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Updated on May 4, 2013 |
Go to Seiichi Yoshida's Diary of Comet Observations in 2009. |
2008 Nov. 22-23 (14 comets)
I observed 14 comets visually on Nov. 22 and 23 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. Sometimes clouds came repeatedly, or sometimes thin clouds covered the sky. But I could have fine clear sky most time in both nights. Sometimes the sky overhead was very clear and the condition was excellent. Saturn locates in the morning sky. Now the usual ring is not visible. Instead, a short needle spits Saturn. It looks very strange and artificial, like a symbol mark of Saturn in a book. C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 U1 ( LINEAR )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 A1 ( McNaught )
C/2008 J1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 T2 ( Cardinal )
6P/d'Arrest
19P/Borrelly
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
74P/Smirnova-Chernykh
116P/Wild 4
144P/Kushida
205P/Giacobini
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2008 Nov. 1 (16 comets)
I observed 16 comets visually on Nov. 4 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. Too many comets to observe! Fine weather with no clouds in the afternoon. Excellent transparency, and I could see very distant mountains clearly. At the sunset time, Mt. Asama in front of the evening glow was an amazing view. Fine weather with no clouds continued until midnight. Thin clouds came repeatedly after midnight, but the sky was very clear through the gap of clouds. I could see many slow meteors of Taurids. I also tried to observe 7P/Pons-Winnecke, but failed due to the bad seeing of the extremely low sky. Completely cloudy on the next day. C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 A1 ( McNaught )
C/2008 J1 ( Boattini )
465P/Hill
P/2008 Q2 ( Ory )
C/2008 T2 ( Cardinal )
6P/d'Arrest
17P/Holmes
19P/Borrelly
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
61P/Shajn-Schaldach
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
116P/Wild 4
205P/Giacobini
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2008 Oct. 4 (6 comets)
I observed 6 comets visually on Oct. 4 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. Completely cloudy on Friday, but I could see stars all night on Saturday. Unfortunately, many clouds covered part of the sky, and fine areas were not so clear due to thin clouds. C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 J1 ( Boattini )
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
205P/Giacobini
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2008 Sept. 9 (10 comets)
I observed 10 comets visually on Sept. 9 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. I could have some clear fine days with no clouds after long rainy days. Mountains far away looked clearly. It was somewhat cold at night, so the autumn is coming. Strongly influenced by a large moon in the evening. But after the moon set, I could have a very clear sky after midnight. Many bright comets are visible at midnight, so enjoyable! But it seems slightly dim in the morning east sky. Jupiter looked amazing and excellent, two main belts are complex, and another two fainter belts seem visible. I also tried to observe C/2005 L3, C/2007 N3, 7P and 199P, but not visible. C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 U1 ( LINEAR )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 J1 ( Boattini )
6P/d'Arrest
15P/Finlay
19P/Borrelly
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
51P/Harrington
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2008 Aug. 2-3 (8 comets)
I observed 8 comets visually on Aug. 2 and 3 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. The weather has been bad since spring here. This year we have many bright comets, but unfortunately I cannot observe them well. It took 3 months since my last observation, or about half a year since my last satisfied observation with many comets. No rains, but very humid and somewhat foggy. Sometimes I could have some clear time and could see stars for a while, but the stars were hidden soon. But I could have a clear sky from evening until midnight on Aug. 3. I also tried to see C/2007 G1, but failed due to the low sky clouds. The comet must be fainter than 10.5 mag. I could see two bright meteors, possibly Perseid meteors, in the northern sky. C/2005 L3 ( McNaught )
C/2006 OF2 ( Broughton )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 N3 ( Lulin )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 J1 ( Boattini )
6P/d'Arrest
15P/Finlay
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2008 May 3 (2 comets)
I observed 2 comets visually on May 3 in Kita-karuizawa, Gunma, Japan. The weather at night kept bad during the holidays. I could observe comets only for about 30 minutes in the evening on May 3, but the sky was very hazy. On May 3, the sky was covered with clouds soon, and it kept cloudy all through the night. On May 4, it was very fine at daytime, however, clouds came during the evening glow and covered the whole sky before night. C/2006 Q1 ( McNaught )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
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2008 Mar. 5 (14 comets + 1 asteroid)
I observed 14 comets and 1 asteroid visually on Mar. 5 in Mt. Hanadate, Ibaraki, Japan. The weather forecast said that it would be getting fine. But the sky was covered with many clouds when I left home. A little snow felt on the way to Mt. Hanadate. But it became completely fine with no clouds when I arrived at Mt. Hanadate. The weather had been fine with no clouds all night. Very dry, and the telescopes did not get wet at all. But the sky condition was not so excellent considering the visibility of the Milky Way. Especially, the evening low sky was bad, so I could not observe C/2008 A1 and 192P. But the condition was good to see planets. Saturn through a 40-cm telescope was a very fine view. I also tried to observe 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. I could see something very diffuse at 13 mag around the predicted position. But I looked up the ASAS-3 web site after I came back home, and found it was a cluster of three 14-mag stars. C/2005 L3 ( McNaught )
C/2006 Q1 ( McNaught )
C/2006 S5 ( Hill )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
C/2007 B2 ( Skiff )
C/2007 G1 ( LINEAR )
C/2007 T1 ( McNaught )
C/2007 W1 ( Boattini )
C/2008 C1 ( Chen-Gao )
17P/Holmes
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
46P/Wirtanen
93P/Lovas 1
110P/Hartley 3
2005 WY3
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2008 Jan. 5-6 (1 comet)I observed 8P/Tuttle visually on Jan. 5 and 6 beside Tsurumi River in Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan. Very bad condition due to the terrible city light pollution. Extremely difficult to see a 5-mag comet. 8P/Tuttle
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2008 Jan. 3-4 (11 comets)
I observed 11 comets visually on Jan. 4 in Mt. Hanadate, Ibaraki, Japan. I also report observations of 8P and 17P on Jan. 3 in Fujishiro, Toride City, Ibaraki, Japan. The weather was fine with no clouds until I ended my observations (but it became cloudy when I came back home). The sky was not so excellent at first, but it became better during my observations. I enjoyed two naked eye comets, 8P/Tuttle and 17P/Holmes, with unaided eyes. C/2006 S5 ( Hill )
C/2006 W3 ( Christensen )
P/2007 H1 ( McNaught )
8P/Tuttle
17P/Holmes
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
46P/Wirtanen
50P/Arend
93P/Lovas 1
110P/Hartley 3
192P/Shoemaker-Levy 1
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2008 Jan. 2 (2 comets)I observed 8P/Tuttle and 17P/Holmes on Jan. 2 beside Tsurumi River in Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan. The weather was fine with no clouds, but the sky was not excellent. Comet Holmes is near limit to see in the city light pollution without an excellent clear sky. 8P/Tuttle
17P/Holmes
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2008 Jan. 1 (2 comets)
A happy new year! Here are my first observations in 2008. I observed 8P/Tuttle and 17P/Holmes on Jan. 1 beside Tsurumi River in Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan. It was fine with no clouds at dawn, and I enjoyed the very beautifull first sunrise in 2008. However, heavy clouds covered the sky in the afternoon. The weather became fine at night, but small clouds still remained and passed over the sky frequently. But the sky was clear and the comets were visible better than last night. 8P/Tuttle
17P/Holmes
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Go to Seiichi Yoshida's Diary of Comet Observations in 2007. |