[BAA Comets] 2018 V1 and other comets

[Shanklin, Jonathan D.]

I've just updated the visual observations page https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/ with the latest analysis and comet magnitudes.


46P should continue brightening a little further and will rapidly become easier to see as it gets higher in the sky for European observers.


The present magnitude of 2018 V1 is uncertain, but a possible analysis of the observations gives it at about 6.5 and fading.  If this is the case it may be possible to pick it up low in the sky from southern England (if there are any clear gaps) over the next ten days.  The potentially observable window is pretty small - some 10 minutes between the sky getting dark enough and the comet getting too low.  If on the other hand the magnitude of the last observation was correct then it may not have survived perihelion.


64P has a linear type light curve and will probably fade from now on.


Thanks to all for continuing to send in observations direct to me in ICQ format.  A few still have minor formatting errors, with three being particularly common:

Using leading zeros for periodic comet numbers and magnitudes (eg 046 instead of 46, or 04.5 instead of 4.5) , or positioning the number wrongly (46 left aligned in III rather than right aligned)

Left aligning the f number, eg an f5 reflector should be L 5, not L5

Positioning the coma diameter wrongly when greater than 9.9 arc minutes, eg the 0 of a 20' coma should go where the first 9 of 9.9 goes.


Regards,

Jonathan Shanklin




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