Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin

Hi all, I observed Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin this morning at 6am in freezing conditions from my snow covered backgarden with my Celestron 15x70mm binoculars, about one degree to the west of the bright double star alpha librae. It was quite easy to pick up even in bright moonlight. I would estimate that the comet was about roughly 20 arcminutes in diameter, with a slight east-west 'bar' through the centre of the comet, however with no distingusable tail. It was certainly a greenish hue in colour, and using the magnitude 5.7 globular cluster M5 as a guide, I would estimate the comet's brightness at about magnitude 6.1, a little less bright than M5. Now I really earned my hot cup of tea this morning !!!

I have attached a shot of the scene with the following details:

Comet Lulin, Canon 400D 200mm L lens at f4, ISO 800, 40 seconds exposure.

www.flickr.com/photos/79652716@N00/3260228657/sizes/o/

Keith..

Nice image Keith, looks like there are good signs of the double tail in it.
This is one comet to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.

Cool shot Keith.
I read reports that the Ion tail disconnected a few days ago.
Looks like it could turn into an interesting one all right.

Lovely sharp image - couple of hot pixels though - easily removed.
Superb focus.

HI Keith,

That is a very nice capture Lulin stands out very clearly even with the intense moonlight well done

Carl

Looking good Keith. This comet is due to steadily brighten over the next couple of weeks into March. Let's hope it does - we could do with a new astronomical spark!

Seanie.