2018v1 20181111 arobertson

18” F4.5 Dob with 13mm Ethos giving x160. As per yourselves we were frustrated by cloud initially getting occasional glimpses from 04:30am but after 5am the cloud cleared and we had a good view. Astro dark ended at 05:10 from our location (Hinton, Suffolk).

 

When I first put the scope on it, it was immediately apparent despite its low altitude and thin cloud in the way. We were both surprised at how bright it was and relatively large considering its recent discovery. Initially we saw just a bright core with a roughly circular coma about 3x the diameter of the nucleus. When the cloud cleared a stellar core became apparent.