Sketch of comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin)
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Observation Notes:
Lulin was a spectacular sight with brilliant Saturn tonight. I observed from home, and had more light pollution to put up with. Still, the dust tail was in excellent condition, about 2 degrees long in PA 110 degrees. The ion tail was a subtle brightening along the northwest side of the comet. I kept seeing a bit of a brightening on the south-southwest side of the coma. I’m not sure what I was seeing here, but hopefully new photographs in the next couple days will tell me if I was hallucinating. The coma continued to show a very faint aqua color. It was nice to see that color along with Saturn’s warm ivory hue, and some blue, orange and yellow stars sprinkled around. To the naked eye, it was a subtle puff west of Saturn. Here’s hoping Wednesday night has a clear patch in the weather around opposition.
| Subject | C/2007 N3 (Lulin) |
| Classification | Comet |
| Position* | Leo: [RA: 11:15:29 / Dec: 4:51:31] |
| Size | Coma: 30 arc minute diameter Degree of Condensation: 7 Ion Tail: 30 arc minutes at 300° Dust Tail: degrees at 110° |
| Brightness* | est. 5.5 vMag |
| Date/Time | FEB 24, 2009, 1:00 AM MST (FEB 24, 2009, 09:00 UT) |
| Observing Loc. | Flagstaff, AZ – Home |
| Instrument | 15 x 70 Oberwerk Binoculars |
| Eyepieces/Mag. | – |
| Conditions | Partly Cloudy, Breezy |
| Seeing | 6/10 Pickering |
| Transparency | Mag 6 NELM |
| *Sources | Aerith.net; Starry Night Pro Plus 5.8 |
Fantastic sketch Jeremy! A really nice catch with Saturn in there as well. Wishing you clear skies for Wednesday night.
Ewan
Very nice sketch! This is very much how Lulin looked to me last night through Tele Vue 76 at 30x.
Ewan and Florian, thank you! I was up way late putting that together, and now that I’m looking at it again this morning, I think some of the shaded transitions around the coma aren’t as soft as I would like, but I can refine that a little later. Glad to hear you were able to observe it Florian, and hoping you both have a chance again in the next few days.
Jeremy
I was able to see Comet Lulin from Anderson Mesa for about ten minutes at 8:10UT from Anderson Mesa (NPOI) before the clouds obscured it. I only had my 7×35 binos 🙁
I saw a nice smudge of the coma, but no tail. I’ll have to try again with larger optics tomorrow! Very nice sketch, Jeremy!
Susan
Very nice sketch and description! It matches my views through a 11×70 binocular about 8 hours earlier. If only the comet were a couple of magnitudes brighter… 🙂
Susan and Jure, thanks very much for the comments. I appreciate hearing how it appeared through the different binocular sizes.
Susan, I hope you were able to get another look with more aperture. How do you like Anderson Mesa as an observing spot?
Jeremy