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Posted by Denis Buczynski at 11:49 on 2012 Oct 06
Comet 168P Hergenrother in outburst.This comet (with period of 6.9 years) first discovered by Carl Hergenrother at Catalina in 1998 is now at perihelion and has undergone an outburst which makes it currently the brightest comet in Northern skies. It is well situated for study all night located in Pegasus with an altitude of more than 50 degrees and due south at midnight. The predicted magnitude at this time was around 15 but recent estimates have shown the comet to be more than 5 magnitudes brighter than that at around 9-10. This means that visual sightings including binocular observations are possible and DSLR photography will show the comet easily. CCD images show a bright elongated coma and a short broad southward pointing tail. This curent outburst coincides with the waning moon becoming less prominent and the next dark moon period beckoning. The Comet Section invites all observations(visual estimates and descriptions, drawings and images) to be submitted to cometobs@britastro.org.There are some images of this comet available for viewing on the Comet Gallery at the BAA Website.A recent quote from the discoverer on Yahoo groups comet-ml on 2012 OCT 3"I’d like to thank everyone who has been observing "my" comet during this outburst-filled apparition. Last night I was able to spot the comet in my 30x125s and 12" dob. The comet was around 9.8-9.9, highly condensed with a short tail to the south.- Carl Hergenrother"Images attached are by myself on Oct 5 and Micheal Jager on Oct 3Denis BuczynskiSecretary Comet Section BAA [file name=phoca_thumb_l_168p201121003ut2003lrgb.jpg size=105696]/images_old/fbfiles/files/phoca_thumb_l_168p201121003ut2003lrgb.jpg[/file]
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