Home    My Setup    Sky objects    Monthly    Kid's Page    Miscellaneous    Sales    Links    Say 'Hi'

COMET 73P (Schwassmann/Wachmann) - PHOTOS AND OBSERVATIONS. Possum Observatory

Period comet 73P has a 5.36 year orbital period. It will be best this apparition on May 14 2006 when it may be mag 6-7. The following are my observations and images...

 

The following (possibly unreliable due to few observations) was extracted from GUIDE 8.0 software...

Period of orbit 5.36 years (1957.9 days)
Perihelion distance 0.9391420 AU
Aphelion distance 5.19 AU
Orbital elements:
Semimajor axis 3.0628857 AU
Eccentricity 0.6933800
Inclination of orbit 11.3907000 degrees
Argument of perihelion 198.7881000 degrees
Long. ascending node 69.9066000 degrees
Date of perihelion JD 2453893.44500 ( 6 Jun 2006 22:40:48)

The following are some images I took of it with a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR. Daily ephemerides lower down.

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW...	DETAILS:
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Wed 7th June 2006 - 1700 hours (UT) Sigma 70-200mm @ 200mm @ f2.8 Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 13 x 3 minute @ 800 ASA Segments B and C (brighter one). FOV = ~ 7 x 5 degress.
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Thurs 1st June 2006 - 1700 hours (UT) Sigma 70-200mm @ 200mm @ f2.8 Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 7 x 30 sec - 3 minute @ 800 ASA Segments B and C (brighter). FOV = ~ 7 x 5 degress.
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Mon 29th May 2006 - 1600 hours (UT) Sigma 70-200mm @ 200mm @ f2.8 Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 6 x 3 minute @ 800 ASA Segments B and C (brighter). FOV = ~ 7 x 5 degress.
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Wed 25.58 April 2006 (UT) 8cm ED80 Skywatcher @ f7.5 Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 5 x 5minute @ 800 ASA FOV = ~ 1.6 x 1.0 degress
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Friday 21.54 April 2006 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 31 x 3 minute @ 800 ASA Alpha Corona Borealis at upper left. FOV = 35' x 22'. Moon interference.
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Wednesday 05.62 April 2006 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 8 x 5 minute @ 800 ASA Time taken = 14:45 - 15:30 hrs UT. North = down, east = right. FOV = 35' x 22'
	Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES:	Tuesday 08.60 Feb 2006 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 9 x 3 minute @ 800 ASA Comet is ~ mag 14

C/2006 A1 - 5 day positions. Please note that these ephemerides may change over of time...

The following ephemeris is at intervals of five days. Personalized ephemerides for this (and other) objects may be generated using the Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service.

P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (73P)
Date RA declination r delta mag Elong Alt Azim Speed
---- -- ----------- - ----- --- ----- ------ ------ ------
10 Feb 2006 5:38:08 13h31m40.69s +10 59' 40.7" 1.7994 1.0729 16.0 121.7 40.20 354.33 49.42 Vir
15 Feb 2006 5:38:08 13h38m27.88s +11 20' 48.4" 1.7526 0.9904 15.6 124.8 39.51 350.27 49.36 Boo
20 Feb 2006 5:38:08 13h45m11.05s +11 47' 44.4" 1.7057 0.9110 15.3 127.7 38.55 346.32 49.50 Boo
25 Feb 2006 5:38:08 13h51m50.13s +12 20' 54.2" 1.6585 0.8347 14.9 130.6 37.33 342.52 49.86 Boo
2 Mar 2006 5:38:08 13h58m25.39s +13 00' 38.8" 1.6113 0.7616 14.5 133.2 35.84 338.89 50.54 Boo
7 Mar 2006 5:38:08 14h04m58.48s +13 47' 09.9" 1.5640 0.6920 14.1 135.7 34.11 335.47 51.70 Boo
12 Mar 2006 5:38:08 14h11m32.66s +14 40' 37.8" 1.5167 0.6257 13.7 137.9 32.14 332.29 53.46 Boo
17 Mar 2006 5:38:08 14h18m12.46s +15 41' 18.5" 1.4697 0.5627 13.3 139.7 29.97 329.38 55.93 Boo
22 Mar 2006 5:38:08 14h25m04.16s +16 49' 32.2" 1.4229 0.5029 12.8 141.0 27.62 326.76 59.26 Boo
27 Mar 2006 5:38:08 14h32m17.02s +18 05' 39.8" 1.3765 0.4463 12.3 141.8 25.11 324.46 63.73 Boo
1 Apr 2006 5:38:08 14h40m06.13s +19 29' 56.6" 1.3307 0.3927 11.8 142.0 22.51 322.54 69.95 Boo
6 Apr 2006 5:38:08 14h48m57.20s +21 02' 44.1" 1.2858 0.3420 11.3 141.5 19.87 321.05 79.14 Boo
11 Apr 2006 5:38:08 14h59m31.82s +22 45' 08.1" 1.2419 0.2940 10.8 140.1 17.29 320.12 93.39 Boo
16 Apr 2006 5:38:08 15h12m58.57s +24 39' 24.6" 1.1994 0.2484 10.2 138.0 14.91 319.95 116.49 Ser
21 Apr 2006 5:38:08 15h31m18.58s +26 49' 12.9" 1.1586 0.2053 9.5 134.8 12.93 320.92 155.75 CrB
26 Apr 2006 5:38:08 15h58m24.95s +29 18' 13.6" 1.1198 0.1649 8.8 130.3 11.72 323.70 226.25 CrB
1 May 2006 5:38:08 16h42m22.11s +32 00' 11.3" 1.0835 0.1281 8.1 123.5 11.97 329.69 360.09 Her
6 May 2006 5:38:08 17h59m02.67s +33 46' 56.5" 1.0501 0.0976 7.3 112.6 14.89 341.74 607.22 Her
11 May 2006 5:38:08 20h00m46.17s +30 04' 06.8" 1.0202 0.0801 6.6 95.2 21.14 3.85 896.08 Cyg
16 May 2006 5:38:08 22h04m39.33s +17 50' 52.0" 0.9943 0.0836 6.6 76.2 26.77 32.43 823.71 Peg
21 May 2006 5:38:08 23h24m34.97s +05 58' 52.5" 0.9729 0.1060 6.9 65.5 28.76 53.68 516.86 Psc
26 May 2006 5:38:08 00h11m11.85s -01 21' 35.7" 0.9564 0.1385 7.4 62.2 29.68 65.04 308.65 Psc
31 May 2006 5:38:08 00h40m38.99s -05 36' 17.3" 0.9452 0.1753 7.9 62.3 30.85 70.54 198.08 Cet
5 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h01m14.87s -08 06' 54.3" 0.9397 0.2139 8.2 63.8 32.36 72.91 138.54 Cet
10 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h16m56.58s -09 37' 29.5" 0.9400 0.2531 8.6 65.8 34.09 73.50 104.73 Cet
15 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h29m41.98s -10 31' 43.5" 0.9461 0.2918 9.0 68.0 35.98 72.98 84.38 Cet
20 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h40m31.50s -11 03' 31.5" 0.9578 0.3293 9.3 70.5 37.98 71.70 71.06 Cet
25 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h49m55.44s -11 21' 48.0" 0.9748 0.3652 9.6 73.1 40.09 69.84 61.20 Cet
30 Jun 2006 5:38:08 01h58m08.78s -11 32' 22.3" 0.9967 0.3989 10.0 75.8 42.29 67.51 53.02 Cet
5 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h05m19.05s -11 39' 07.0" 1.0230 0.4302 10.3 78.6 44.61 64.72 45.60 Cet
10 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h11m29.50s -11 44' 45.5" 1.0533 0.4589 10.6 81.7 47.03 61.47 38.45 Cet
15 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h16m40.45s -11 51' 20.0" 1.0869 0.4849 11.0 84.9 49.56 57.71 31.26 Cet
20 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h20m49.43s -12 00' 26.9" 1.1235 0.5082 11.3 88.4 52.18 53.32 23.87 Cet
25 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h23m51.92s -12 13' 12.7" 1.1625 0.5288 11.6 92.1 54.87 48.15 16.64 Cet
30 Jul 2006 5:38:08 02h25m43.29s -12 30' 07.8" 1.2035 0.5472 11.9 96.1 57.57 41.96 11.34 Cet
4 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h26m19.71s -12 51' 15.2" 1.2462 0.5636 12.2 100.4 60.18 34.46 12.20 Cet
9 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h25m38.19s -13 16' 18.5" 1.2902 0.5785 12.5 104.9 62.55 25.29 18.76 Cet
14 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h23m36.37s -13 44' 48.7" 1.3352 0.5924 12.7 109.7 64.45 14.16 27.32 Cet
19 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h20m12.15s -14 16' 02.5" 1.3810 0.6059 13.0 114.9 65.57 1.07 36.47 Cet
24 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h15m25.33s -14 48' 46.7" 1.4274 0.6198 13.3 120.2 65.60 346.64 45.44 Cet
29 Aug 2006 5:38:08 02h09m19.48s -15 21' 20.2" 1.4743 0.6349 13.5 125.8 64.34 332.12 53.62 Cet