Comet observations from last night

[Outbackmanyep]

144P/ Kushida

2009 January 23.52 UT; m1= 8.7; Dia= 12.6'; DC= 4; 20cm T, f:6.3 (x32)
No tail visible, coma large and diffuse.


C/2006 OF2 Broughton

2009 January 23.53 UT; m1= 9.8; Dia= 1.9'; DC= 2; 20cm T, f:6.3 (x50)
No tail observed, Coma small and diffuse, comet was 7 degrees above my Northern Horizon when observed.


C/2007 Q3 Siding Spring

2009 January 23.55 UT; m1= 12.6; Dia= 1.0'; DC= 6; 20cm T, f:6.3 (x50)
No tail, coma small but bright.


C/2007 N3 Lulin

2009 January 23.67 UT; m1= 6.9; Dia= 6.0'; DC= 6; 7x50 B
No tail visible, coma elongated NW to SE, Not visibile naked eye as Zodiacal light interferes with naked eye obs.

Cheers! :thumbsup:

[ngcles]

Hi Chris & All,

Great observations mate :thumbsup::thumbsup:

The only other thing I can add is that I wish the Zodiacal Light interfered with my naked eye observing more often!!


Best,

Les D

[Rob_K]

Nice work OBMY! :thumbsup: Glad you managed an observation on C/2007 Q3 - don't seem to be too many around despite its very high position in southern skies. Great to get a southern obs on C/2006 OF too - so long a northern object, now we get a go!

Re the zodiacal light, did you see the call for widefield images of 17P Holmes? It's experiencing phase brightening as it approaches opposition on Jan 27, and very deep widefields may capture the enormous coma as well as the gegenschein! 17P gets to fairly reasonable altitudes in our southern morning skies at the moment.

Cheers -

[Rob_K]

OBMY, I managed to get some rough widefield shots of C/2007 N3 this morning. The full frame (taken at 55mm, Canon 400D piggybacked) appears to show a faint trace of the Zodiacal light that you refer to. Or it could be my imagination, LOL! :P

Cheers -