© John Drummond
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Comets
2013 could be the Year of the Comet. Comet Pan-STARRS is set to become a naked eye object in march, followed by possibly-Great Comet ISON in November. Now we must add to that list green Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6). "Comet Lemmon is putting on a great show for us down in the southern hemisphere," reports John Drummond, who sends this picture from Gisborne, New Zealand
"I took the picture using a 41 cm (16 in) Meade reflector," says Drummond. "It is a stack of twenty 1 minute exposures." That much time was required for a good view of the comet's approximately 7th-magnitude coma ("coma"=cloud of gas surrounding the comet's nucleus).
INCOMING COMET: In little more than a month, Comet PanSTARRS will cross the orbit of Mercury and probably brighten to naked-eye visibility as it absorbs the heat of the nearby sun. Sky watchers around the world will be looking for it in the sunset skies of early March, when it passes closest to the sun and to Earth. Until then a telescope is required; here is the view last night through a 0.3-meter-diameter reflector in Argentina:
Cbet nr. 3390, issued on 2013, January 23, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.9) on images taken by J. A. Johnson with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope + CCD on January 16.2. The new comet has been designated C/2013 B2 (CATALINA). The apparently asteroidal object posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, has been found to show cometary appearance by CCD astrometrists elsewhere.
We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 22 R-filtered exposures, 50-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2013, Jan. 23.5, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object appears slightly diffuse compared to the nearby field stars of similar brightness and elongated toward PA 220.
Our confirmation image:
M.P.E.C. 2013-B84 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2013 B2: T 2013 June 30.59; e= 1.0; Peri. = 156.14; q = 3.75; Incl.= 43.56.
We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 22 R-filtered exposures, 50-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2013, Jan. 23.5, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object appears slightly diffuse compared to the nearby field stars of similar brightness and elongated toward PA 220.
Our confirmation image:
© Remanzacco Observatory/Philip Benson/Chris Everall
The fireball that lit up the predawn Northern California sky last week was a small comet that flamed out when it hit the Earth's atmosphere, a researcher said Tuesday.
The comet "instantly turned into dust and gas," resulting in the flash of light seen by many at 5:21 a.m. Thursday, said meteor hunter Peter Jenniskens, a scientist at the Seti Institute in Mountain View.
Because the comet vaporized, no pieces fell to Earth, Jenniskens said.
The comet came into contact with the Earth's atmosphere just north of Yosemite National Park at a speed of 160,000 mph, Jenniskens said.
The comet "instantly turned into dust and gas," resulting in the flash of light seen by many at 5:21 a.m. Thursday, said meteor hunter Peter Jenniskens, a scientist at the Seti Institute in Mountain View.
Because the comet vaporized, no pieces fell to Earth, Jenniskens said.
The comet came into contact with the Earth's atmosphere just north of Yosemite National Park at a speed of 160,000 mph, Jenniskens said.
© Sky&TelescopeBring binoculars to pick the comet out of the twilight low in the west. Don't expect it to look as obvious as this!
As we report in S&T, Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) will emerge from the Sun's glare low in the western twilight in early and mid-March of 2013. But how bright will it be?
Probably fainter than we originally predicted.
Using recent brightness estimates now coming from Southern Hemisphere observers, Seiichi Yoshida, editor of Weekly Information about Bright Comets, has changed his magnitude formula for Comet PanSTARRS. His new predicted light curve has the comet peaking at only magnitude +3 in early March.
Other recent fits to the data have it reaching anywhere from 1.8 to 4.
Later this year, Comet ISON could become bright enough to see in broad daylight when it passes through the atmosphere of the sun. At the moment, however, it is a cold and lonely speck barely visible through backyard telescopes. Two nights ago, Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK, photographed the potentially-great comet moving through space near the orbit of Jupiter:
"I created this animation using images taken through a 4-inch refractor, starting at 23h on the 15th of January and ending at 01h on the 16th," says Lawrence. "The comet is clearly visible moving among the stars of Gemini, in an area just to the south of Castor."
Comet ISON looks so puny now because it is more than 600 million km away. In late 2013, however, it will be much closer. A key date is Nov. 28th when Comet ISON flies through the solar corona only 1.2 million km from the surface of the sun. If the comet survives the encounter--a big IF--it could emerge glowing as brightly as the Moon with a sensational tail sure to create a worldwide sensation. Stay tuned!
© Pete Lawrence View Animated GIF
Comet ISON looks so puny now because it is more than 600 million km away. In late 2013, however, it will be much closer. A key date is Nov. 28th when Comet ISON flies through the solar corona only 1.2 million km from the surface of the sun. If the comet survives the encounter--a big IF--it could emerge glowing as brightly as the Moon with a sensational tail sure to create a worldwide sensation. Stay tuned!
Discovery Date: January 3, 2013
Magnitude: 18.6 mag
Discoverer: Robert H. McNaught (Siding Spring)
The orbital elements are published on M.P.E.C. 2013-A14.
Magnitude: 18.6 mag
Discoverer: Robert H. McNaught (Siding Spring)
© Aerith NetMagnitude Graph
The new results, reported in Angewandte Chemie, combine the use of one of the world's most sophisticated diffractometers with a novel sample preparation process whereby the protein's hydrogen atoms are replaced with the heavier isotope, deuterium, greatly enhancing the visualisation of hydronium ions.
Cbet nr. 3376, issued on 2013, January 08, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 19.5) by J. Scotti with the 691 Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak, on images obtained with the 0.9-m f/3 reflector + CCD on January 06.2. The new comet has been designated P/2013 A2 (SCOTTI).
We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 6 R-filtered exposures, 60-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2013, Jan. 08.6, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object appears "soft" compared to the nearby field stars of similar brightness and elongated toward PA 290. Our observations combined with those of Peter Phelps of Hazelmere School in the UK, using Faulkes South later in the day helped confirm the nature of the object.
Our confirmation image:
M.P.E.C. 2013-A45 assigns the following preliminary elliptical orbital elements to comet P/2013 A2: T 2013 May 16.14; e= 0.57; Peri. = 182.74; q = 1.98 AU; Incl.= 3.89.
We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 6 R-filtered exposures, 60-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2013, Jan. 08.6, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object appears "soft" compared to the nearby field stars of similar brightness and elongated toward PA 290. Our observations combined with those of Peter Phelps of Hazelmere School in the UK, using Faulkes South later in the day helped confirm the nature of the object.
Our confirmation image:
© Remanzacco Observatory
C/2012 K5 (LINEAR) & C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)are the brightest comets currently visible in the sky (together with comet C/2011 L4 PanSTARRS which is unobservable in Northern Hemisphere until 2013 March while is observable very low in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere until mid February).
C/2012 K5 (LINEAR) was discovered by the LINEAR survey on CCD images taken with the 1.0-m f/2.15 reflector on May 25.3. For more info about the discovery of this comet see our previous post here. Latest visual estimates indicate a total visual brightness of about m1 ~ 8.5. This comet is very close to the Earth now (~0.369 AU, while it is at ~1.3 AU from the Sun). The visibility condition is good in the Northern Hemisphere. But after mid January, the comet moves away from the earth and fade out rapidly. It will become observable in good condition also in the Southern Hemisphere after January.
Below you can see a graph generated using the software Orbitas and showing the C/2012 K5 predicted magnitude (in red) versus the maximum height (for Northern Hemisphere). Click on the image for a bigger version.
C/2012 K5 (LINEAR) was discovered by the LINEAR survey on CCD images taken with the 1.0-m f/2.15 reflector on May 25.3. For more info about the discovery of this comet see our previous post here. Latest visual estimates indicate a total visual brightness of about m1 ~ 8.5. This comet is very close to the Earth now (~0.369 AU, while it is at ~1.3 AU from the Sun). The visibility condition is good in the Northern Hemisphere. But after mid January, the comet moves away from the earth and fade out rapidly. It will become observable in good condition also in the Southern Hemisphere after January.
Below you can see a graph generated using the software Orbitas and showing the C/2012 K5 predicted magnitude (in red) versus the maximum height (for Northern Hemisphere). Click on the image for a bigger version.
© Remanzacco Observatory
