Comet C2012 T5 (Bressi)

[JohnG (John)]

I believe that this comet is undergoing an outburst at the moment.

Shot from tonight (30.01.2013) around 2130.

3 x 60 seconds @ -25c with the Tak FSQ-106 @ f.5/0.

Cheers

[h0ughy (David)]

nice catch John. where is this one now?

[JohnG (John)]

In Sculptor, David, not far from Fomalhaut.

Cheers

[Liz]

Well done John.

I tried for this comet earlier tonight, but cloud banked up low in the SW.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Found the asterism just above Fomalhaut but it's way too low and too early in the evening for me to find. Is this incoming and when or if it
will be visible again ?
I'm in Comet nabbing mode

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

Found the asterism just above Fomalhaut but it's way too low and too early in the evening for me to find. Is this incoming and when or if it
will be visible again ?
I'm in Comet nabbing mode

Hi Brent - C/2012 T5 will continue getting lower in our western skies until it disappears around mid Feb and that's the last we see of it. My planetarium program shows it at about 20 deg altitude at the end of astronomical twilight in Auckland tonight. Each night it will be a bit lower.

Another factor is that this is a small comet that many expect to perish at perihelion, or even before. So the present outburst could be caused by the break-up of this comet, and may be a signal of its imminent demise. Or not! But all the more reason to see it as soon as you can!

Cheers -

[allan gould]

Very nice capture John. Such a lonely object in the depths of space.
Allan

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

Found the asterism just above Fomalhaut but it's way too low and too early in the evening for me to find. Is this incoming and when or if it
will be visible again ?
I'm in Comet nabbing mode

Brent, you want a copy of CdC. I'd recommend whatever is the latest beta release.

The only problem with comets, and it affects all programs, is that MPC do not update the magnitude estimates when they release new orbital elements. I throw lots of shell scripts and perl at getting the magnitude from JPL and updating the elements.

As Rob said it is low in the west from now until around Feb 18, getting lower every day.
If you have a really good eastern horizon, a week or so either side on Mar 7 it gets as high as 10° in the morning.

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

If you have a really good eastern horizon, a week or so either side on Mar 7 it gets as high as 10° in the morning.

Thanks for the info Andrew, I missed that!

Cheers -

[mozzie (Peter)]

nice catch john..i may set the lightbridge to pick up the western sky and have a chase..