Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

Comet Lovejoy is a long period (~10,000 year) comet. In 2015 it passed about 1.3 AU from the Sun. It outgased a large amount of organic material the fluoresced strongly from the Sun's UV radiation, giving it a beautiful blue-green glow. It was just bright enough to be seen with the naked eye by an experienced observer under good conditions. It was an easy object with binoculars or a small telescope.


Click on images to enlarge.

C/2014 Q2, 2015-01-09.
C/2014 Q2, 2015-01-16.

16 January 2015 04:15 UT. Sequence of 2-minute frames.