C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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

Unread post by DonB »

WOW Andy, That's is a beautiful image of the comet. Nicely done. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Don
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Apollo XX
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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I've seen a wide variety of brightness estimates for C/2014 Jacques, some ridiculously dim, but I think the Sky Live link has got it pretty close. I just got in from scanning the skies with 10x50's, and Jacques was a fairly easy pick right between Iota and Zeta Cepheus. The Sky Live has it at Mag 8.94, which seems about right considering that it's still pretty easily seen in handheld binocs. It sure seems like Jacques will hang in there visually for a least a while longer.

Mike M.
"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 »

Hmmmm, Mike.

The last time I looked out the porthole "live view" my Billmeter read 10.7 on 8/23/14. :shock:
Then again, my porthole could've been dewed over. Dew in space, a rare occurrence indeed!

Captain 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,
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Apollo XX
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Re: C/2014 E2 Jacques an Easy Beautiful Comet!

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Oooooooo/K, let's keep it rollin', shall we? Tonight was one for the books...transparency-wise that is. I finally got out sometime after 10:00pm and the sky was pristine. Looking up at Cepheus, I guaged the approximate location of Jacques and slewed the scope. Bam! Nailed it! It's definitely dimming, but it's STILL a 10x50 bino object even in the denseness of the milky-way path through Cepheus. The view through the eyepiece of the scope was variable, meaning that at times the diffusiveness seemed more prominent than others. There's no question that lower powers provided a better view, which in my estimation means that it's only a matter of time before Jacques takes his show on the road. I'd say there's about one more chance to get a really special view of this surprise comet, and that would be tomorrow night when it's in the vicinity of mu Cephi, aka Herschel's Garnet Star. So catch it if you can, and see an object that potentially formed with the birth of the solar system pair up with one of the largest known objects in the Milky Way Galaxy.

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

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For those of you who would like to see Comet Jacques, tonight, Sat Aug30 is looking pretty good. I say good because #1, it's supposed to be clear, and #2, Jacques will be sharing the same telescopic field of view as mu Cephi (aka Herschel's Garnet Star) between 9:30 and 10:30pm. Cepheus will be high in the NE sky at that time, so hopefully your sky in that direction isn't too bad. mu Cep is an easy star hop from Alpha Cep, making finding the comet probably as easy as it has been during this run.

Get out there and Good Luck!

Mike M.
"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 »

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.
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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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