Comet C/2013 X1 Panstarrs in OUTBURST

[Suzy]

*** HEADS UP- Comet C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS in OUTBURST. ***







Hi everyone , I just put this heads up on our facebook page, so for the comet observers/imagers out there, good luck, go get 'em!



I've been watching lots of obs and images coming in over the last 24 hours and now seems indeed that comet PanSTARRS has gone into outburst and looks like it's continuing to brighten.


Currently reported at magnitude +8. Earlier yesterday reports were coming in at +8.3 and +8.2. These images of X1 Panstarrs were taken by Justin Tilbrook and shows the difference in brightening from his 1st image on 28/12/15 to the 2nd image on Jan. 9th 2015.


Chris Wyatt in NSW reported its magnitude on Dec 30th at -+10.
Around Jan 1st, reports were coming in around +9.
All observers are noticing the coma to be much brighter and larger than before.



Neil Norman (comet writer & founder of fb's Comet Watch group) from the U.K gives a great visual obs comparison, here's his report:


Comet observation 4/01/16. 18.00 UT.
C/2013 X1 ( PanSTARRS ).
04/01/16. 20.00 UT.
m1 = 8, Dia = 7.5, DC = 5.
114mm ref, f / 8, X45.


Outburst!
As mentioned by Terry (Lovejoy) earlier today, the comet is in definite outburst. The comet is stunning and possibly a tad higher than mag 8. The best way to describe it to someone who hasn't seen it but has seen C/2013 US10 ( Catalina ) is imagine Catalina 1.5 mag dimmer and .5' smaller and that's what C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS looks like.
The coma was larger and more condensed than on the 29th , with a stellar-like central point, not seen by myself before. Being an Oort cloud comet this outburst will no doubt fade quickly, so if you have clear skies please do get out and see it.



Neil's observation of the 29th December indicated the following values; m1 = 9, Dia = 4, DC = 4.
D = 1.85 AU. Relative velocity = 38.7 km/s.
r = 2.02 AU. Relative velocity = 29.6 km/s.
Height = 55°. Pegusus.
Angular separation from sun = 85.2°.


Observations courtesy of Neil Norman, Ipswich, England.



Image Credit: Justin Tilbrook
800mm focal length - 200mm f/4 astrograph. Both images are cropped.


Clear skies to all, it's going to be interesting watching this comet in the days to come.

[Suzy]

I don't know why I've got so many gaps within my paragraphs , so sorry if it's confusing, I tried to edit them out, but I can't, all I get is a blank page .

[Suzy]

Guide to seeing comet C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS in Australia by Astroblogger, Ian Musgrave.

http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/...-outburst.html

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Way too low in my NW sky unfortunately. And we got clouds, boy, have we got clouds !

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

I observed PanSTARRS about 8.20 tonight with my 102mm Vixen. Comparing it to Comet Catalina which I observed this morning, I estimated PanSTARRS as being about 2 magnitudes fainter and only about half the width.
So going on the reported brightness of Calalina, this would make PanSTARRS magnitude 9.1 to 9.5, which is about 1 magnitude brighter than its currently prediction.

[doppler (Rick)]

Managed to get 4 x 20sec pics with the 120mm f5 achro, before the clouds spoiled the party.

[geolindon (Lindon)]

Thanks Suzy for the heads-up and thanks Rick for the pic.

I watched it last night over a couple of hours but could not determine any movement, tho it was further to the left than in Rick's pic - about midway between the two faint stars either side. I doubt 100km makes that much parallax, so it musta moved

I also checked M74 (mag 10) nearby and the two objects appeared to be about the same brightness to my uncalibrated eyes, so pretty much with Bob.

'scope out under clear skies 2 nights in a row its been a w h i l e !, L

[Suzy]

Thanks Rick, Bob and Lindon, so glad you guys got to observe/take pics. Comet Panstarrs may have faded a bit yesterday but I'm waiting on more information- I'm only going by one imager's report at the moment.
Meanwhile, Ron Knight observed both of them too so I'll go message him to give his report here.

Rick, that's a really interesting report of the current comparison .
Comet Catalina is reported to still be mag.6.