Weekly Information about Bright Comets (2010 Oct. 9: South)

Japanese version Home page	Updated on October 11, 2010
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Best time and the azimuth, altitude (A,h) are at lat. 35 deg in the Southern Hemisphere. Azimuth indicates 0 for south, 90 for west, 180 for north, 270 for east.

103P/Hartley 2 Now it is 5.1 mag (Oct. 7, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Very large similar to the full moon. Very bright and visible with naked eyes. It is approaching to the earth down to 0.12 A.U. In the Northern Hemisphere, it keeps observable all through this apparition until 2011 June when it fades down to 17 mag. In the Southern Hemisphere, it becomes unobservable temporarily from late September to mid October. But then it keeps observable in good condition. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 2 28.99 56 29.5 0.146 1.092 126 6.0 1:15 (180, -2) Oct. 16 4 26.97 49 19.8 0.125 1.072 124 5.4 2:47 (180, 5) 10P/Tempel 2 It has kept bright as 8.5 mag since July until September. It is still bright as 9.7 mag (Oct. 6, Marco Goiato). It will be fading after this, but it will be visible visually until December. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 1 23.02 -20 13.0 0.777 1.728 152 10.9 0:15 (180, 75) Oct. 16 1 17.78 -19 58.7 0.826 1.766 151 11.2 23:37 (180, 75) C/2009 R1 ( McNaught ) Paul Camilleri reported that it was not visible, fainter than 14-15 mag, on Sept. 29. Hidetaka Sato reported that it was not visible on Oct. 8, the nuclear magnitude must be fainter than 18 mag. It was expected to be bright as 12 mag still now, but actually, it seems to have faded rapidly. It passed the perihelion in July and brightened up to 5 mag. Hirohisa Sato reported that it was clearly visible in the SWAN images in August. It kept visible in the SWAN images until Sept. 6. However, it may have been disintegrated after that. It is observable in the Southern Hemisphere after this. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will never be observable again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 10 57.58 -49 11.1 2.509 2.017 49 12.2 3:59 (313, 27) Oct. 16 11 8.99 -52 43.3 2.592 2.123 51 12.5 3:49 (316, 29) C/2009 K5 ( McNaught ) It brightened up to 7.9 mag in April and May (May 5, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Now it is fading. But it is still bright as 10.9 mag (Sept. 17, Jakub Cerny). It keeps observable for a long time until when it fades out in the Northern Hemisphere. It will be visible visually until December. It is not observable in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 7 59.69 50 55.6 2.491 2.601 84 12.5 3:59 (206, -4) Oct. 16 7 50.90 51 2.6 2.438 2.672 92 12.6 3:49 (202, -2) 43P/Wolf-Harrington The condition of this apparition is bad. It has not been observable at all around the maximum brightness. However, it is appearing in the morning sky now. Now it is 13.0 mag (Sept. 25, Ken-ichi Kadota). It keeps observable after this while fading gradually. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 10 45.84 -3 47.6 2.492 1.737 32 13.6 3:59 (270, 7) Oct. 16 11 0.80 -5 46.1 2.500 1.782 35 13.8 3:49 (271, 8) C/2009 P1 ( Garradd ) Already bright as 12.8 mag and visible visually (Aug. 20, Juan Jose Gonzalez). It is expected to keep so bright as 6-8 mag for a long time from 2011 to 2012, and to be observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2010, it is observable in good condition in the Southern Hemisphere while brightening slowly. It locates low in the Northern Hemisphere, but it keeps observable until the end of 2010. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 22 25.12 -37 36.6 4.637 5.259 123 13.8 21:13 ( 0, 87) Oct. 16 22 18.30 -37 7.9 4.667 5.196 117 13.7 20:38 ( 0, 88) C/2006 W3 ( Christensen ) It reached up to 7.7 mag in last summer (2009 Aug. 13, Chris Wyatt). It is fading now. It has already faded down to 13.2 mag (Sept. 6, Chris Wyatt). In the Southern Hemisphere, it keeps observable for a long time after this. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will never be observable again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 17 14.13 -47 5.6 5.538 5.250 68 13.8 19:35 ( 56, 49) Oct. 16 17 15.58 -47 5.6 5.687 5.297 62 13.9 19:43 ( 55, 43) 65P/Gunn Now it is 12.7 mag (Sept. 10, Artyom Novichonok). It will keep 12-13 mag until autumn. It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. It locates somewhat low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 20 40.95 -31 0.9 2.291 2.776 108 13.9 19:35 (163, 86) Oct. 16 20 45.64 -30 19.9 2.396 2.794 103 14.1 19:43 (120, 81) 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 It is appearing in the morning sky again. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 10 48.03 3 55.2 7.040 6.234 33 14.2 3:59 (264, 2) Oct. 16 10 52.20 3 23.6 6.972 6.235 39 14.2 3:49 (262, 5) 9P/Tempel 1 The condition in this apparition is bad. It keeps unobservable for a while. In the Southern Hemisphere, it will appear in the morning sky at 12.5 mag in February, then it keeps observable while fading gradually. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is not observable until when it fades down to 15 mag. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 12 58.74 -0 10.3 2.765 1.775 5 14.4 19:35 ( 74,-21) Oct. 16 13 15.66 -2 11.8 2.727 1.741 6 14.2 3:49 (288,-21) C/2010 B1 ( Cardinal ) Now it is 14.6 mag, much brighter than originally expected (Sept. 1, Artyom Novichonok, Leonid Elenin). It keeps observable in good condition from autumn to next spring. It will brighten up to 13 mag and will be visible visually. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 7 49.16 21 16.9 3.194 3.179 80 14.6 3:59 (220, 22) Oct. 16 7 47.97 19 37.2 3.044 3.154 87 14.4 3:49 (218, 26) C/2009 Y1 ( Catalina ) Now it is 14.0 mag, much brighter than expected and visible visually (Sept. 10, Alan Hale). In the Northern Hemisphere, it will be observable at 14-15 mag in good condition from autumn to winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, it will be unobservable until 2011 spring. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 14 54.33 71 41.4 2.783 2.791 80 14.6 19:35 (158,-32) Oct. 16 15 41.57 70 46.0 2.701 2.760 82 14.5 19:43 (157,-31) C/2006 S3 ( LONEOS ) It is already bright as 13.8 mag and visible visually (Sept. 10, Chris Wyatt). It will be observable at 13-14 mag for a long time from 2011 to 2012. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 20 18.85 -4 22.9 6.178 6.584 109 15.1 19:35 (166, 59) Oct. 16 20 15.68 -4 51.2 6.268 6.553 102 15.1 19:43 (149, 56) 2P/Encke Observable in the evening sky in the Southern Hemisphere. Fading rapidly. It was bright as 7.7 mag on Aug. 17 (Chris Wyatt), but it has already faded down to 12.8 mag now (Sept. 27, Artyom Novichonok). It will keep observable while fading rapidly after this in the Southern Hemisphere. It is not observable in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 16 35.63 -28 58.4 1.589 1.328 56 15.2 19:35 ( 78, 38) Oct. 16 17 4.78 -29 18.8 1.725 1.427 55 15.9 19:43 ( 77, 37) C/2009 F4 ( McNaught ) Now it is 14.8 mag (June 23, Hidetaka Sato). It keeps bright as 14-15 mag for a long time after this until 2013. It is observable in good condition in the Southern Hemisphere. However, it is not observable in the Northern Hemisphere. It must be bright, however, no observations have been reported since early July. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 14 41.89 -49 23.5 6.973 6.357 48 15.2 19:35 ( 46, 25) Oct. 16 14 46.53 -49 52.8 7.001 6.332 44 15.2 19:43 ( 43, 21) C/2008 FK75 ( Lemmon-Siding Spring ) Now it is bright as 14.2 mag and visible visually (Sept. 5, Sandor Szabo). It keeps observable at 14-15 mag for a long time in 2010. It locates in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates low, and will be unobservable in October in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 17 51.83 35 30.9 4.568 4.512 80 15.3 19:35 (145, 9) Oct. 16 17 58.45 34 52.0 4.611 4.513 78 15.4 19:43 (140, 6) 81P/Wild 2 It reached up to 9.2 mag in March (Mar. 20, Marco Goiato). Now it is fading. It has already faded down to 14.8 mag (Sept. 1, Hidetaka Sato). It will be getting lower in the evening sky, and will be unobservable in November. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 16 52.53 -20 36.2 2.964 2.592 58 15.7 19:35 ( 89, 37) Oct. 16 17 4.54 -21 0.1 3.080 2.633 54 15.9 19:43 ( 86, 33) 240P/2010 P1 ( NEAT ) Recovered as bright as expected. Now it is 15.7 mag (Sept. 18, Jean-Francois Soulier). It is observable at 15.5 mag in good condition from autumn to winter. It locates somewhat low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 6 29.70 20 12.0 1.733 2.124 98 16.1 3:59 (202, 32) Oct. 16 6 37.87 21 19.0 1.659 2.126 103 16.0 3:49 (200, 31) C/2010 A4 ( Siding Spring ) Now it is 16.5 mag (Oct. 5, Hidetaka Sato). It keeps 16 mag until the end of 2010. It keeps observable in good condition in the Southern Hemisphere. But it is not observable at all in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 8 24.58 -61 7.9 2.835 2.738 74 16.1 3:59 (326, 50) Oct. 16 8 17.16 -64 58.1 2.796 2.739 76 16.1 3:49 (333, 51) 203P/2008 R4 ( Korlevic ) It was observed at 16 mag from late 2009 to early 2010. It has already passed the perihelion, however, it tends to be brightest after the perihelion passage. It will be observable at 16 mag again in good condition from late 2010 to early 2011. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 9 44.50 12 38.0 3.967 3.432 51 16.3 3:59 (247, 9) Oct. 16 9 52.05 11 54.3 3.898 3.446 56 16.3 3:49 (246, 12) C/2007 Q3 ( Siding Spring ) It brightened up to 9.5 mag in January (Jan. 13, Juan Jose Gonzalez). Now it is fading. It has already faded down to 15.4 mag (Sept. 9, Katsumi Yoshimoto). It will be fainter than 18 mag at the end of 2010. In the Northern Hemisphere, it keeps observable for a long time, although it will be getting lower gradually. It is not observable in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 16 8.65 37 51.4 4.846 4.474 62 16.4 19:35 (132, -7) Oct. 16 16 17.37 36 51.7 4.926 4.531 61 16.6 19:43 (128,-11) (3200) Phaethon Now it is 16.9 mag (Sept. 25, K. Cernis, J. Zdanavicius). It will pass the perihelion on Nov. 25. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is observable until early November when it brightens up to 16 mag, and after mid December while fading from 16 mag. It will not be observable in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 8 55.68 20 25.4 1.123 1.143 64 16.8 3:59 (233, 13) Oct. 16 9 31.61 16 36.4 0.995 1.033 62 16.5 3:49 (239, 12) C/2010 FB87 ( WISE-Garradd ) Now it is 16.8 mag (July 21, Hidetaka Sato). It keeps 16.5 mag until 2011 spring. It keeps observable in good condition in the Southern Hemisphere. But in the Northern Hemisphere, it locates very low in 2011 spring only. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 11 34.75 -57 1.8 3.338 2.858 53 16.7 3:59 (323, 25) Oct. 16 11 35.13 -57 44.5 3.334 2.852 53 16.7 3:49 (323, 28) C/2008 S3 ( Boattini ) Now it is 17.4 mag (Sept. 3, La Sagra). It keeps 17 mag for a long time from 2009 to 2012. It is observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates somewhat low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 1 50.18 20 10.7 7.200 8.151 160 16.9 0:42 (180, 35) Oct. 16 1 44.41 19 49.7 7.166 8.143 167 16.9 0:09 (180, 35) 241P/2010 P2 ( LINEAR ) Now it is 17.4 mag (Aug. 16, Ken-ichi Kadota). It has already passed the perihelion, however, it tends to be brightest after the perihelion passage. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will be observable at 17.5 mag in good condition until the end of 2010. It locates extremely low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 8 30.98 30 10.2 2.135 2.079 73 17.4 3:59 (223, 9) Oct. 16 8 42.48 29 1.4 2.087 2.104 77 17.4 3:49 (222, 11) 236P/2010 K1 ( LINEAR ) Now it is 17.3 mag (Oct. 2, Toru Yusa). It is observable at 17.5 mag in good condition from summer to autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. It locates somewhat low in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 1 0.58 33 6.0 0.905 1.852 152 17.5 23:48 (180, 22) Oct. 16 0 59.00 31 28.2 0.904 1.862 156 17.5 23:19 (180, 24) C/2010 S1 ( LINEAR ) Now it is 17.4 mag (Sept. 28, A. Novichonok, V. Gerke). It is expected to be 15 mag and will be observable in good condition in 2013. It is observable in good condition in the Northern Hemisphere, but not observable in the Southern Hemisphere now. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 3 24.63 61 4.0 8.245 8.766 118 17.5 2:16 (180, -6) Oct. 16 3 16.59 61 24.7 8.146 8.733 123 17.5 1:41 (180, -6) 2009 YS6 Peculiar asteroid moving along a comet-like retrograde orbit. Now it is 17.8 mag (Oct. 6, Paul Camilleri). It brightens up to 16.5 mag in November. It is observable in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, it will become lower rapidly, and will locate extremely low in November. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 6 29.06 -9 12.4 1.641 2.007 95 17.9 3:59 (220, 58) Oct. 16 6 16.15 -14 3.2 1.464 1.957 103 17.6 3:49 (212, 66) 215P/2009 B5 ( NEAT ) Now it is 17.3 mag (Sept. 25, Ken-ichi Kadota). It is fading. It will be fainter than 18 mag in November. It locates in excellent condition in the Southern Hemisphere, but it locates low in the Northern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 20 34.77 -32 33.2 2.823 3.256 106 17.6 19:35 (135, 86) Oct. 16 20 38.24 -32 2.5 2.921 3.261 100 17.7 19:43 (105, 80) 2008 YB3 Large Centaur-type asteroid. It keeps observable at 17-18 mag for a long time until 2013. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 8 26.33 -18 2.4 6.845 6.518 66 17.8 3:59 (262, 43) Oct. 16 8 27.10 -18 12.8 6.752 6.515 72 17.8 3:49 (259, 46) 164P/Christensen It has not been observed in this apparition yet. It was expected to be bright as 17-18 mag. But actually, it was not detected, fainter than 20.5 mag (Oct. 7, Giovanni Sostero and Ernesto Guido). It was observed as bright as 17 mag in 1998 and 2005. So it can bright up to 17 mag in 2011-2012 season after the perihelion passage also in this apparition.In the Northern Hemisphere, it will be observable in good condition while fading gradually after 2011 summer. It is not observable after the perihelion passage in the Southern Hemisphere. Date(TT) R.A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. m1 Best Time(A, h) Oct. 9 20 12.15 -35 20.4 2.288 2.674 101 20.2 19:35 ( 85, 83) Oct. 16 20 15.82 -34 53.9 2.340 2.633 95 20.2 19:43 ( 86, 77)