British Astronomical Association
&
Society for Popular Astronomy
Comet Section


Latest News

Oct 21  Bo Zhou reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Oct 21  Rik Hill discovers faint comet 2009 U3
Oct 22  Bo Zhou reports a Marsden group comet in real time C3 images
Oct 22  Bo Zhou and Shihong Yuan report a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images
Oct 24  Rob McNaught discovers faint periodic comet 2009 U4
Oct 25  Al Grauer discovers faint comet 2009 U5
Oct 25  Michal Kusiak reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Oct 28  Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in archival C3 images from 1999
Oct 29  LINEAR discovers faint comet 2009 U6
Oct 29  Bo Zhou reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images
Oct 30  Bo Zhou reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Oct 31  Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in archival C3 images from 1999
Nov 02  Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Nov 03  Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images
Nov 06  Tony Scarmato reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Nov 13  Zhijian Xu reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Nov 15  Arkadiusz Kubczak reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Nov 16  Jiangao Ruan and Bo Zhou report a Kreutz group comet in real time C3 images
Nov 16  Alan Watson reports a non-group comet in STEREO images from November 11 (=169P)
Nov 17  Jiangao Ruan reports two Kreutz group comets in real time C3 images
Nov 19  Jiangao Ruan reports a Kreutz group comet in real time C2 images
Nov 19  Rik Hill discovers comet 2009 W1
Nov 19  Update
If there have been no recent updates try The German comet group page or Seiichi Yoshida's page for information or the Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomía for observations.
Elsewhere on these pages: Highlights / Newly discovered comets / Periodic comets / Contributing observations / Comet Ephemerides / Upcoming Comets / Observing Comets / Current meteor showers / Links / Meetings / IWCA / IWCA III home page / Publications / Comments and Contacts / Old 2008 News / SPA News / Comet discovery procedure / Weather information / The Comet's Tale / More information


Current comet magnitudes (November 16) and observable region (November 16)

  • Comet Magnitude Trend Observable When visible
  • Siding Spring (2007 Q3) 9 steady 90 N to 25 S morning
  • 169P/NEAT 9.5 bright 35 N to 45 S early evening
  • 88P/Howell 9.5 fade 40 N to 55 S evening
  • Christensen (2006 W3) 9.5 fade 55 N to 45 S evening
  • 217P/LINEAR 10.5 fade 60 N to 55 S best morning
  • 65P/Gunn 11 ? steady Conjunction
  • 81P/Wild 12 bright 75 N to 40 S morning
  • 22P/Kopff 12 fade 45 N to 55 S evening
  • P/Boattini (2009 Q4) 12.5 steady 60 N to 45 S morning
  • 116P/Wild 13 fade Conjunction
  • 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 13 ? varies 70 N to 35 S morning
  • 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 14 bright 70 N to 50 S best morning
  • Cardinal (2008 T2) 14 fade Poor elongation
  • The observable region is an approximate indication of the latitude at which the comet may be seen. Under good conditions comets may be visible outside this range. The period when visible is for the UK if the comet is visible from the UK, otherwise for 40 S or the Equator as appropriate.


    Highlights

    1. 169P/NEAT is much brighter than forecast and was detected in STEREO images. Ground based observation has confirmed the brightness.
    2. 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was reported in outburst again in November.
    3. Image of the month: Another spectacular pair of images from Rolando Ligustri, of 217P near M42 taken on September 26 and September 27.
    4. MACE 2010 will be held at Visnjan/Tican, Croatia from May 21 to 23.
    5. There will be an observers workshop featuring comets and meteors at Burlington House on Saturday, September 25, 2010.

    Details

    Note that in general only details of currently visible comets are updated and that analyses of past years will be published in the BAA Journal.


    Comet ephemerides etc

    The following ephemerides for currently observable comets brighter than 12th magnitude, each for two months, use orbital elements courtesy of the CBAT. Observable limits are for the UK unless stated otherwise. All ephemerides give B1950 and J2000 positions. Ephemerides were updated as indicated (mm/dd) following the comet name. The following longer period ephemerides are given for planning purposes for comets that may reach binocular brightness. All are for the UK. The predicted magnitudes are extremely uncertain.

    An explanation of the information in the ephemerides is given here. The following magnitude parameters, last updated 2009 September, are used in the ephemerides, but note that ephemerides are not updated every time the magnitude parameters are.

    The following lists [updated 2009 October 1] give the ephemeris details, including the approximate current magnitude and local visibility for all the comets in the CBAT list for the UK, the equator and 40 south. CCD observers should try and observe any comets that have not recently been observed according to the CBAT but which are expected to be within range of their equipment. Negative observations are also useful.

    Ephemerides of these, and other fainter comets are available on the CBAT ephemeris page and for positions of newly discovered comets see the NEO confirmation page . You can also generate your own ephemerides and elements at the CBAT Minor Planet and Comet Ephemeris Service web page. Seiichi Yoshida has pages for currently visible comets, which include finder charts. Seiichi also has a comet rendezvous page, which lists conjunctions between comets, variable stars and nebulae and a comet recovery page, which lists periodic comets not yet recovered at the present return. The T3 project aims to discover comets amongst the population of asteroids influenced by Jupiter.

    Finder charts

    There are daily finder charts for bright comets at Heavens Above. Reinder Bouma and Edwin van Dijk's astrosite Groningen has an excellent set of finder charts for brighter comets.

    A plot of recent search areas by professional teams looking for NEOS.

    Orbits etc

    You can generate your own ephemerides and list of orbital elements at the CBAT Minor Planet and Comet Ephemeris Service web page. The MPC also has a list of the last observation for all comets. In addition, the MPC has orbital elements for unusual asteroids, many of which have cometary orbits. The 2005 edition of the CBAT comet catalogue is now available. Full details of the latest orbits are available from Kazuo Kinoshita's Comet Orbit Home Page.

    Downloads etc

    Download the December 2008 newsletter.

    Download Richard Fleet's GraphDark software for graphically displaying comet (and other object) visibility. Latest version is 2.05, 2007 May.

    Download William Schwittek's CometWin software for generating comet ephemerides and visibility diagrams. [Updated 2002 March 5]

    Download Solex, N-body solar system dynamics software.


    Upcoming comets

    Predictions for the comets expected to return in 2009, 2010 and 2011 are published in the BAA Journal and in the ICQ. This list gives the period of visibility and maximum brightness for periodic comets that are predicted to return within the next couple of years. It covers the UK, Equator and 40 South and also gives some of the better returns further in the future. This monthly list details which comets will be visible from the UK until 2009. [Updated 2007 September 21] Seiichi Yoshida also has a list of comets likely to be visible in the next five years.

    Contributing observations

    Please send me observations, they will be used in the reports on comets which appear in the BAA Journal. Visual observers can use the BAA visual report form to log observations and the ICQ format is used to archive observations. There is also a visual drawing form. If you would like to submit by email you should use ICQ format if possible. You can also send observations to Guy Hurst of The Astronomer magazine for publication. I have written a program that creates files with data in the ICQ, BAA and TA formats which you can send to me by email. It now runs under Windows and is available as a self extracting zip file. [New version, 2004 February 2] The ICQ format uses special keys to code observation particulars. I would be particularly pleased to receive drawings, as well as photographs and CCD images. If you are submitting images, please use the standard name format for naming your files, for example 2001q4_20040515_shanklin.jpg. Regular contributors include Andrew Pearce, Seiichi Yoshida and the AGEO team, Jose Carvajal, Jose Aguiar, Marco Goiato, Bjorn Granslo, Werner Hasubick, Tim Cooper, Rolando Ligustri, Martin Mobberley, David Strange, Nick James, Antonio Milani, Maik Mayer, Phil Moore, Stuart Rae, James Abbott, Giovanni Sostero, Nicolas Biver, Pepe Manteca, Michael Mattiazzo, Alexander Amorim, Gabriel Oksa, Rafael Ferrando, Heinz Kerner, Willian Souza, Tony Scarmato, Carlos Labordena, Juan Gonzalez, Walter Robledo, John Fletcher several of whom contribute observations from their colleagues.

    Warning I receive a large number of emails containing viruses or other junk. Please try and make clear that your message is legitimate, otherwise it may be deleted without being read. It is advisable to use your own name, rather than an alias, in the 'from' field and use an obvious, recent subject.


    Comments and contact

    Many thanks to those that regularly access this page for your interest. If you have any comments, suggestions for improvement or find any problems, please mail the comet section director, Jon Shanklin, but please make sure that it is possible to reply to your address. If you need to phone me I have an answer/faxphone at home on +44 (0)1223 571250 or my work number is +44 (0)1223 221400. The work fax is +44 (0)1223 221279 I can also be contacted at j.shanklin @ bas.ac.uk and snail mail will reach me at British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, CAMBRIDGE CB3 0ET, England. For information about my day job I have a web page at BAS.


    Published by jds@ast.cam.ac.uk