Jonathan, Yes, it is looking good for C/2020 F3. Carl Hergenrother in Tucson reported it as mag 1 yesterday morning but it was only 3 deg above his horizon with the Sun 7 deg down. https://britastro.org/node/23000 Several European observers posted images of the comet very low down this morning. This one by Petr Horalek (Czechia) is particularly nice showing the comet (very faintly) low down in the twilight with some noctilucent clouds. https://www.facebook.com/PetrHoralekPhotography/photos/a.842176325897979/3094396440675945/ Weather will be a big determining factor for us but it is definitely worth getting up early and hunting out clear gaps over the next few days. Nick. On 02/07/2020 11:40, Shanklin, Jonathan D. wrote: > 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) looked in good shape as it passed through the SOHO C3 field in late June. Rough estimates of its magnitude suggest that the comet could now be -1 magnitude, and its elongation from the sun is increasing. The southern part of the UK is at almost the optimum latitude for an early recovery of the comet post perihelion. Visual observers may have to wait until the early morning of July 6, though within a few days of that the comet will also be visible in the very late evening. Imagers may be able to pick the comet up earlier, perhaps as early as perihelion on July 3. The only problem is the weather - it doesn't look as if there will be adequately clear skies over the next few days. > > The latest observations of 2019 U6 (Lemmon) suggest that it is fading a little more quickly than expected from a standard light curve. It may well be 9th magnitude by mid July when it gets far enough north to be seen from the UK. > > Remember however that comets rarely continue to follow the light curve indicated by past observations, so going out and observing is the best way to find out how bright these comets actually are. > > Do send me your visual or visual equivalent observations in ICQ format - either directly to me, or via COBS https://cobs.si/ The advantage of using COBS is that your observations will be correctly formatted. Provided you have registered with COBS as a BAA observer I can collect your observations, otherwise please extract them yourself and send them on to me. Those observers who send me immediate updates are particularly thanked as this allows for frequent updating of the Section visual observations web page at the address below. > > Regards, > > BAA Comet Section visual observations co-ordinator > https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/
