103P Hartley-2 elements for CdC

[bojan]

It seems we will have a nice comet display next month (103P Hartley, end of October, morning hours) .
For CdC users, it might be worth to mention that for some reason this comet is not on the current list..
To add it, open the file "C:\Program Files\ciel\cat\planet\cometes.dat" and with text editor (wordpad for example) add the following line anywhere in the file:

103P/Hartley-2 |2010|20101028.2670 | 1.058693 |0.695125 |181.2025 |219.7600 | 13.6184 |16.8 |0.15 | MPC 70362

Unfortunately, the Moon will be passing close by...

Also, this article related to Hartley comet may be of some interest:
http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg06101.html

[Rob_K]

Thanks Bojan! Just a word of caution - there has been considerable discussion in comet circles about the expected maximum magnitude of 103P. Whatever it finally reaches (and I haven't seen mag 3.5 mentioned anywhere except in the link you provided), it will be a large, very diffuse object perhaps 40 arcminutes to 1-degree in coma diameter. This means that the brightness will be spread very 'thinly' and it still may take the darkest skies to see it visually. If it's around 4.5-5 mag as most are predicting, remember the expanding comet 17P Holmes not so long ago, which when at similar size and much brighter at mag 3 was not easy to pick up with any light pollution in the sky. I don't think it will be a particularly good display but as we know, anything can happen! :)

Cheers -

[mozzie]

thanks for the reminder guys !!!!!!

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi guys,
I observed 103P last night, it was pretty faint although it was 4 degrees above my northern horizon.

I made it out at mag 9.3, DC=2, and dia= 7'
The rising moon may had a little to do with contrast and this observation has not been corrected for atmospheric extinction at the altitude.

A report this morning from the northern hemisphere reads a mag of 7.6, DC=3 and Dia= 16'.

Cheers!

[Liz]

Thanks Chris, lucky you to catch it!!
I have been looking outside overnight, but staying CLOUDY. :sadeyes:
Plenty of time left to see it though, yes. :)

[mithrandir]

I update my comet list using http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/Soft00Cmt.txt

That has 103P in it.

0103P 2010 10 28.2603 1.058668 0.695112 181.1953 219.7663 13.6168 20100723 8.5 8.0 103P/Hartley MPC 71683

[astroron]

I have just checked the co-ords forP 103Hartly and it is just eight degrees above the horizen at transit, but the moon has risen half an hour before, but it is possibly gettable.
Will give it a try weather permitting:thumbsup:

[Outbackmanyep]

The magnitude of the comet will be spread over a large area,

#1 Don't confuse it with Andromeda galaxy
#2 The coma is quite large so the "magnitude" of the comet would be approximately a mag 8 star defocussed to 16' or so in diameter (in binoculars)

Good luck those who are searching for it!

[Liz]

A few may have seen this animation by Nick Howes of the comet, but think its pretty cool. :)

per Nick - Mag 7.5 (estimation)
Coma 20' approx



http://www.youtube.com/user/howesnickhowes?feature=mhsn#p/a/u/0/wDREr7XfH48

[Liz]

The comet is still brightening, and some reports have it verging on naked eye. :)
Had a try last night but too much light cloud around. :(

http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Sky%20Events%20Now.html

http://spaceweather.com/

[Outbackmanyep]

It's looking good Liz, but the weather here is not........i'm gonna blow my stack this week if i don't get to see this!

[Liz]

:lol::lol: At least you have seen it Chris.
Clouds cant last forever, and you still have .... 2-3 weeks??
Fingers crossed. :whistle:

[Liz]

Tomh has it up on www.nightskiesnetwork.com (http://www.nightskiesnetwork.com) at the moment, it is racing along, thats for sure. :) have a peek.

Oops too late, he's after an asteroid now.

[bojan]

Hartley is rising in our world... but on the other hemisphere it is heading south..

This animation (by Mladen, from other forum I am member of - www.zvjezdarnica.com (http://www.zvjezdarnica.com)) shows how quickly this is happening (animation spans over 40min approx, taken on Oct 7th).
http://www.zvjezdarnica.com/forum/index.php?topic=4275.50 (http://img510.imageshack.us/i/hartley2201010072013ut.gif/)
http://img510.imageshack.us/i/hartley2201010072013ut.gif/