Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2007 June 30: South)

Japanese version Home page	Updated on July 1, 2007
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Best time and the azimuth, altitude (A,h) are at lat. 35 deg in the Southern Hemisphere.

C/2006 VZ13 ( LINEAR ) Already bright as 8.8 mag (June 26, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It is brightening rapidly now, and will reach to 8 mag in July. However, it moves southwards very fast in August. It is only observable until mid August in the Northern Hemisphere. On the other hand, it keeps low and hard to observe until mid July in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 21 11.50 65 20.6 0.766 1.234 86 9.5 2:46 (180,-10) July 7 18 2.87 69 3.3 0.628 1.173 87 8.8 22:42 (180,-14) C/2007 E2 ( Lovejoy ) It passed near by the earth in mid April, and reached to 7.6 mag (Apr. 18, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It locates high in the evening sky, and it is observable in good condition. But it already faded down to 11.4 mag visually (June 18, Carlos Labordena), and 14.1 mag by CCD (June 23, Ken-ichi Kadota). It keeps observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere until the comet has gone. It will be visible visually until July. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 13 15.94 60 50.9 1.811 1.830 74 12.6 18:43 (180, -6) July 7 13 14.68 59 51.2 1.961 1.910 72 13.0 18:31 (178, -5) C/2007 E1 ( Garradd ) It passed near by the earth in early April, and reached to 8.7 mag (Apr. 10, Werner hasubick). Then it faded down to 11.8 mag on May 26 (Seiichi Yoshida), and became too low to observe in the evening. Now it is not observable. It will appear in the morning sky again at 15 mag in August. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 7 14.36 24 28.9 2.393 1.400 9 12.7 18:28 (112,-11) July 7 7 13.07 24 45.4 2.458 1.444 3 13.0 18:31 (108,-17) C/2006 P1 ( McNaught ) Excellent great comet, few times in a lifetime, for southern people. It reached to -5.5 mag on Jan. 14 and 15, brighter than Venus, and visible even in daytime. Then it appeared in the evening sky in the Southern Hemisphere and many people enjoyed a fantastic view of a beautiful great comet, a enormous curving tail with so many striae over 50 degrees. Now it is observable both in the evening and morning. It has already faded down to 11.8 mag (June 16, Walter Ruben Robledo). In the Southern Hemisphere, It keeps observable almost all night until the comet has gone. It will never be observable again in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 11 42.35 -73 56.7 2.714 3.190 108 12.7 18:28 ( 8, 50) July 7 12 2.41 -71 56.2 2.839 3.283 106 13.0 18:31 ( 11, 51) C/2006 XA1 ( LINEAR ) It became brighter than expected, and reached to 13.2 mag (May 12, Carlos Labordena). However, it is already not observable. In the Southen Hemisphere, it will be observable again at 15 mag in November. But in the Northern Hemisphere, it will never observable again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 8 16.17 21 32.4 2.710 1.826 23 13.1 18:28 (118, 2) July 7 8 33.42 19 9.9 2.722 1.814 21 13.1 18:31 (114, 1) 2P/Encke It had been observed while brightening rapidly until the perihelion passage on Apr. 19, although it located extremely low in the evening sky. It reached to 6.7 mag on Apr. 17 (Juan Jose Gonzalez). In the Southern Hemisphere, it appeared in the morning sky at 7.8 mag in early May (May 9, Alexandre Amorim). Now it is 8.6 mag (May 11, Con Stoitsis). Then it is fading rapidly. Now it is 10.9 mag (May 27, Ken-ichi Kadota). It became observable also in the Northern Hemisphere again. But it locates only 20 degree high at most, and it will be fading rapidly. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 22 21.25 -32 4.6 0.563 1.441 129 13.5 3:52 (180, 87) July 7 21 46.30 -33 55.0 0.598 1.535 142 14.1 2:50 (180, 89) 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 It had been bright as 12-13 mag and visible visually almost always from 2006 July to 2007 April. However, now it is not observable. It will appear in the morning sky again in late July. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 5 25.48 29 39.7 6.891 5.924 16 14.0 5:38 (240, -9) July 7 5 31.69 29 43.5 6.860 5.926 21 14.0 5:38 (237, -5) C/2007 K5 ( Lovejoy ) New comet discovered in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is observable in the evening sky until early August while the comet is fading gradually down to 16 mag. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is not observable until when the comet becomes fainter than 18 mag. It was not discovered in last autumn when the comet located in the good condition, so it may fade out rapidly after this. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 8 32.25 -12 21.7 1.982 1.468 45 14.2 18:28 ( 93, 26) July 7 8 59.01 -11 41.6 2.082 1.535 44 14.5 18:31 ( 93, 25) C/2006 K4 ( NEAT ) Now it is 15.4 mag (June 12, Ken-ichi Kadota), brightening as expected. It will reach to 14.5 mag in 2007 summer. However, it moves in the southen sky. In the Northern Hemisphere, it becomes unobservable in July. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 20 9.58 -44 33.8 2.580 3.505 151 14.5 1:41 ( 0, 81) July 7 19 53.95 -47 20.6 2.540 3.478 153 14.4 0:58 ( 0, 78) C/2005 L3 ( McNaught ) Now it is bright and visible visually at 13.8 mag (June 20, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It will be observable at 14.5 mag at high location from spring to summer both in 2007 and 2008. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 17 44.36 -3 6.4 4.831 5.778 156 14.6 23:11 (180, 58) July 7 17 36.36 -2 40.4 4.855 5.766 151 14.6 22:35 (180, 58) 17P/Holmes It appeared in the morning sky. It is bright as 14.8 mag (June 22, Ken-ichi Kadota). It will be getting higher gradually after this, and it will keep bright as 15 mag and observable in good condition for a long time until autumn. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 2 3.18 25 19.9 2.396 2.101 61 14.7 5:38 (208, 24) July 7 2 15.90 27 18.3 2.345 2.113 64 14.7 5:38 (204, 23) C/2006 Q1 ( McNaught ) It will reach to 11 mag in 2008 spring. It will keep bright for a long time, however, it keeps moving in the southern sky for a while after this. In the Southern Hemisphere, now it is low temporarily. But it will be high after July, then it keeps observable in good condition until 2008 summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will appear at 13 mag in November in a short time, but very low and hard to observe. However, it will be visible visually at 11 mag in the evening sky from March to June in 2008. Then it becomes unobservable again. But it will appear in the morning sky again at 13 mag at the end of 2008, then it keeps bright and observable for a while. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 6 33.41 -26 5.0 5.152 4.555 49 14.9 5:38 (295, 10) July 7 6 42.36 -26 13.2 5.104 4.505 49 14.9 5:38 (293, 13) P/2007 H1 ( McNaught ) Now it is bright as 15.2 mag (June 12, Ken-ichi Kadota). It will be observable in very good condition at 14 mag from summer to autumn. It may be visible visually. However, it was not discovered at the previous apparition in 1999. So it may be bright temporarily in outburst. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 23 48.71 -2 58.8 1.878 2.307 101 15.0 5:18 (180, 58) July 7 23 56.27 -2 53.6 1.796 2.301 106 14.9 4:58 (180, 58) P/2002 O5 ( NEAT ) First return of a new periodic comet discovered in 2002. Not recovered yet. However, it will pass very close to the earth and reach to 15 mag in July. Although it had been only observable in the Southern Hemisphere until June, it is moving northwards rapidly, and it becomes observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere after July. But it will fade out rapidly after August, and will be fainter than 18 mag in September. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 16 19.57 -40 5.7 0.230 1.216 147 15.7 21:48 ( 0, 86) July 7 16 36.52 -28 51.3 0.209 1.197 146 15.4 21:37 (180, 83) C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton ) It will reach to 10.5 mag and will be observable in good condition in 2008 autumn. Now it is 15.9 mag (June 12, Ken-ichi Kadota), brightening as expected. It keeps observable in good condition for a long time while the comet is getting brighter slowly. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 22 7.19 -9 37.9 4.401 5.083 127 15.6 3:37 (180, 65) July 7 22 5.43 -9 22.6 4.265 5.028 134 15.5 3:08 (180, 64) C/2003 WT42 ( LINEAR ) It has been visible at 13.5 mag for a long time since 2005 autumn until 2006 spring. It was still bright and visible visually as 14.2 mag in winter (Dec. 22, Seiichi Yoshida). However, it has already faded down to 16.7 mag (June 23, Ken-ichi Kadota). Fine tail is visible on CCD images. It will be getting lower gradually after June, and will be too low to observe in September. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 12 39.75 17 25.6 6.170 6.157 84 15.5 18:28 (174, 37) July 7 12 41.56 16 36.1 6.298 6.185 78 15.5 18:31 (165, 37) C/2006 L2 ( McNaught ) It kept 12 mag for over half a year since last June. It was still bright as 12.6 mag on Mar. 9 (Edwin van Dijk). But it has already started fading, and it is already too faint to see visually. However, the fading is slow. The comet will be fainter than 18 mag in 2008. In the Northern Hemisphere, it keeps observable until that time. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 5 7.05 65 18.1 3.895 3.247 44 15.6 5:38 (207,-26) July 7 5 17.93 64 59.6 3.936 3.306 45 15.7 5:38 (206,-24) 96P/Machholz 1 After the perihelion passage on Apr. 4, it appeared in the morning sky and it was so bright as 5.5 mag (Apr. 10, Michael Jager and Gerald Rhemann). Then it is fading rapidly. But it is bright as 13.7 mag still now (June 26, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Now the location is very good, so it will be bright for some more time. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 17 19.72 -4 26.4 0.905 1.873 154 15.8 22:45 (180, 60) July 7 17 1.70 -7 11.7 1.037 1.969 147 16.3 22:00 (180, 62) C/2006 M4 ( SWAN ) It reached up to 4 mag in 2006 autumn. But it had faded down to 10.5 mag on Jan. 11 (Carlos Labordena). It had been unobservable for a long time since that, but now it is appearing at dawn again. Now it is 16.8 mag (May 27, Ken-ichi Kadota), fading rather rapidly. After this, it keeps observable until it becomes fainter than 18 mag in autumn. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 22 55.21 -18 51.6 3.411 4.008 119 16.2 4:25 (180, 74) July 7 22 50.43 -20 17.6 3.387 4.084 127 16.2 3:53 (180, 75) C/2007 F1 ( LONEOS ) Now it is 18.2 mag (May 4, Ken-ichi Kadota). It will approach down to 0.4 A.U. to the sun on Oct. 28, and it is expected to reach to 6 mag. However, the condition in the Northern Hemisphere is very hard. It will be getting lower in the evening sky after this. The altitude becomes lower than 20 degree in early July, and lower than 10 degree in late July. The comet is still faint as 15.5 mag at that time. After conjunction with the sun, the comet will be brighter than 11 mag in late September, and will be 8 mag in mid October. But it locates extremely low, slightly over the horizon in the morning sky. It goes to the southern sky in late October, then it will never be observable again. In the Southern Hemisphere, it becomes unobservable in July. But it will appear in the evening sky at 7 mag in early November. Then it keeps observable while fading gradually, although it will not locate very high. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 10 6.65 28 55.8 2.911 2.351 47 16.5 18:28 (142, 14) July 7 10 9.51 28 50.5 2.895 2.249 42 16.3 18:31 (137, 10) C/2007 G1 ( LINEAR ) Now it is 17.2 mag (June 20, Ken-ichi Kadota). It will reach to 12 mag in 2008 summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, it keeps observable almost all time until that while the comet is brightening gradually. However, it goes to the southern sky and will never be observable again in the Northern Hemisphere after that. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 17 6.47 34 3.8 4.981 5.546 119 16.4 22:33 (180, 21) July 7 17 0.25 33 10.8 4.957 5.494 116 16.4 21:59 (180, 22) C/2007 M3 ( LINEAR ) New bright comet. It is observable at 16-17 mag in 2007 summer. It will be observable brighter than 18 mag also in 2008, from spring to summer. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 19 27.04 1 38.1 2.597 3.527 151 16.5 0:58 (180, 53) July 7 19 8.96 0 59.0 2.561 3.516 156 16.5 0:13 (180, 54) 44P/Reinmuth 2 Observed on June 12 by Joao Gregorio, but not officially announced yet. It should have already brightened up to 17 mag. It will be observable at 16.5 mag in summer and autumn in 2007, and observable at 17 mag in summer and autumn in 2008. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 17 37.67 -26 4.0 1.708 2.709 166 16.7 23:04 (180, 81) July 7 17 31.80 -25 43.7 1.705 2.680 159 16.6 22:31 (180, 81) 188P/2007 J7 ( LINEAR-Mueller ) First return of a new periodic comet discovered in 1998 at 14 mag. It was recovered at 18 mag in May and June. It is a bit fainter than this ephemeris, but almost as bright as predicted. It will reach to 16 mag in 2007 summer and autumn. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 0 11.37 -2 59.4 2.499 2.800 96 16.8 5:38 (182, 58) July 7 0 16.51 -2 13.0 2.394 2.781 101 16.7 5:19 (180, 57) C/2005 S4 ( McNaught ) Now it is 17.1 mag (June 12, Ken-ichi Kadota). It will be observable at 16.5-17 mag in good condition in summer. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 20 33.13 14 51.4 5.122 5.852 132 16.7 2:04 (180, 40) July 7 20 26.40 15 34.4 5.070 5.851 136 16.7 1:29 (180, 39) C/2006 U6 ( Spacewatch ) Appearing in the moring sky. No observations have been reported since January. But it must have already brightened up to 17 mag. It will reach to 13.5 mag in the southern sky in 2008 spring and summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, it keeps observable for a long time after this. However, it is only observable until autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, when the comet brightens up to 15 mag. Then it will be observable again at the end of 2008, when the comet will already fade down to 15 mag. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 1 22.49 -8 25.8 4.310 4.294 82 17.0 5:38 (217, 58) July 7 1 26.17 -9 27.0 4.148 4.241 88 16.9 5:38 (207, 62) C/2002 VQ94 ( LINEAR ) Now it is 16.7 mag (May 27, Ken-ichi Kadota). It is outside of Jupiter's orbit. So it keeps 17 mag for a long time until 2007 summer. It keeps locating high and observable in good condition for a long time after this because it moves in the northern sky. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 13 39.64 33 44.4 7.473 7.540 89 17.0 19:07 (180, 21) July 7 13 38.78 32 45.4 7.579 7.559 85 17.0 18:39 (180, 22) 50P/Arend Not observed in this return yet. It is appearing in the morning sky now. It must be 17 mag already. It will reach to 15 mag and will be observable in good condition in autumn. Then it keeps observable until it becomes fainter than 18 mag in 2008 spring. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 1 14.12 6 58.3 2.188 2.213 78 17.2 5:38 (204, 45) July 7 1 24.23 8 51.5 2.087 2.185 81 17.1 5:38 (197, 45) C/2006 M1 ( LINEAR ) It was observed around 17 mag in 2006 summer and autumn. It becomes observable in good condition at 17 mag again from summer to winter in 2007. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 2 26.77 36 55.0 4.263 3.760 54 17.2 5:38 (208, 11) July 7 2 34.65 36 58.8 4.208 3.781 58 17.2 5:38 (204, 13) P/2006 F1 ( Kowalski ) Now it is 18.1 mag (Apr. 14, Maciej Reszelski). It is observable at 17.5-18 mag until autumn. It was discovered at 18 mag in 2006. It is a distant periodic comet, and it keeps observable at 18 mag for 4 years until 2009. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) June 30 19 4.28 -12 11.6 3.180 4.176 166 17.3 0:35 (180, 67) July 7 19 0.05 -12 39.6 3.168 4.173 169 17.3 0:03 (180, 68)