2P/ Encke
2010 August 20.35 UT; m1= 9.0; Dia= 1.5'; DC= 5; 25cm L, (x39)
Coma slightly elongated to SW, no tail, moonlight/twilight affected, 6 degrees above local horizon, coma enhances well with Swan Band filter making the central condensation appear tighter but still not quite stellar.
Comp Star= TYC 4923-981-1; Method= S; Cat= TJ
Observed Comet 2P/ Encke at 18:23 AEST with a 16"scope, 13mm Nagler, at an altitude of 13deg in Twilight.It just a faint non stellar blob, brighter towards one side.
It is hard to give a magnitude estimate using the the equipment I have and the brightness of the sky
As the night got just a little darker more detail was seen a hint of maybe tail was glimpsed but was hard to tell against the background glow.
I also used a 21mm Plossl which though making the comet brighter there was less detail.
I observed it till 18:51 when it was just 6 degrees above the horizon and very close to the top of a hill which made it very difficult to observe due poor seeing.
I finished observing the comet sitting on the ground it was that low
I was pleased to have at least observed this comet, having missed out on Comet R1 McNaught
Cheers
Was a really tough one to photograph as it was going down behind some of my trees (even after a bit of a last minutes prune). Low altitude and near full moon meant exposures were limited to 10sec.
The image is abt 1.2 x 1.0 degrees and was made with a C8 Hyperstar and QHY9. 15 x 10 Second exposures combined.
Terry, thats a beautiful image! Well done!
Rob, great stuff, you keep those images coming in!
I haven't been able to image it at all as it was WAYYYYYY to windy the last few nights, i had clear skies but wasn't game to get my 8" out and image, my guiding would have been all over the place and it was a job just trying to keep my 10" from flying away!
It was a stiff breeze and i had my thermometer there reading 1 degree but the wind chill wasn't measured, my fingers swelled up when i got back into the warmth......
the things we do for a comet!
Better conditions tonight (Aug 26) meant that I could go to 25 second exposures (although these were close to saturation). This shot is 5 x 25 second exposures with the QHY9 + C8 Hyperstar. Over a degree of tail is visible in this view - however I could not find any trace of the comet in 15 x 70 binoculars.
Terry
Last edited by CometGuy; 26-08-2010 at 09:45 PM.
Reason: Wrong Date
Beautiful image Terry!! Phew, am glad you didnt see it in binocs as I havent been able to either. Its still so light in that area, though comet is getting higher, and Moon is gone.
You are right Wade, there is a wider tail below, well spotted!!
Comet experts - how much longer will Encke be around at that magnitude?
I tried a repro with 10 images instead of 5, cropped and enlarged 2x for this view. The ion tail is the straight thin tail. Where do you guys see the fainter tail?
Liz, the comet will be fading fast. It's a very elusive comet and requires a good dark transparent sky to be seen. Once upon a time (in the 1800's) it regularly got to naked eye brightness.
Rain.
Got It
, having missed out on Comet R1 McNaught
. 
