Comet Gunn (65P) and M 70 meet in Sagittarius.
On the evening of 2nd July 2003 Comet 65P (Gunn) and the globular cluster M 70 'met' in Sagittarius. Comet Gunn was 218 million km away, M70 is ???light years distant. Gunn's magnitude was (according to my estimate) 12.4, M 70's is mag 7.9. On the series of photos below 65P lies at about 5 to 5.30 o'clock (PA 160* to 170* on the image) below M 70 at about one-two globular cluster diameters (about 5') from M 70. The photos were taken over three hours with my 16" f4.5 Newtonian. The comet isn't that easy to see, it's the small bluish patch - it shows best on the 15 minute exposures. To see the comet move open the third and fourth images in two separate link tabs and toggle between the two...
| OBJECT | R.A. | DEC. | MAG. | SIZE/SEP | DIST | RV (km/s) | DREYER NOTES (link) |
| M 70 (NGC 6681) | 18h 43m | -32* 17' | 7.9 | 7.8' | ? | glob. cl. , B, pL, R, g | |
| Comet 65P (Gunn) | 18h 43m | -32* 16' | 12.4 | 0.5' | 118 mill km | 65P displays a fairly bright coma with a condensed nucleus. |
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65P & M 70 - 7.21pm NZST. 5 min |
65P & M 70 -7.45pm NZST. 15 min |
65P & M70-10.27pm NZST. 15 min |
65P & M 70 -10.40pm NZST. 5 min |