Comet obs 2nd to 15th May 2010

[Outbackmanyep]

Comet Observations 2nd to 15th May 2010

29P/Schwassmann - Wachmann

2010 May 03.39 UT; m1= 11.8; Dia= 1.2’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, evenly diffuse.

2010 May 05.40 UT; m1= 11.3; Dia= 2.2’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.

2010 May 06.41 UT; m1= 11.3; Dia= 1.5’; DC= 1/2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.

2010 May 07.49 UT; m1= 12.4; Dia= 1.5’; DC= 1; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, close to bright stars.

2010 May 09.47 UT; m1= 12.3; Dia= 1.5’; DC= 1; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.

2010 May 10.40 UT; m1= 12.4; Dia= 2.4’; DC= 3; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.

2010 May 11.42 UT; m1= 12.4; Dia= 1.2’; DC= 3; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, small central condensation, not stellar.


P/2010 H2 Vales

2010 May 02.36 UT; m1= 11.7; Dia= 1.7’; DC= 3/4; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, close to bright star.

2010 May 03.40 UT; m1= 11.6; Dia= 1.6’; DC= 1/2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, coma appears broadly elongated to the East.

2010 May 05.40 UT; m1= 11.1; Dia= 3.8’; DC= 3/4; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, coma slightly brightening towards centre.

2010 May 07.49 UT; m1= 10.6; Dia= 4’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, close to bright star.

2010 May 09.47 UT; m1= 11.2; Dia= 5.1’; DC= 3; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail.

2010 May 10.41 UT; m1= 12.5; Dia= 2’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, even surface brightness although faint with slight condensation.

2010 May 11.43 UT; m1= 11.7; Dia= 2.4’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, coma seems elongated NE to SW, showing sign of a faint central bar in that orientation within coma.

2010 May 13.43 UT; m1= 11.0; Dia= 2.1’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, coma diffuse, visible with direct vision, more outer coma detected with averted vision.

81P/ Wild 2
2010 May 02.36 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 5.5’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, small central condensation, coma elongated to the West.

2010 May 03.41 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 6.4’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to the West, 15’ in length, and broad.

2010 May 05.41 UT; m1= 10.2; Dia= 5.1’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma elongated to the West, and slightly elongated to NE (at x83), tail to West, broad and faint, 13’ in length.

2010 May 06.43 UT; m1= 9.9; Dia= 4.8’; DC= 5/6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 11’ in length, background star in coma, coma elongated to NE.

2010 May 07.50 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 5.5’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 15.5’ in length, broad, coma elongated to NE.

2010 May 09.49 UT; m1= 9.9; Dia= 6.4’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 13’ in length, slight elongation to NE.

2010 May 10.42 UT; m1= 9.9; Dia= 6.4’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 11’ in length, broad, slightly elongated to NE.

2010 May 11.43 UT; m1= 9.9; Dia= 7.7’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 13’ in length, coma elongated to NE, background star in coma.

2010 May 13.43 UT; m1= 9.9; Dia= 7.7’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Tail to West, 9’ in length, broad and faint. Coma extension to NE, 4.5’ in length although very faint, visible with averted vision, central condensation equivalent to mag 14 star.

P/2010 A5 Linear
2010 May 06.46 UT; m1= 14.1; Dia= 0.5’; DC= 1; 25cm L, f:5 (x139)
No tail, very faint and diffuse, coma evenly illuminated, averted vision only.

C/2006 W3 Christensen
2010 May 10.72 UT; m1= 12.4; Dia= 1’; DC= 5/6; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.

2010 May 11.77 UT; m1= 11.9; Dia= 2.2’; DC= 4/5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail.

2010 May 13.74 UT; m1= 10.2; Dia= 2.3’; DC= 3; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail.

65P/ Gunn
2010 May 10.75 UT; m1= 13.5; Dia= 0.6’; DC= 3/4; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, glimpses of tight central condensation in small coma using averted vision.

2010 May 11.79 UT; m1= 13.3; Dia= 0.6’; DC= 3; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Close to bright star, no tail.

10P/ Tempel 2
2010 May 10.74 UT; m1= 13.3; Dia= 0.7’; DC= 1/2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, faint and diffuse, averted vision.

2010 May 11.79 UT; m1= 12.2; Dia= 3’; DC= 2/3; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma large and diffuse.

2010 May 13.76 UT; m1= 10.5; Dia= 7.7’; DC= 1/2; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, coma large and diffuse, even brightness, no central condensation with direct vision, hint of broad central condensation using averted vision.

C/2009 R1 McNaught
2010 May 06.78 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 3.2’; DC= 3/4; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, coma diffuse, gradual brightening toward centre, elongated slightly to North, moonlight affected.

2010 May 10.76 UT; m1= 9.1; Dia= 4.8’; DC= 4/5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma bright, central condensation not quite stellar, coma seems elongated NE to SW slightly, 12 degrees above horizon. At x83 coma seems to have a faint broad extension to the West.

2010 May 11.77 UT; m1= 8.3; Dia= 5.1’; DC= 5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma bright, central condensation tight but not stellar, coma elongated to WSW.

2010 May 13.78 UT; m1= 8.0; Dia= 5.1’; DC= 4/5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma bright, slightly elongated to WSW (seems broad at x83), faint outer coma edges gradually concentrating to centre, central condensation not quite stellar.

2010 May 14.77 UT; m1= 8.5; Dia= 3’; DC= 3; 7x50 B
No tail, coma diffuse, close to bright star, coma easily resolved with direct vision.

2010 May 15.76 UT; m1= 8.0; Dia= 9.5’; DC= 4; 7x50 B
No tail, coma has small central condensation, not quite stellar, coma large and faint, seen with direct vision.

[DavidU]

Very interesting, great detail.
What scope do you use?

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Dave,
I use a 10" f/5 dob for most of my visual obs, until comets become bright enough to see with binoculars then i use them. It gives a more accurate magnitude for comets when they are within reach of bins.

[Brettstar6754]

Hi there Chris.
An interesting report. Very nice.
Good to see your Binocs have seen recent service too.

BTW:
Frances and I have started comet searching.

Can we ask you for help if we have a serious suspect?

We use a 80mm APO with a canon 350D, FOV is quite wide.
Its pretty neat really.

Cheers again and its interesting to see comets brighten!!
Brett and Frances

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Brett!
Good to hear from you and Frances!

I'd love to help!
Send me your contact details through PM.

Cheers!

[gaa_ian]

Hey Chris
I thought you might like to know, we managed to get a look at the quite northern comet Mcnaught 2009 from Gove NT
I saw it on this Sat morning just past. It had a distinct tail, even in the pale first light of morning !

[Liz]

Hi Ian - Chris must have missed this one, but I was wondering if anyone northerly had been checking out this comet beside me. I had a nice look 2 ams ago, but it has slithered down into Perseus, and outa my reach, tho may have 1 more go tomorrow.

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Ian,
Thanks for sharing your obs! Sorry i didn't get back to you earlier, keep a good eye on this, there's some stunning pics of it here:
http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Sky%20Events%20Now.html

Cheers!