Drawing 1. 23:45 July 10th 2020 – This first drawing is a naked eye drawing of C/2020 F3 ( NEOWISE) above Achill Island which is behind Clare Island from my viewing point.Four drawings July 10th
Its been seven days since I had the pleasure of observing C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). Unseasonal weather coupled with lots of fog has obscured my view. A frustrating week with a marginal chance of seeing it over the next few days. If you live in the northern hemisphere do try to go observe C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) It is a truly extraordinary comet because, in addition to surviving its encounter with the sun, it is now putting on a great show.
Here are 4 drawings July 10th 2020 created between 23:45 and 02:39 local time Naked eye and telescope / blended together. For the most part, it was a battle with lingering black clouds. They were tube-shaped, they were also the only clouds in the sky at the time. Killadoon Co Mayo Ireland.
Drawing One
23:45 – This first drawing ( above) is a naked eye drawing of C/2020 F3 ( NEOWISE) The comet is above Achill Island in the drawing. The island in the foreground is Clare Island seven kilometres from my viewing point. I was sitting higher than the last drawing so I could see another cluster of houses in a row. The comet was naked eye and looked golden and bright. Pastels and Conte on black card. It was very quickly masked by that black cloud. Then after a while, that cloud expanded and joined the black cloud below it. Masking my view till 1am when the hugely long black cloud began to drift east.
Drawing 2. – 01:00 – 00:00 UT – C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) The second drawing began a game of cloud dodging. The comet appeared for brief moments. It danced in and out of the black clouds. I used a 32 mm eyepiece in my Meade LX90 FL- 2000mm Mag 62X.Drawing Two
01:00 – 00:00 UT – The second drawing began a game of cloud dodging. The comet appeared for brief moments. It danced in and out of the black clouds. I used a 32 mm eyepiece in my Meade LX90 FL- 2000mm Mag 62X. The clouds are drawn naked eye. It’s not flipped, to give a normal naked eye view. the clouds are sketched as seen to my eye. I used a pastel pencil for the bright head of the comet. In my haste, I leaned a bit too hard and put a hole in the paper. It was piercing a black cloud and heading into another one. Pastels and pastel pencil on black card
Drawing 3 – 01:30 am – 00:30 UT – C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) The third drawing Meade LX 90 using a 14 mm eyepiece FL – 2000 mm giving me 142X. The comet is drawn using the telescope but the clouds are drawn naked eye.Drawing Three
01:30 am – 00:30 UT – The third drawing Meade LX 90 using a 14 mm eyepiece FL – 2000 mm giving me 142X. The comet is drawn using the telescope but the clouds are drawn naked eye. A hybrid drawing, at least that is what I am calling it. A combination of naked eye drawing alongside the telescope view without correcting the telescope view. The drawing is not flipped – the bright head was not exactly round it had a ballistic look about it. I could see the dark lane up the middle of the tail. A black cloud obscured some of that tail.
That tail seemed to be very long and was compromised in part by the bright sky even at that time of night. I am almost sure it had a curve in it. The entire dust tail was not visible in my field of view. I had to hunt along its edge through that overlapping cloud and follow it some more. The curve was very subtle, therefore being uncertain about presence this shape was not included. NEOWISE vanished once again into the dark cloud. However, I could see very faint noctilucent clouds forming in behind some of the dark clouds. It looked very interesting.
02:39am – 01:39 UT – My final drawing another hybrid, the comet is drawn using the 14mm eyepiece with the Meade LX 90 – 142X Pastel and Conte on black card.
Drawing 4 – 02:39am – 01:39 UT – C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) My final drawing another hybrid, the comet is drawn using the 14mm eyepiece with the Meade LX 90 – 142X Pastel and Conte on black card.Drawing Four
02:39am – 01:39 UT – My final drawing another hybrid, the comet is drawn using the 14mm eyepiece with the Meade LX 90 – 142X Pastel and Conte on black card. Comet not flipped, the clouds are drawn naked eye. It was once again heading into the black cloud which was starting to get bigger once more. The edge of the lower cloud was rimmed with noctilucent clouds. Some were curved some were at angles. Obviously, the noctilucent clouds were much higher than the black clouds. Their visual closeness to the black cloud was just perspective. They became very bright, perhaps they looked like that because of the contrast with the dark clouds. The entire view was extraordinary. To the eye without the telescope, the comet still had a golden look in the telescop it had a white look. Went to bed very happy.
