Christmas Comet and Supernova! C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy and SN2014lp

December 20 - Finally got clear enough to see a new promising comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy.  Currently is is due south low in the horizon around 10pm-1am in the constellation Columba.  I saw it in 12x50 binoculars on 12/20 for the first time and have been following it since, moving quite fast and getting higher in the sky.  It is very easy to find in binoculars large and bright.

December 24 4am saw a new supernova SN2014lp in NGC 4666 about one degree from Porrima in the constellation Virgo.  I used a 9mm ES100 eyepiece for 217X power in the 15" Obsession.  This gave a separation of the supernova from the core of the galaxy.  It is quite bright > 11magnitude.

Dec22 10-12pm and Dec24 4-6am was able to get some very nice stargazing lots of familiar galaxies in Virgo, Ursa Major, Leo, Corvus, Canes Venatici, and Corona Borealis. Many bright and dim including Sombrero, M51 M101 Antennae Hickson 44 2903 4565 4485/90 3224/7 Markarians Chain etc.
Seeing was not quite good enough for Jupiter viewing.

Nov15 6:42-6:52am using 80ED with 16mm and 3X barlow 52 degree Fahrenheit saw Ganymeade occult Io!!!

Oct 23 partial solar eclipse!

Oct 22 large sunspot AR2192 .

Aug 22 saw Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques.

April 21 met Sir Roger Penrose and got his autograph! He gave a talk on Conformal Cyclic Cosmology.

April 14-15 Total Lunar Eclipse.

March 24 Syrtis Major on Mars.

Jan 27 SN 2014G in NGC 3448

Jan 25 SN 2014J in M82

Jan 3 Large sunspot AR 1944.

Early January revisited both C/2012 X1 Linear and  C/2013 R1 Lovejoy

Attachments:

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy

           

SN2014lp