[BAA Comets] Outburst of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann confirmed

Tue Oct 21 17:44:54 BST 2014

Outburst confirmed by Michael Mattiazzo as follows:

COD Q62
CON Michael Mattiazzo [mmatti at westnet.com.au]
OBS M. Mattiazzo
MEA M. Mattiazzo
TEL I-TEL T17 0.43-m f/6.8 + CCD
ACK MPCReport file updated 2014.10.21 23:41:04
AC2 mmatti at westnet.com.au
NET UCAC-4
0029P         C2014 10 21.39744 16 00 38.88 -28 11 37.9          14.9 N 
Q62
0029P         C2014 10 21.39883 16 00 38.95 -28 11 38.0          15.0 N 
Q62
0029P         C2014 10 21.40014 16 00 39.00 -28 11 38.3          15.0 N 
Q62
----- end -----

Observers are encouraged to monitor the decline from outburst if at all 
possible since further such observations will enable the time of outburst to 
be determined with better precision. Also don't forget that a second 
'follow-up' outburst is possible.

Clear skies,
Richard Miles
BAA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Miles" <rmiles.btee at btinternet.com>
To: "BAA Comets discussion list" <comets-disc at britastro.org>; 
<comets-ml at yahoogroups.com>; <asvcometsection at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2014 9:37 PM
Subject: [BAA Comets] Probable outburst of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann!

> 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
>
>
>
> __._,_.___
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>
> Posted by: rmiles.btee at btinternet.com
>
>
>
>
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