mu Chepi) is. Comet Jacques look awesome, I was able to put some power on it early and observed it with my Antares 5.7mm W70. Again WOW!!!! for this comet that is moving away from us its still very bright and big. I was easily able to separate the nucleus from the coma. I don't know how much longer this comet will perform but all I can say is get out there and see it.

I know Paul F got some great images of the comet with Dan S help so I hope he will post one or two of them here.
Paul...

16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50

See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
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WCGucfa
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Great show last night! Even the clouds were cool, but polar alignment was a guess with them
hanging around!


Bill G.

Nightfall on 8/30/14, Jacques and the Garnet Star, Mu Cephi, through thickening cloud. Note dim comet at base of a sort of tiny
Corvus the Crow shaped asterism at left of Mu at 21:20 hours. A soft orange glow surrounded the Garnet depending on cloud thickness.
Canon T1i, Antares 152mm refractor, 52 sec.

Image

By 22:04 clouds have slightly thinned. More comet, more stars. Note how far Jacques has traveled in such a short time, zooming
away from the "Corvus" asterism. exposure time: 76sec, single unprocessed frames (2). Wonderful sight at 25x in telescope.
Image width=1degree 1minute

Image
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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WCGucfa
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Paul,

I'm glad you got to check out our comet with Mu Cephi. I'm hoping for more adventures
with Jacques!! :P
Oops! Sorry, I meant "the" comet! :lol:

Bill G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Apollo XX
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Nice images of Jacques with mu Cep, Bill! I was out last night (Thurs Sep4) plying the moonlit skies for a variety of objects and I dropped in on Jacques for a visit. Nearly at zenith (84*) and very close to Deneb, the transparency was very good even though the moon was quite prominent. Jacques is really dimming now (mag 9.6), and was just a small smudge in my 4.5" scope at 50x. With the moon only getting more prominent for the next week or so and Jacques racing away as though it has stage fright, it won't be long now before he's just a fond memory. At least we have the pictures. :lol:
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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WCGucfa
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Thanks for the report, Mike!
I'd like to try for Jacques a couple of more times. Yes, that Moon will be trouble.
Too bad the comet didn't pass Deneb closer. Even at its closest to the star, in the same telescope field,
unless the comet is nice and bright "the thrill is gone" for me. :cry: Yup! It's time for my farewell E2 smudge shot!

B.G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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