[BAA Comets] Probable outburst of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann!
Richard Miles
rmiles.btee at btinternet.com
Mon Oct 20 22:37:02 BST 2014
Further to my request for images of this comet as per the appended message,
John Drummond, Possum Observatory, Patutahi, Gisborne, New Zealand (E94) has
detected a probable outburst in images taken on 2014 October 20.347-20.355
with a 0.35-m f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD (four unfiltered 60-sec
exposures) in which the nucleus region of the comet appears to have
brightened by about 2.2 magnitudes. The comet nucleus was last measured at
R=17.2 on October 17.01 by J.-F. Soulier in images taken from SpaceObs
(W96), Chile operated by A. Maury.
Observers are strongly encouraged to obtain follow-up confirmation of this
probable outburst during the next 24-48 hours, as the comet may now be
around 14th magnitude or possibly brighter.
If confirmed, this outburst is consistent with my predicted time window
which was communicated to J.-F. Soulier and M. Mattiazzo on October 10. A
nominal date of October 23.0+/-3.5 was predicted at that time (the exact
calculation gave October 22.9+/-3.6, which were rounded to the nearest 0.5
day). This prediction was an update of an earlier one made on September 21
when the date of October 20.7+/-3.0 was proposed in a private communication
to Jean-Francois Soulier.
In the last 4-6 weeks, Comet 29P appears to have entered a new phase of
renewed activity attributable to a significant obliquity in its rotational
axis which has the effect of imposing seasonal variations in its outburst
activity. The comet is approaching solar conjunction and so it will be a
challenge for observers wishing to secure follow-up images of this latest
outburst.
N.B. A second outburst is also possible (from a different source on the
nucleus) between October 28 - November 02.
Good luck and clear skies,
Richard Miles
British Astronomical Association
Email: rmiles [at] baa [dot] u-net [dot] com
----- Original Message -----
From: rmiles.btee at btinternet.com [comets-ml]
To: comets-ml at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:47 AM
Subject: [comets-ml] Appeal for comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann images
This comet is rapidly approaching solar conjunction and so observations
will only be possible for the next two weeks or so before it disappears into
evening twilight.
It is currently quiescent at around mag 16-17 but there is a fair chance
that it will outburst at some point during the interval October 19 -
November 2.
I am appealing to southern hemisphere observers (comet is currently at
Dec. -28 degrees) to try and secure images (taken either unfiltered or using
an R filter) with a view to detecting its next outburst. If possible take a
series of images before the comet sets too low or drops below your local
horizon. It will become increasingly challenging to catch the comet in the
twilight sky as it moves to lower and lower solar elongation during the rest
of this month.
If you have any success in imaging this faint comet, or even in detecting an
outburst, then do please correspond with me offline.
Thanks in advance for any help with imaging ,
Richard Miles
British Astronomical Association
Email: rmiles [at] baa [dot] u-net [dot] com
P.S. Amateur observatories can usually follow comets much closer to the Sun
than is possible from professional ground-based observatories in this
critical range of solar elongation. For the record, these are the
elongations of 29P at 00h UT during the coming days:
Date Solar Elongation (deg)
October 19 39
October 20 38
October 21 37
October 22 36
October 23 35
October 24 35
October 25 34
October 26 33
October 27 32
October 28 31
October 29 &nbs p; 30.6
October 30 29.9
October 31 29.1
November 1 28.3
November 2 27.5
November 3 26.7
__._,_.___
Posted by: rmiles.btee at btinternet.com
*** Comets Mailing List Important Contributions : ***
***
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/comets-ml/files/Important%20Contributions/
***
Comet Observations List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CometObs/
Comet Images List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Comet-Images/
NOTICE: Material quoted or re-posted from the Comets Mailing List should be
indicated by:
Comets Mailing List [date]
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/comets-ml
Visit Your Group
• Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use
__,_._,___
More information about the Comets-disc
mailing list