Comet 168P/Hergenrother

Rob_K · #1 06-10-2012, 11:00 PM

This comet is currently in Pegasus and due to outburst it is currently the brightest comet in our skies. Mag 10 and brighter is being reported.

I observed it tonight, easy target with a 4.5" f8 reflector at 43x. Bigger scopes will probably see more of the short tail than I did but the small coma appeared slightly elongated to the south to me. It's a tiny object, bright & centrally condensed. I made it out about mag 10.

Skyhound's chart for 168P in October is here:
http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/168P.pdf

Good luck!

Cheers -

Curt · #2 12-10-2012, 02:24 PM

Hi Rob. I had a go looking for this last night in my 16' dob. Im in perth so the light pollution is bad but lucky my back yard is somewhat sheltered from any direct light. I only observed it it for a few minutes before the clouds rolled over. Pretty impressive i must say. Hopefully the skies will be clear tonight so me and the dog can go out to our dark site and have a good look. Thanks for sharing. Curt.

JB80 (Jarrod) · #3 12-10-2012, 05:51 PM

That's encouraging, I have been meaning to dust off my 6" newt and have a look. Hopefully by the time the weather clears I'll have it all ready to go.
I was also curious if it'd show up in the pics if I pointed a 300mm camera lens at it.

cometcatcher (Kevin) · #4 12-10-2012, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB80

...
I was also curious if it'd show up in the pics if I pointed a 300mm camera lens at it.

Should do. My ED80 is only 440mm F/L, if it can show in that, a 300mm should be doable.

mozzie (Peter) · #5 12-10-2012, 09:10 PM

weather is clearing and am going to have a look in the 16" tomorrow night after the football.comet will be getting higher in the sky..

JB80 (Jarrod) · #6 12-10-2012, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

Should do. My ED80 is only 440mm F/L, if it can show in that, a 300mm should be doable.

Thanks for the reply, in your pics it shows up pretty clear so I guess there is no harm in trying.
That is assuming I can find it first with my telescope.

Rob_K · #7 13-10-2012, 12:41 AM

Should be no worries Jarrod, I got it with piggybacked 400D & 200mm lens a while back when it was much dimmer. Even got it at 55mm, if you like dots!

Cheers -

Liz · #8 13-10-2012, 05:21 AM

I got it the other night too - lovely little tailed object, but I hear it has faded a bit now, so be quick if you havent seen it!!

astroron (Ron) · #9 13-10-2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz

I got it the other night too - lovely little tailed object, but I hear it has faded a bit now, so be quick if you havent seen it!!

Liz, I think the tail is getting longer from what I saw last night and the fan shape getting narrower.
Brightness seemed to be what was estimated by others .
I watched it till it was only about 10deg above the horizon .
Nice little comet

Cheers

JB80 (Jarrod) · #10 14-10-2012, 02:02 AM

Cheers Rob, sounds like there is a good chance for me then if I can see it I can hopefully get a picture of it.

anthony.tony · #11 14-10-2012, 09:26 AM

Hello 4 of our CWAS members with 5 inch apo and 2 inch Dobsoian.Searched around and locked onto The 168p comet naked eye observation we used 30mm -13mm ethos- 17mm Badder- 24mm panoptic eyepieces for our observations.I wreckon meybe Mag 8 or 9. We could see the head and coma - and a small tail - Tony- Hell as well Added Digital sky Survey image shows the Star Field centered around the Comet 168p/Herg. you can see faint galaxies in the 60x60 arc minute FOV.Naturally the Comet dose not show in this old image - Tony

Liz · #12 14-10-2012, 10:15 AM

I had it up last night for our Club viewing and most were impressed.

Yes, Ron, still looks good though, not sure If I saw that the tail was longer, but certainly still there.

Tried the Comet filter, but it virtually disappeared.

Tried for Panstarrs, but no luck there, though Chris (OBMY) had it at 11.3 I think. There was a bit of light in the west though.

mozzie (Peter) · #13 14-10-2012, 10:46 AM

followed it in my 14"sct after the footy last night and was easily seen from 101x to 179x with bright head and a quiet visable tail but no long..the sky was clear and conditions were excellent so cranked up to 540x at 82 deg eyepiece slightly blurry but a nice bright object with a very visable tail using the electric focuser to keep it managable..best scope comet for a while be nice to see a few more

weather is coming over a bit but was hoping to get the 16" out tonight

gaa_ian (Ian) · #14 14-10-2012, 11:21 AM

Thanks everyone for the heads up.
This will be the next target for our recently revampted 18" scope by GAA up here in Gove NT.
Pity I did not read this yesterday defore our observing night last night !

mozzie (Peter) · #15 14-10-2012, 04:24 PM

ian it's a nice comet your 18" and further north location will suit you nicely...not long till your wet season but!!!!!!!!!!!!

rain has come in here for the after noon no scope tonight...