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RASNZ Comet and Meteor Section
CURRENT COMETS BRIGHTER THAN MAG 12 - December 2006 (NZ Skies)
The chart below shows comets brighter than magnitude 12 for this month (December 2006) - as seen from New Zealand. As can be seen, there are not many 'bright' comets at the moment. Comet Faye and Comet SWAN (which is very low) dominate the comet scene this month - unless a nice, bright one is discovered (Rod...). However, in January 2007 Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1) may reach mag 4-5, more later...
| COMET (for the 15th November) |
~ Mag
|
EVENING
|
MIDNIGHT
|
MORNING
|
. |
Best Date
|
Max Mag
|
MM Elong
|
MM Decl
|
MM Const
|
|
0
|
From Jan 17
|
-
|
From Jan 17?
|
~Jan 17
|
1
|
|||||
| SWAN (P/2006 M4) |
~9
|
Set: 10:07pm
|
-
|
-
|
Been
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
| Faye (4P) |
~11
|
Rise: 4:11pm
|
Trans: 11:43pm
|
Sets: 4:02am
|
. |
18 Oct 06
|
~10
|
168*
|
+05
|
Cetus
|
| Comet Levy (C/2006 T1) |
~12
|
-
|
Rise: 1:32am
|
Trans: 8:57am
|
5 Oct 06
|
~9
|
47*
|
+13
|
Leo
|
|
| . |
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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| COMETS TOO FAR NORTH... |
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.
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.
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| Garradd (C/2006 L1) |
~9
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
. |
8 Dec 06
|
~8?
|
141*
|
+42
|
Lynx
|
Previous and Future Comets...
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YEAR
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sept
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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2007
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2006
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Notes: magnitude predictions are fickle at times and can vary from the actual magnitude. A comet's mag is usually 1.5 mags fainter than a stellar point magnitude (e.g. a mag 4 comet will appear roughly as bright as a mag 5.5 star). 'MM' = Maximum Magnitude - e.g. 'MM Decl' means the declination the comet will be at when it reaches its maximum brightness, etc.