Comet Observations January to April 2011

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi all, just sending through my comet obs for this year so far. I thought i'd add all my obs to date for 2011 as i may have missed some and i have also re-adjusted some fainter ones (29P) with correct ASAS-3 V Band magnitudes instead of the GSC v1.1 magnitudes.
Enjoy!

Comet Observations 2nd January 2011

103P/ Hartley 2
2011 Jan 01.56 UT; m1= 8.9; Dia= 8.5’; DC= 4; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma large with diffuse outer coma, central condensation increasing intensity gradually for inner third of the coma diameter making it appear almost stellar. No tail.
Comp Star= TYC 5965-2522-1; Method= S; Cat= TJ

C/2010 B1 Cardinal
2011 Jan 01.56 UT; m1=13.6 ; Dia= 1.3’; DC= 0/1; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, coma very faint and diffuse, visible using averted vision.
Comp Star= ASAS3 055404-0705.8; Method= S ; Cat= AU


Comet Observations 26th January 2011

103P/ Hartley 2
2011 Jan 26.47 UT; m1= 11.8; Dia= 1’; DC= 4/5; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail.
Comp Star= ASAS 070504-1006.5; Method= S; Cat= AU

C/2010 B1 Cardinal
2011 Jan 26.45 UT; m1=14.0; Dia= 0.5’; DC= 1; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma very small and faint, averted vision.
Comp Star= ASAS 050512-1306.2; Method= S; Cat= AU



Comet Observations 31st January 2011

103P/ Hartley 2
2011 Jan 31.44 UT; m1= 11.7; Dia= 3’; DC= 0/1; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
No tail, coma very diffuse.
Comp Star= ASAS 070418-0855.3; Method= S; Cat= AU


Comet Observations 24th & 25th March 2011

29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
2011 Mar 24.38 UT; m1=12.5; Dia= 0.7’; DC= 6; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, coma diffuse, almost circular appearance, uniformly diffuse with small star-like central condensation, averted vision.
Comp Star= ASAS 105131+0032.2; Method= S; Cat= AU

2011 Mar 25.41 UT; m1= 13.4; Dia= 0.7’; DC= 5; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
No tail, coma uniformly diffuse, central condensation not quite star-like, no enhancement with Swan band filter.
Comp Star= ASAS 105115+0027.2; Method= S; Cat= AU

C/2011 C1 McNaught
2011 Mar 24.65 UT; m1=10.1; Dia= 2.3’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Moonlight affected, no tail, coma small and evenly diffuse, central condensation slightly condensed, enhanced very well with Swan band filter which nearly doubled coma size under moonlight.
Comp Star= TYC 5173-1701; Method= S; Cat= TJ


Comet Observations 30th and 31st March 2011

29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann
2011 Mar 30.47 UT; m1= 12.7; Dia= 1.5’; DC= 3/4; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma diffuse, gradual brightening to centre, slightly elongated to NE, averted vision.
Comp Star= ASAS 104848+0035.7; Method= S; Cat= AU

C/2011 C1 McNaught
2011 Mar 30.64 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 6.4’; DC= 5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma elongated to South slightly, enhances well with Swan filter, slight interference by moonlight, no tail visible.
Comp Star= TYC 5181-2237-1; Method= S; Cat= TJ


Comet Observations 1st April 2011

29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
2011 Apr 01.54 UT; m1=12.9 ; Dia= 5’; DC= 3; 45cm L, f:4 (x66)
No tail, coma diffuse.
Comp Star= ASAS 104837+0058.5; Method= S ; Cat= AU


Comet Observations 3rd and 4th April 2011

29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
2011 Apr 03.39 UT; m1= 12.9; Dia= 1.5’; DC= 2; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma circular in appearance, almost uniform brightness, no tail visible, averted vision.
Comp Star= ASAS 104837+0058.5; Method= S; Cat= AU

C/2011 C1 McNaught
2011 Apr 03.75 UT; m1= 9.5; Dia= 3’; DC= 4/5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma elongated to West slightly, no tail, coma brightness increases gradually to centre.
Comp Star= TYC 5193-1144-1; Method= S; Cat= TJ

C/2009 P1 Garradd
2011 Apr 03.77 UT; m1= 12.2; Dia= 1’; DC= 5; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma diffuse, no tail, background star in coma, coma appears elongated to North using averted vision, brightish central condensation, not quite stellar. Does not enhance with Swan filter, comet was 15 degrees above local horizon at time of obs.
Comp Star= ASAS 224637-1412.7; Method= S; Cat= AU


Comet Observations 12th April 2011

C/2011 C1 McNaught
2011 Apr 11.76 UT; m1= 9.6; Dia= 5.5’; DC= 5; 25cm L, f:5 (x39)
Coma appears slightly elongated to the West, central condensation not stellar. Enhances well with Swan filter which shows coma elongated to SW. *Comet is not visible in my 8x50mm finder scope using averted vision.
Comp Star= TYC 549-564-1; Method= M; Cat= TJ

C/2009 P1 Garradd
2011 Apr 11.78 UT; m1= 11.5; Dia= 2’; DC= 5/6; 25cm L, f:5 (x83)
Coma elongated to South, small stellar central condensation glimpsed in periods of good seeing using averted vision. Coma does not enhance with Swan filter, slight interference by zodiacal light.
Comp Star= ASAS 225015-1247.3; Method= M; Cat= AU

Cheers! :thumbsup:

[Liz]

Well done Chris!!
I havent seen a comet .... since prob mid last year with Hartley. :sadeyes:
Hoping to catch C1 soon, fingers crossed. :)

[CometGuy]

Thanks for your reports Chris. Its good to see somebody doing constant monitoring of these comets.

Btw I managed to catch 2011C1 this morning in my comet survey, see the image attached.

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Terry,
Nice image!, i see it does have a thin tail which is not visible visually for me. I have read reports of the tail but only with CCD images, it's definitely faint though.
The tail i refer to is in the 6 o'clock position on your pic, but i notice 2 other features at 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock as well, are these artifacts or have they trailed with the comets motion?
Did you happen to pick up C/2009 P1 Garradd in your survey too?

Keep those images rolling! :thumbsup:

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Liz,

I think you should get out when you can, C1 is easy in the 10" and easy to starhop to.
P1 Garradd is an easy one to follow too but you'll need to use averted vision to help, i use x83 to see it easily in the 10" although i made this mornings obs using x39.
good luck! :thumbsup:

[CometGuy]

Hi Chris,

I would have had an image of 2009P1 but had a problem with my laptop during the imaging survey. Later this week there should be some more clear weather so will have to wait until then.

I did a quick magnitude estimate from CCD images:

C/2011 C1 McNaught
2011 Apr 12.75 UT; m1= 10.0; Dia= 3.5’; DC= -; 20cm SCT, f:2.1 (CCD - unfiltered)

No way in the world this comet is mag 8.6 though.....

Terry

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Terry,
I noticed that the source of the 8.6 mag has consistently higher magnitudes across a lot of different comets! Must be the location, mind you the 8.6 estimate was made with 25x100 Bins.


Visual estimates are usually brighter than CCD ones anyway but still, 8.6 is pretty high. Con Stoitsis managed to grab it with his 11x70mm Bins under a dark sky, i tried using the 8x50 finder and my 7x50's (which was a bit too ambitious) but you just never know!

Keep up the good work!