Comment | C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy January 13th 2015 00:54 UT - Alt 23:44
25X100 binoculars , SQM 18.09 , M1 3.9 , Conte and gel pen on black paper
Bray Co Wicklow Ireland
After an extremely cloudy evening an inviting clearance had me outside with the binoculars keen to view Lovejoy again. My 10X50's showed indicated that the comet was both larger and brighter than my view on January 12th/13th.
I carefully drew in the stars in the Taurean field, even though Lovejoy was not at a particularly high altitude at the time , the brightness of the coma was delightful. In the first few seconds I noticed a very slight green tint, but this disappeared as I began to draw. The material being produced from the comet was elongated with the most material above the central condensation and less below. The coma was also slightly fan shaped and had a lean toward the left . No tail was visible to me , the comet was not naked eye.
While the coma had got larger the material had not become any less dense. The expansion of this material is I believe not an outburst but rather an increased production of dust. The shape of the coma is do different to 17/P Holmes which was almost a perfect circle most of the time. C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy has a dense coma whereas 17/P Holmes had a coma that was so thin stars could be seen through it as it expanded in space.
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