Hi Chris,
Thanks for the heads up mate -- 81P/Wild seems like an inviting target at the moment with a bit of a tail. Well placed as well -- not too early in the morning ...
I've just noticed 81P/Wild will make a fairly close pass to the small 11th magnitude eg NGC 5493 around the 17th April -- only about 10 arc-mins in it. Could be interesting to image or view on or around that date.
NGC 5493 Galaxy *
RA: 14h 11m 29.4s Dec: -05° 02' 35"
Mag: 12.3 (B) S.B.: --- B-V: +0.87 Size: 1.6'x1.2'
Class: S0 pec sp P.A.: 120 Inclination: --- R.V.: +2627 Source: RC3 *
You can download an ephemeris for 81P/Wild2 here:
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/Ephem...ets/0081P.html
For those of you who didn't know, 81P/Wild2 was the comet subject of the "Stardust" mission:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(spacecraft)
Best,
Les D