Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2005 Oct. 29: North)

Japanese version Home page	Updated on October 31, 2005
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Best time and the azimuth, altitude (A,h) are at lat. 35 deg in the Northern Hemisphere.

C/2005 E2 ( McNaught ) Although it was faint as 16.4 mag at the discovery in March (Mar. 12, R. H. McNaught), then it brightened well as expected, and now it is 11.3 mag (Oct. 26, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Strongly condensed and easy to see. It was very small and sharp before, however, the coma is getting larger and it looks like an ordinary comet now. It will reach to 10 mag from January to March. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is observable only until December. In the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude will be getting lower slowly after January, and it will be too low to observe in April. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 19 53.77 -28 52.8 2.145 2.192 79 11.5 18:34 ( 17, 24) Nov. 5 20 3.08 -27 29.0 2.163 2.129 74 11.4 18:28 ( 20, 25) C/2004 B1 ( LINEAR ) It was expected to reach to 9 mag in 2006 spring. But actually, it is much fainer than expected, 13.9 mag on Aug. 1 and 11.7 mag still on Oct. 27 (Michael Mattiazzo). It seems to be a comet with very slow brightness evolution, similar to C/2003 T4. It will be 11 mag at best. It is not observable until late March in the Northern Hemisphere, but will be observable for a long time while it is getting fainter after that. It will be too low even in the Southern Hemisphere from January to February. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 5 21.39 -81 54.5 1.987 2.097 82 11.7 2:54 ( 0,-27) Nov. 5 2 19.18 -86 18.1 2.000 2.041 78 11.7 22:48 ( 0,-31) C/2005 T4 ( SWAN ) New comet discovered in the SWAN images. It has already passed the perihelion on Oct. 9. It has been fading as 9 mag on Oct. 9 and 10 mag on Oct. 13 in the SWAN images. It faded down to 12.6 mag on Oct. 24 (Seiichi Yoshida). In the Northern Hemisphere, it is observable in the evening low sky, but it will be fade out rapidly. Because it is diffuse, it will be too hard to see soon. It will be too low in mid November. It must have been brightening in the morning sky from August to September, but it was missed. Hirohisa Sato calculated that it can be a short periodic comet with a period of about 25 years. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 16 37.25 -10 34.7 1.316 0.765 35 12.4 18:34 ( 68, 12) Nov. 5 16 42.30 -11 33.4 1.551 0.849 29 13.2 18:28 ( 69, 8) 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 It had been so faint as around 15 mag since May. It had been too faint to see visually. An outburst occured on Sept. 9 and it brightened to 13 mag (Stephane Garro), but it returned to be faint as 14.2 mag on Oct. 1 (Maciej Reszelski). However, it is bright as 12.8 mag on Oct. 24 (Seiichi Yoshida) although very diffuse. The faint coma is clearly visible on CCD images (Oct. 25, Toni Scarmato). Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 2 0.59 24 17.4 4.790 5.767 168 13.1 23:28 ( 0, 79) Nov. 5 1 57.17 23 59.3 4.799 5.768 166 13.1 22:57 ( 0, 79) P/2005 R2 ( Van Ness ) Although it was reported so faint as 16-20 mag at the discovery in September, it is actually much brighter, around 14 mag. It was also visible visually as 13.6 mag (Sept. 25, Werner Hasubick). Then it brightened furthermore, 12.8 mag on Oct. 25 (Seiichi Yoshida). It keeps observable in good condition until winter. It must have been observable as 14-15 mag in 2004 spring and summer, but it was not discovered at that time. Therefore, now it may be in an unusual temporary outburst. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 1 53.44 28 31.4 1.792 2.761 164 13.5 23:21 ( 0, 84) Nov. 5 1 47.44 27 53.6 1.825 2.787 162 13.8 22:47 ( 0, 83) C/2005 P3 ( SWAN ) New comet discovered by many people in the SWAN images released in late August. It was bright as 9.5 mag visually (Aug. 25, Alan Hale). It has already passed the perihelion on Aug. 9, and it faded rapidly in September. Now it faded down to 13.2 mag (Oct. 24, Seiichi Yoshida). Because it is very diffuse, it was reported faint around 15 mag by CCD observations. It keeps observable in good condition for a while after this. However, because it is very diffuse, it will be too hard to see visually soon. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 8 59.71 77 5.5 1.169 1.666 100 13.6 4:52 (188, 47) Nov. 5 6 52.63 79 40.4 1.168 1.772 110 13.8 4:01 (180, 45) C/2005 N1 ( Juels-Holvorcem ) It reached to 11.4 mag in August (Aug. 12, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It was expected to start fading since early September. But actually, it keeps bright as 11.8 mag still on Oct. 7 (Juan Jose Gonzalez). Althought it had been very low in the morning for a while, it is getting higher gradually after this. However, it is getting fainter after this, and it will be fainter than 14.5 mag in late November when the altitude becomes higher than 30 degree. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is unobservable until December. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 12 38.13 16 48.5 2.203 1.550 38 13.6 4:52 (262, 18) Nov. 5 12 48.34 14 7.9 2.241 1.623 40 13.9 4:58 (268, 22) C/2003 K4 ( LINEAR ) Although it has already passed the perihelion in 2004 October, the fading after the perihelion passage is slow. It is visible visually still now, bright as 13.1 mag (Oct. 24, Seiichi Yoshida). Moderately condensed and easy to see. Because it is distant from the sun, it can be visible visually as 13 mag for a while after this. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 3 35.23 -12 4.7 4.088 4.954 147 13.7 1:07 ( 0, 43) Nov. 5 3 26.74 -12 22.5 4.141 5.022 149 13.7 0:31 ( 0, 43) C/2003 WT42 ( LINEAR ) It brightened from 18 to 15 mag from the end of 2003 to early 2005. The brightness evolution was much faster than that of a typical comet. Then it continues brightening fast as expected, and it is already visible visually as 13.5 mag (Oct. 24, Seiichi Yoshida). Small and strongly condensed. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 9 42.20 45 43.6 5.335 5.336 84 14.1 4:52 (237, 61) Nov. 5 9 48.28 46 3.4 5.232 5.324 89 14.0 4:58 (234, 66) C/2004 Q2 ( Machholz ) It was fantastic, so bright as 3.5 mag, so large as 30 arcmin, locating high overhead at its best time in early January. Then it has been getting fainter and smaller gradually, 12.5 mag on Sept. 3 (Edwin van Dijk) and 13.8 mag on Oct. 19 (Mitsunori Tsumura). It will be too low in the evening sky soon. But it will appear again in the morning sky at 15 mag in December, then it keeps observable using CCD cameras until next summer. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 15 27.55 4 21.6 4.701 3.829 25 14.2 18:34 ( 90, 7) Nov. 5 15 35.04 3 34.7 4.790 3.901 23 14.3 18:28 ( 92, 4) 9P/Tempel 1 It kept bright as 10 mag from May to August, and it was still bright as 10.9 mag on Aug. 5 (Seiichi Yoshida). Then it has been fading, and it faded down to 13.9 mag on Oct. 1 (Mitsunori Tsumura). It is already very low in the evening in the Northern Hemisphere, and few observations have been reported recently. But it keeps observable in the Northern Hemisphere locating very low in the evening until December with an altitude of aroud 17 degree. In the Southern Hemisphere, it keeps locating high until November. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 18 59.47 -31 33.7 2.017 1.876 67 14.4 18:34 ( 28, 17) Nov. 5 19 19.13 -31 1.5 2.113 1.914 64 14.7 18:28 ( 28, 18) C/2005 A1 ( LINEAR ) It passed the perihelion on Apr. 10 and reached to 8 mag in the southern sky. Then it has been fading, but it is visible visually still now as 13.5 mag (Oct. 25, Seiichi Yoshida). The nucleus was split into two components and it has a broad long dust tail. It looks diffuse visually. It will be fading slowly, but it keeps locating high until December. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 22 21.47 26 4.3 2.457 3.128 124 14.4 19:49 ( 0, 81) Nov. 5 22 17.77 25 23.7 2.618 3.209 118 14.7 19:18 ( 0, 80) 21P/Giacobini-Zinner Although it became brightest about 2 weeks before the perihelion passage in its last appearance in 1998, it kept brightening until the perihelion passage in this return, and reached to 9.2 mag on July 2 (Carlos Labordena). It is fading rapidly after that, and reached down to 14.2 mag on Oct. 1 (Mitsunori Tsumura). It will be fading while locating around 30 degree high after this in the Northern Hesmisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 8 42.42 -16 48.9 1.743 1.839 79 14.8 4:52 (336, 35) Nov. 5 8 47.78 -18 46.3 1.743 1.903 83 15.1 4:58 (345, 35) C/2005 B1 ( Christensen ) Recovery of a peculiar asteroid 2004 FS101 discovered in 2004 spring. Although it was 18 mag in mid January, it has been brightening rather faster than a typical comet, and it reached to 16 mag in early September. It will be 14.5 mag around 2006 January. It keeps observable at 15-16 mag for a long time from 2005 spring to the end of 2006. Because it moves in the northern sky, it keeps observable for a long time in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it will be rather low when the comet becomes brightest. It was not visible visually, fainter than 14.0 mag on Aug. 5 (Seiichi Yoshida), when the altitude was high. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 15 16.69 47 24.7 3.740 3.396 62 15.1 18:34 (131, 27) Nov. 5 15 32.20 47 46.4 3.682 3.375 64 15.0 18:28 (132, 26) 37P/Forbes It kept bright as 12 mag from June to August, however, it faded down to 13.0 mag on Sept. 8 (Seiichi Yoshida). It faded down to 15.7 mag on Oct. 19 by CCD observations (Mitsunori Tsumura). It keeps locating around the same altitude after this until January when it will be fainter than 18 mag. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 20 8.31 -16 46.1 1.586 1.797 85 15.1 18:34 ( 17, 37) Nov. 5 20 24.81 -15 27.3 1.679 1.830 82 15.4 18:28 ( 19, 38) P/2004 VR8 ( LONEOS ) Although it was faint as 18 mag at the discovery in 2004 November, then it brightened very rapidly until early 2005, and reached to 16.0 mag on May 7 (Ken-ichi Kadota). It appeared at dawn again now. It was 15.2 mag on Sept. 30 (Ken-ichi Kadota), so it continued brightening as expected. After this, it keeps bright as 15 mag for a long time until 2006 spring. In the Northern Hemisphere, it keeps observable in good condition until 2006 summer when it becomes too faint. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 11 50.72 18 32.0 2.976 2.418 47 15.2 4:52 (267, 29) Nov. 5 12 3.93 17 34.5 2.929 2.429 50 15.2 4:58 (271, 33) P/2005 K3 ( McNaught ) It was 16.8 mag at the discovery in May (May 20, R. H. McNaught). Then it brightened rapidly, and became visible visually as 13.7 mag (Sept. 3, Edwin van Dijk). Because it moves in the northern sky, it keeps locating high for a long time in the Northern Hemisphere. However, it will fade out rapidly after this, and will be fainter than 18 mag in early January. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 4 58.07 50 21.8 0.905 1.722 130 15.2 2:29 (180, 75) Nov. 5 4 54.01 51 39.8 0.908 1.757 135 15.4 1:58 (180, 73) C/2005 K1 ( Skiff ) Although the CCD nuclear magnitude was reported so faint as 16.5-17 mag, it is actually bright as 15.7 mag (June 26, Giovanni Sostero). It was visible visually as 13.8 mag when it located high (July 28, Seiichi Yoshida), but no visual observations have been reported recently since it got somewhat lower. It will be too low to observe from December to January, but it will be observable as 15 mag again in 2006 summer. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 17 18.68 18 23.5 4.167 3.699 55 15.3 18:34 ( 87, 37) Nov. 5 17 25.89 16 30.3 4.224 3.696 51 15.3 18:28 ( 87, 34) 101P/Chernykh It was observed as 17.0 mag on July 10. Then it brightened as expected and reached to 15.0 mag on Oct. 1 (Mitsunori Tsumura). It has shown unstable change of brightness in its past appearance, however, it seems stable in this return. It keeps 15 mag until December. It is also visible visually as 13.5 mag (Oct. 24, Seiichi Yoshida). Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 0 10.69 -6 38.8 1.529 2.402 143 15.5 21:39 ( 0, 48) Nov. 5 0 10.27 -6 35.7 1.570 2.390 136 15.5 21:11 ( 0, 48) 169P/NEAT It was recorded as an asteroid at the discovery in 2002. It returned again now, and the faint tail was detected and it revealed to be a comet in fact. It passed very close by the earth in August, brightened rapidly from 15 mag to 12 mag. It brightened furthermore in September when appearing in the morning sky again, and reached to 10.3 mag on Sept. 14 (Juan Jose Gonzalez). Although it was diffuse in August, it became strongly condensed in September. However, now it is fading very rapidly. It faded down to 12.3 mag on Oct. 7 (Juan Jose Gonzalez) and 13-14 mag on Oct. 15 (Michael Jager). It is already too faint to see visually. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 11 2.35 -1 56.2 1.264 0.960 48 16.0 4:52 (293, 27) Nov. 5 11 17.19 -3 13.1 1.322 1.049 51 16.8 4:58 (298, 29) C/2004 D1 ( NEAT ) It brightened from 19 to 17 mag during a half of a year from summer to winter in 2004. The brightness evolution was rather faster than that of a typical comet. It had been very low for a while, but now it is getting higher again. It was 17.1 mag on Sept. 12 (Yuji Ohshima), as bright as expected. It will be observable in good condition as 16 mag for a long time until next spring. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 10 0.78 54 56.6 5.004 5.040 86 16.3 4:52 (221, 56) Nov. 5 10 9.83 55 33.5 4.918 5.031 90 16.3 4:58 (218, 59) 10P/Tempel 2 It was 13.6 mag on May 12, as bright as expected (Michael Mattiazzo). After that, no successful observations were reported for a while even when the comet became locating high also in the Northern Hemisphere. Actually, it was 17.1 mag on Sept. 3 (Ken-ichi Kadota). It seems the comet faded faster than expected. But it will keep 17 mag for a while. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 5 18.46 9 15.6 1.903 2.694 134 16.3 2:50 ( 0, 64) Nov. 5 5 13.48 9 3.3 1.883 2.734 142 16.4 2:17 ( 0, 64) 168P/2005 N2 ( Hergenrother ) First return of a new periodic comet discovered in 1998. The condition is very good and it becomes brighter in this appearance than at the discovery. It was recovered in July at 19.5 mag, as bright as expected. Then it brightened as expected, and reached to 16 mag in September. It keeps locating high as 16 mag still in early November, but it will be fainter than 18 mag at the end of 2005. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 21 39.97 -5 59.3 0.745 1.427 109 16.4 19:09 ( 0, 49) Nov. 5 21 50.08 -1 52.3 0.785 1.426 106 16.5 18:52 ( 0, 53) P/2005 R1 ( NEAT ) It was 16.8 mag on Sept. 9 (Yuji Ohshima). It keeps good condition for a long time. But it will fade out after this, and will be fainter than 18 mag in early January. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 0 29.59 28 10.7 1.127 2.056 151 16.7 21:58 ( 0, 83) Nov. 5 0 30.88 26 42.8 1.156 2.064 147 16.8 21:31 ( 0, 82) C/2004 Q1 ( Tucker ) Getting higher again in the morning sky. It will be fading slowly around 17 mag in winer. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 12 51.05 36 18.3 4.634 4.119 53 16.8 4:52 (242, 25) Nov. 5 12 57.65 35 46.3 4.636 4.178 56 16.9 4:58 (245, 30) 119P/Parker-Hartley It reached to 17 mag in 2004 autumn. It will be observable as 17 mag in good condition in winter again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 7 49.20 17 48.0 2.833 3.155 99 17.2 4:52 (339, 72) Nov. 5 7 52.44 17 25.3 2.748 3.165 105 17.2 4:56 ( 0, 72) 171P/2005 R3 ( Spahr ) It was recovered at 17.3 mag on Sept. 7 (Filip Fratev), as bright as exepcted. It keeps 17.5 mag until December. Although it had been low, it will be higher after this. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 10 6.28 17 29.3 1.919 1.805 68 17.3 4:52 (285, 50) Nov. 5 10 22.32 17 29.7 1.874 1.825 71 17.3 4:58 (289, 53) 65P/Gunn It will be at opposition again between autumn and winter, and observable at 17.5 mag locating high. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 4 5.46 18 11.8 3.584 4.490 152 17.4 1:37 ( 0, 73) Nov. 5 4 1.00 18 5.8 3.552 4.500 160 17.4 1:05 ( 0, 73) 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 The component C was recovered on Oct. 22 as 19.3 mag (C. W. Hergenrother). It will pass only 0.08 AU from the earth on May 12, and will be so bright as 2 mag. Expected to be visible with naked eyes. It keeps observable in good condition all through the encounter in May. Brightening rapidly, and will be visible visually as 14 mag in January. The components B and E have not been recovered yet. The component B will reach to 7 mag in May. The component E may have already disappeared because it faded before the perihelion passage in its last appearance in 2001. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 11 2.34 16 18.6 3.114 2.683 55 17.7 4:52 (276, 38) Nov. 5 11 12.54 15 34.9 2.979 2.629 60 17.4 4:58 (281, 42) C/2004 L1 ( LINEAR ) It was expected to reach to 13 mag in 2005 spring at the perihelion passage. However, the brightness evolution was very slow actually and it was only 14.5 mag at best. Now it is getting higher again in the morning. Because the current distance is almost same as that at the discovery, it is expected to be as bright as at that time, around 17.5 mag. But if it is fading as a typical comet after the perihelion passage, it can be already fainter than 18 mag. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 8 19.32 4 34.1 3.032 3.184 89 17.6 4:52 (333, 57) Nov. 5 8 11.64 4 42.1 2.947 3.241 98 17.6 4:58 (352, 59) C/2001 Q4 ( NEAT ) Fading slowly. It will be fainter than 12 mag. It keeps locating high. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 0 34.51 60 51.4 5.721 6.395 129 17.7 22:02 (180, 64) Nov. 5 0 28.07 59 48.8 5.779 6.458 129 17.7 21:28 (180, 65) (3200) Phaethon Now it is around the aphelion. However, it will be at opposition in early November and reach to 17.6 mag. It becomes brighter than 18 mag only in November. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 29 3 8.57 41 33.1 1.484 2.392 149 17.8 0:41 (180, 83) Nov. 5 2 50.01 40 31.0 1.463 2.398 155 17.7 23:49 (180, 85)