Nick,

Thanks for signalling this observing opportunity.

It has been clear overhead and down to about 5-10 degrees above my northern
horizon here in North Dorset.
Had a great view of Venus 2 degrees above horizon in azimuth 64 degrees but
the clouds refused to budge from 30 degrees azimuth.

As it was, the nearly full Moon was lighting up ths sky so the view would
have been washed out a fair amount.

Looks like the weather might play ball on Friday night (July 10/11) when the
comet will be about 4 degrees higher and the sky will be a lot darker with a
much less bright Moon around.

Fingers crossed for next time,
Richard Miles

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick James" <ndj@nickdjames.com>
To: <baa-comet@simplelists.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2020 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [BAA Comets] 2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

> We have some impressive images of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) in our archive here:
>
> https://britastro.org/cometobs/2020f3/thumbnails.html
>
> This is a particularly nice one taken by Oscar Martin Mesonero this
> morning from Salamanca, Spain:
>
> https://britastro.org/cometobs/2020f3/2020f3_20200705_0300_omesonero.html
>
> The comet is probably somewhere around first magnitude so definitely worth
> looking for despite the low altitude and bright sky.
>
> Tomorrow (Monday, July 6) morning offers a possible opportunity to see and
> image the comet from the UK. The weather forecast shows patchy cloud over
> a large part of the country so the more people who try the more chance
> there is that we will get positive results.
>
> You need to find somewhere with a clear, unobstructed horizon around
> azimuth 28 - 33 deg. Monday morning the comet will be around 3 degrees
> directly below theta Aurigae. Look for Capella which will be around 17 deg
> up , come straight down towards the horizon and a little to the left. Use
> a pair of binoculars to find the comet and then see if it is visible with
> the naked eye.
>
> Start looking around 0130 UT (0230 BST) as the comet rises above the
> horizon. From Birmingham it will be 2 deg up at an azimuth of 28 deg at
> 01:35 UT. By 0200 UT it will be almost 4 deg up but the dawn sky will be
> brightening.
>
> This is a rare opportunity to see a naked eye comet so set your alarms
> from 2am BST and get out to observe it! Best of luck. I look forward to
> receiving your observations.
>
> Disclaimer - If you don't see it please don't blame me for the lost sleep!
>
> Nick.
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