C/2021 A1 Leonard makes a very easy object in the western sky at the moment, at magnitude 3. Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter are also in the western sky in the evening which can aid with finding.

dv said:

C/2021 A1 Leonard makes a very easy object in the western sky at the moment, at magnitude 3. Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter are also in the western sky in the evening which can aid with finding.

I’ll have a peep tomorrow evening.

dv said:

C/2021 A1 Leonard makes a very easy object in the western sky at the moment, at magnitude 3. Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter are also in the western sky in the evening which can aid with finding.

There’s been evening cloud here at Woodies and at Rainbow Beach before we left, and it’s been forecast to continue for the next few days. I expect to miss it.

:(

Can’t see nuffink.

Mind you my western horizon is cluttered with housing and foliage.

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

sibeen said:

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

JudgeMental said:

sibeen said:

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

Azimuth: 124.5° RISE8:07
Max altitude: 86.5° TRANSIT16:14
Azimuth: 235.6° SET0:21

RIGHT NOW
Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is below the horizon from Melbourne (AU)

JudgeMental said:

JudgeMental said:

sibeen said:

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

Azimuth: 124.5° RISE8:07
Max altitude: 86.5° TRANSIT16:14
Azimuth: 235.6° SET0:21

RIGHT NOW
Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is below the horizon from Melbourne (AU)

That’s not very helpful then is it.

JudgeMental said:

sibeen said:

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

Hmmm…………………says it sets at 22.04 but then says it’s below the horizon now?

sibeen said:

JudgeMental said:

JudgeMental said:

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

Azimuth: 124.5° RISE8:07
Max altitude: 86.5° TRANSIT16:14
Azimuth: 235.6° SET0:21

RIGHT NOW
Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is below the horizon from Melbourne (AU)

That’s not very helpful then is it.

Yet this screenshot shows it well above the horizon. I’ll go outside to look.

Still too light in the western sky, I’ll have to wait a bit.

Peak Warming Man said:

JudgeMental said:

sibeen said:

Any idea where I should be looking tonight? It’s the first night with clear skies for a while.

westish.

https://theskylive.com/riseset?obj=cometleonard&geoid=2167279

put your locale in i spose.

Hmmm…………………says it sets at 22.04 but then says it’s below the horizon now?

yeah, i found those times etc confusing. just look for venus. you need a pretty good low western view.

You should be able to find Saturn and Jupiter as they’ll be the brightest things in that direction (once Venus sets) and they will be good guides for finding the comet.

dv said:

You should be able to find Saturn and Jupiter as they’ll be the brightest things in that direction (once Venus sets) and they will be good guides for finding the comet.

Leonard topped out at about 3.5 magnitude but it had faded to 4.5 by last night, which is when I had a go at photographing it with the Nikon camera. I was able to see the coma with the naked eye but nothing of the tail. The tail did show up a bit in the photographs though.

You can see it in among the tree branches at upper right. There’s also a satellite trail at the top.

Zoomed in a bit and I suppose the tail can be seen a bit better but would probably need a telescope and/or darker skies to do better.

At least it was a nice warm night, I was dewy and frostbit when I went out to take pictures of the last one…

Did also see a bright meteor so that’s nice.

dv said:

Leonard topped out at about 3.5 magnitude but it had faded to 4.5 by last night, which is when I had a go at photographing it with the Nikon camera. I was able to see the coma with the naked eye but nothing of the tail. The tail did show up a bit in the photographs though.

You can see it in among the tree branches at upper right. There’s also a satellite trail at the top.

Zoomed in a bit and I suppose the tail can be seen a bit better but would probably need a telescope and/or darker skies to do better.

At least it was a nice warm night, I was dewy and frostbit when I went out to take pictures of the last one…

Did also see a bright meteor so that’s nice.

Well done.

It has maintained its magnitude pretty well, even now it’s a 4.8 magnitude object, but also getting harder to see because it’s getting closer to the sun in the sky. At some point in the next couple of weeks it will become impossible to see with the naked eye even to a person with perfect vision in ideal seeing conditions, but it will still be an easy object for binoculars.