[BAA Comets] C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS

[David Swan]

Alan Hale has posted a nice picture on his Twitter feed and Earthrise page. It still seems to be quite dim - total mag ~14 - so I'm not surprised to hear it is out of range for even the most skilled for visual observers. I think Maik Meyer has had no joy too, Mike. May be able to capture some images tomorrow morning if the sky stays clear. David Swan



________________________________________
From: Comets-disc <comets-disc-bounces at lists.britastro.org> on behalf of Peter Carson <petercarson100 at gmail.com>
Sent: 05 August 2019 12:13
To: Mike Collins; BAA Comets discussion list
Subject: Re: [BAA Comets] C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS

Hi Mike,
Have a go looking for it just before the beginning of astronomical twilight, which tonight is about 2.50hrs BST. The comet should be around 13 degrees altitude at that time from 51.5 deg latitude.
Unfortunately I have obstructions at that low altitude from my observatory, but in a few days time I should have a chance.

All the best.
Peter


On Mon, 5 Aug 2019, 19:47 Mike Collins, <mike.collins12 at tiscali.co.uk<mailto:mike.collins12 at tiscali.co.uk>> wrote:
Hi Nick !
I tried for C/2017 T2 on morning of 3rd Aug from 01:47 till 02:15 but could not see anything.
There's obviously an optimum time to observe each morning (too early at low alt, too late in twilight) and I will try again tonight.
Cheers
Mike

> On 04 August 2019 at 09:28 Nick James <ndj at nickdjames.com<mailto:ndj at nickdjames.com>> wrote:
>
>
> This comet was discovered in 2017 September and it has just emerged from
> solar conjunction. It will be well placed from the norther latitudes
> right through to its perihelion next May. There are some details here:
>
> https://www.britastro.org/node/18553
>
> and a chart here:
>
> https://www.britastro.org/sites/default/files/2017t2.pdf
>
> At present the comet is a morning object moving slowly through Taurus.
> Current magnitude estimates on COBS range from 8.7 to 14.3 although the
> brighter estimates appear to be outliers and would imply that the
> comet's absolute magnitude is huge at its current distance (r=3.7au).
> The estimates are here:
>
> https://cobs.si/analysis2?plot_type=0&end_date=2019/08/04%2000:00&col=comet_id&fit_curve=1&obs_type=0&id=1703&start_date=2017/11/20%2000:00
>
> Since the comet is so well placed for us over the next 8 months I
> encourage members to observe it at every opportunity. In particular
> total magnitude estimates, either visual or electronic, would be very
> welcome over the next couple of months to help tie down the lightcurve.
> This should be a good opportunity to use our Comphot software to make
> estimates through the apparition and compare them with estimates made
> using other methods. Help on using Comphot and download details are here:
>
> https://www.britastro.org/node/11124
>
> Contact me if you have any questions.
>
> Nick.
>
>
>
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