C2012 F6 (Lemmon)

C2012 F6 (Lemmon)

I had waited far too long to come to this party. Comet Lemmon's perihelion was only about one month after Comet PanSTARRS, yet my first observation of it was not until about 5 months later. Thankfully, this comet waited for me (!).

Like PanSTARRS, comet Lemmon put on a better show in the Southern Hemisphere than it did for us. Also, soon after PanSTARRS' appearance, the rains began. This was the wettest late Spring and Summer that I have experienced in these parts. Clouds galore. Temps were unusually low for most of the summer. As a result, hardly any long drives to a dark sky site due to clouds or at least partly cloudy skies.

I had not observed from a decent dark sky site since May 11 (I did not bring my comet maps that night), and I knew that I still had a chance here now, in September. I kept hoping that I could make up for lost time.

I found Comet Lemmon in fairly good time early on once darkness arrived, and knew that in doing so early in the evening allowed me a very good chance of seeing movement before I left. From fairly recent pictures, I was hopeful of perhaps still seeing some "tail" even now. Unfortunately, either the time for this was past or the seeing and transparency was not quite up to it for that this night.

One thought struck me as I began drawing this comet at the eyepiece, as I wanted to draw with more definition. I wanted to pull out yet another eyepiece and zoom in for more detail. Unfortunately, there was little more that I could do to magnify it further. No p-nucleus was observed.

I am very glad that I was still able to pull in this comet before it departed from us.

(Click on image to Enlarge)