CRC: New Binocular Comet in the Morning Sky
james...@austin.rr.com
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/106735518.html
Two observers in Japan have independently discovered an 8th-magnitude comet, low in the eastern sky just before dawn. Kaoru Ikeya spotted the comet with his 25-cm (10-inch) reflector at 39x, while Shigeki Murakami used a 46-cm (18-inch) reflector at 78x, as reported in IAU Circular 9175 of November 3rd from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT),.
What's astonishing is that both Ikeya and Murakami did it the old-fashioned way: by looking into the eyepiece of a telescope! Visual comet discoveries have become a rarity in this age of powerful professional surveys and digital imaging techniques.
Brian G. Marsden (Minor Planet Center) has calculated a preliminary orbit for the comet, designated C/2010 V1. It is moving in a parabolic orbit and is just past perihelion at 1.7 astronomical units from the Sun (that is, well outside the orbit of Mars). So while this comet won't be getting any brighter in the coming weeks, it should stay within reach of binoculars as it moves slowly southeastward across Virgo.
--
-- -- -- --
Venimus, Vidimus, Dolavimus
james...@austin.rr.com
james....@g.austincc.edu
james....@twcable.com
h: 512-657-1279
w: 512-845-8989
http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Confusion_Research_Center
Adapt, Adopt, Improvise
-- -- -- --