COMET 2007 K5 (Lovejoy) - PHOTOS AND OBSERVATIONS

Possum Observatory - John Drummond, New Zealand

Congratulations (again!) to Terry Lovejoy from Brisbane, Australia on his photographic survey discovery of a magnitude 12-13 comet in Lepus! IAU Circular No. 8840 states -
COMET 2007 K5
T. Lovejoy, Thornlands, Queensland, Australia, reports his discovery of a comet on twelve 90-s CCD images obtained on May 26 with a 200-mm f/2.8 camera lens, the object reported as circular, 1' across, with a clear blue-green color but no tail. J. Drummond (Gisborne, New Zealand, 0.20-m f/4.6 reflector) writes that his confirming images from May 28, obtained at altitude about 15 deg, show a moderately condensed coma of diameter about 1' and no tail. The following reported positions include precise astrometry by R. H. McNaught from images obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring, who reported a circular coma 0'.6 in diameter. Additional accurate astrometry is needed.

2007 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer
May 26.3424 5 50 24.9 -15 09 16 13 Lovejoy
26.3458 5 50 25.4 -15 09 11 "
28.28 6 00 18.2 -15 05 39.7 13 Drummond
28.31 6 00 24.87 -15 05 42.6 "
28.3458 6 00 34.4 -15 04 56 13 Lovejoy
28.3556 6 00 34.5 -15 05 07 "
29.27 6 05 15.77 -15 03 34.6 Drummond
29.34201 6 05 38.82 -15 03 15.2 McNaught
29.34442 6 05 39.56 -15 03 15.0 "
29.34673 6 05 40.25 -15 03 14.8 13.8 "

The following was extracted from GUIDE 8.0 software based on Hirohisa Sato's (Japan) calculations...

Orbital elements:

Perihelion distance 1.1747300 AU
Orbital elements:
Eccentricity 1.0000000
Inclination of orbit 64.6490000 degrees
Argument of perihelion 264.7100000 degrees
Long. ascending node 196.6660000 degrees
Date of perihelion JD 2454231.67500 (11 May 2007 4:12:00)

The following are images I took of it with an SBIG STL11000M CCD and 16" (41cm) Newtonian.

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW...	DETAILS:	..
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures: NOTES:	Wednesday 30.25-29 May 2007 (UT) 41cm (16") f5.2 Meade Newtonian SBIG STL11000M CCD (N=up, E=left, ~30x20')) 1 minute - 5 Lum, 3red, 3green, 2blue Comet is mag 12-13 and ~1' in diameter

EPHEMERIDES... (note, these are initial only and will change as time progresses) - for NZST (12 hours ahead of UT). Mag very approximate...

C/2007 K5
Date RA declination mag Elong Speed
---- -- ----------- --- ----- ------
Lovejoy2
Date RA declination mag Elong Speed
---- -- ----------- --- ----- ------
30 May 2007 19 06h10m29.12s -15 00' 41.8" 12.2 44.7 184.81 Lep
31 May 2007 19 06h15m35.16s -14 57' 50.4" 12.2 44.9 184.99 CMa
1 Jun 2007 19 06h20m41.32s -14 54' 41.9" 12.2 45.1 185.08 CMa
2 Jun 2007 19 06h25m47.44s -14 51' 16.6" 12.3 45.3 185.08 CMa
3 Jun 2007 19 06h30m53.36s -14 47' 34.9" 12.3 45.5 185.00 CMa
4 Jun 2007 19 06h35m58.94s -14 43' 37.2" 12.3 45.7 184.83 CMa
5 Jun 2007 19 06h41m04.02s -14 39' 23.9" 12.3 45.9 184.57 CMa
6 Jun 2007 19 06h46m08.44s -14 34' 55.5" 12.4 46.0 184.23 CMa
7 Jun 2007 19 06h51m12.06s -14 30' 12.6" 12.4 46.2 183.79 CMa
8 Jun 2007 19 06h56m14.73s -14 25' 15.8" 12.4 46.3 183.28 CMa
9 Jun 2007 19 07h01m16.32s -14 20' 05.6" 12.4 46.5 182.68 CMa
10 Jun 2007 19 07h06m16.67s -14 14' 42.9" 12.5 46.6 182.00 CMa
11 Jun 2007 19 07h11m15.66s -14 09' 08.1" 12.5 46.7 181.24 CMa
12 Jun 2007 19 07h16m13.15s -14 03' 22.2" 12.5 46.8 180.40 CMa
13 Jun 2007 19 07h21m09.01s -13 57' 25.8" 12.6 46.9 179.49 CMa
14 Jun 2007 19 07h26m03.13s -13 51' 19.7" 12.6 46.9 178.50 CMa
15 Jun 2007 19 07h30m55.39s -13 45' 04.6" 12.6 47.0 177.45 Pup
16 Jun 2007 19 07h35m45.66s -13 38' 41.3" 12.7 47.0 176.33 Pup
17 Jun 2007 19 07h40m33.86s -13 32' 10.5" 12.7 47.1 175.14 Pup
18 Jun 2007 19 07h45m19.87s -13 25' 33.0" 12.8 47.1 173.89 Pup
19 Jun 2007 19 07h50m03.62s -13 18' 49.5" 12.8 47.1 172.59 Pup
20 Jun 2007 19 07h54m45.00s -13 12' 00.7" 12.8 47.1 171.23 Pup
21 Jun 2007 19 07h59m23.95s -13 05' 07.4" 12.9 47.1 169.83 Pup
22 Jun 2007 19 08h04m00.39s -12 58' 10.3" 12.9 47.1 168.38 Pup
23 Jun 2007 19 08h08m34.26s -12 51' 10.1" 13.0 47.1 166.89 Pup
24 Jun 2007 19 08h13m05.50s -12 44' 07.4" 13.0 47.0 165.36 Pup
25 Jun 2007 19 08h17m34.07s -12 37' 02.9" 13.0 47.0 163.81 Pup
26 Jun 2007 19 08h21m59.90s -12 29' 57.2" 13.1 46.9 162.22 Pup
27 Jun 2007 19 08h26m22.98s -12 22' 51.1" 13.1 46.8 160.60 Pup
28 Jun 2007 19 08h30m43.26s -12 15' 45.0" 13.2 46.7 158.97 Hya
29 Jun 2007 19 08h35m00.72s -12 08' 39.6" 13.2 46.6 157.31 Hya