iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Been lucky this time to get "lady" aurora for the 3 nights in a row from New Zealand. Here is a sample.

Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Morning sky over Moreton Bay near Brisbane. One "comet" is a lighthouse beam and the other is an actual comet (C/2025 R3).

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Only hours away from its closest approach to the sun. Comet MAPS as seen from the SOHO LASCO C2 coronagraph with the sun behind the occulting disk at the top right.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Comet C/2026 A1 (MPAS) 5 days out from an extremely close pass to the sun. Animation made from images courtesy of the PUNCH mission. science.nasa.gov/mission/punch/

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) passes earths orbit on its way to a close encounter with the sun on April 5.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Moonlight is hampering observations of Comet C/2026 A1 tonight. But nonetheless here it is taken remotely from Siding Spring Observatory using a 51cm F7 telescope March 1 (9:44 UT). Green filter magnitude 12.2.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) continues to brighten. I acquired this image early Feb 21 remotely from Chile using a 25cm f3.8 ASA Newtonian. Magnitude 13, a hint of tail and passing by spiral galaxy NGC1232.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Timelapse over 4 weeks (Jan 19 - Feb 13) showing the steady brightening of Comet MAPS as it dives towards the sun.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Darker skies, meant I could get a much deeper image of the new comet. This is a 5 x 5 degree crop. Sep 14 9hrs UT.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

The new comet from home. This is September 13 8:47, 2025 UT. I've cropped it 4 x 4 degrees and I've marked the bright star Spica and Mars. The uneven sky background is a unfortunate consequence of strong light pollution from home.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

How did a comet this bright go undetected until today? This is 3 x 1 degree crop from an image stack I made tonight (Sep 12 8:40 UT) from my balcony.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Here is some more images from Cordoba.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Big thanks to Andrew and Perth Observatory! Hope they don't me posting the April 24, 1917, image which I help clean up so they could plate solve it.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

G. P. Bond is credited with taking the first ever photograph of a comet. Comet C/1858 L1 (Donati) on Sep 28, 1858.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

I think it was close to 10km round trip and just under 1000m vertical climb. I chose not to go all the way to the summit which would have added another 3.5km and 350m vertical. You can see why here -->

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Andrew Pearce has been doing a fantastic job at doing comet photometry from scans of old plates taken from Perth Observatory. He sent through this image of C/1970 N1 from July 8, 1970, when he obtained m1=10.4 with a coma of 2.2'.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Lovely day for a walk today, joined by a couple of friendly goats!

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

My most memorable observation of C/1990 K1 (Levy) from Sep 15.44, 1990 UT.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) Jan 13.715, 2025 UT- Processed from images courtesy of SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). An RGB image was created by mapping the color channels to images acquired with different filters using SOHO's LASCO C3 camera.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Didn't think I would get a view of G3 this morning due to low cloud, but when I checked back around 4:25am there it was in 10x42 binoculars an obvious comet with starlike coma. No magnitude estimate possible, but comparison of images with yesterday suggests m1=1.0.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) still very obvious in binoculars at mag 1.5. This mornings view Jan 6 18:10 UT with a 318mm f5.8 lens and Olympus em1.2.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) photographed using an iphone? Sure.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now close to mag 1.5. From T75 Chile on Jan 5.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Brighter again tonight (2025 Jan 4.37 UT) at mag 1.9. This was made using the T75 25cm reflector at iTelescope's Chile facility.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Jan 3, 2025. Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) brighter still. Mag 2 this morning and clearly visible in 10x42 Binoculars (but not with naked eye). This view was from near Dalby, QLD.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) has brightened a magnitude in just 24 hours. Here it is Jan 2.75 UT at mag 3.7. This is tightly cropped 2 x 2 degree FOV. Quite easy to see in my 10-22x50mm Nikon binoculars.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

C/2024 G3 peaking past some cloud on Dec 31 from Cleveland Pt, Queensland.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) still brightening nicely. Remotely imaged from iTelescope's Chile location on Jan 1. This is a 0.5x0.5 degree FOV.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 (upper right) and crescent moon together Dec 29. Single 10sec exposure from Chile (iTelescope) using a 135mm FL f3.5 lens. Comet is looking very healthy.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) on December 23.74 UT from Cleveland Pt, QLD, Australia. Now mag 6.5 :)

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3, with a tripod mounted 135mm lens. Here is my image this morning (Dec 21.74, 2024 UT) rising over Moreton Bay near Brisbane. Image is cropped to 8x8 degrees. 3 x 2.5sec exposures at 135mmF1.8.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

A while back I processed this image of C/1913 Y1 from Sep 25, 1914.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) Dec 19.349 from iTelescope T75 scope (25cm F3.8) in Chile. This is a 0.5 degree FOV crop and a stack of 10x30sec exposures. Andrew Pearce obtained magnitude 7.6 with a 1.2' coma. Note he obtained mag 7.8 from my previous image on Dec 18.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) Dec 18.353 from iTelescope T75 scope (25cm F3.8) in Chile. Thanks to iTelescope temporarily allow the scope to point near the horizon. This is a 0.5 degree FOV crop and a stack of 5x30sec exposures. My estimate from image using a 1.7' aperture is 7.6.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Here is a comparison of the brightness. You can see that A3 (T-A) is brighter by perhaps 0.5-1.0 mags. It will be interesting to see how G3 performs closer to perihelion.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 Dec 10.35 from Chile (iTelescope T70). Looking good, mag 8.0-8.5 (more accurate measurement coming). FOV shown is 1.3x1.3 degrees.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Better conditions for C/2024 G3 Dec 1.352, 2024 UT today. Estimated mag ~9.5. This is a 0.5x0.5 degree crop using T70 at iTelescopes Chile facility. 7 x 30 second exposure.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) from Chile. Nov 30 8h28m, 2024 UT. 5x30sec exposure with 135mm Samyang at f2.8 and ZWO ASI 2600MM. Mag ~10.0. Very low altitude and strong twilight.

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Terry Lovejoy @cometguy.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

IAUC Station Q80 is no more, the old roll-off roof observatory has been dismantled and is in the process of being rebuilt as a garden shed.

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