I really thought that my last observation of Lulin would be a one off considering the weather conditions over the last few weeks, but the sky on Monday evening through to Tuesday morning (24.02.09) was exceptional and I knew that I was going to get a second chance at this fantastic comet.
Turning my giant binoculars towards Lulin revealed that the nucleus was not as well defined as my first observation and was rather more diffuse, but bright nonetheless. The coma on the other hand appeared to be quite hazy and I couldn’t discern any colour like I had seen previously. Looking over to the left of my field of view I could just make out the extremely faint and diaphanous dust tail stretching out behind the comet if I used averted vision. On this occasion, and much to my surprise, the tail seemed slightly longer and a little fatter which left me wondering if I was seeing things. While the dust tail was tenuously observable, the ion tail still remained completely undetectable.
I stayed with Lulin for a further half hour before I set my sights on a far more diminutive target: The Black Eye Galaxy, otherwise known as Messier 64. I had tried for this faint DSO at the beginning of the month under Moon lit skies, and surprise surprise had failed to locate it (call me foolhardy). This time around I really didn’t have much of a problem pinning M64 down, and had it in my field of view within a few minutes after tracking up from α Com to HP 64312 and then sweeping about 5° west. The galaxy itself showed up as a faint but condensed blot of elongated light with a hint of what I can only describe as a misty golden centre. A delightful binocular object and like other galaxies I have seen, I found M64 to be no less absorbing.
I managed to continue observing for a further ten minutes before my binoculars began to fog up with dew, forcing me to bring things to an end. However, having had a second run at Lulin and bagging Messier 64, I really didn’t feel hard done by. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty rewarding observing session.
[image edited: 26.02.09]
Tags: C/2007 N3 Lulin, Coma Berenices, M64, Strathspey 25x100, The Black Eye Galaxy, Weather