COMET C/2015 V2 JOHNSON

Location:  Front Deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  May 24, 2017 2215-2400hrs.

Weather:  Cool, no wind, mostly clear, 7C, lots of dew, some bugs.

Equipment:  Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO with 19 mm eyepiece, camera adapter, Canon Rebel Xsi with 18-55 mm and 75-300 mm lenses.

Attendance:  Ed O'Reilly in Saint John and David McCashion in Little Lepreau.

Objective:  To view and image Comet Johnson which is suppose to be in Bootes.

Report:

• Set up telescope around 2215 hrs, before it was completely dark.  Viewed Jupiter, which was high in southern sky, above Corvus.  Cloud bands showed up clearly and it seemed like the atmosphere was very steady, for a change.  Jupiter did not swim in the eyepiece.

Jupiter showing clouds.

Jupiter and four of its Moons.

• Waited till after 2230 hrs to look for Comet, so that the sky would completely darken.  Searched the area of sky between Izar and Delta Bootes for Comet with scope and 19 mm eyepiece.  Didn't take long to find it.  A fuzzy patch that wasn't completely circular which hints that this comet has a tail.  Comet also appeared to be dimmer than it was a few nights ago, when I last observed it.  Ed O'Reilly from Saint John, via Twitter, said he found it also, in his 8" Dob, and he thought it was fainter also.  His show, "The Sky Above" is on today at 3 pm on 107.3 FM community radio.

• One shooting star was observed through the corner of my eye, just north of due east at approx 2330 hrs.  Appeared reddish.  Ed also seen a shooting star that appeared reddish.  No satellites were seen.