COMET Tempel 1 (9P) - PHOTOS AND OBSERVATIONS. Possum Observatory
9P is destined to collide with destiny on Monday 4th July (06:00 UT) when the Deep Impactor probe will smash a 1 meter diameter (372 kg) impactor into the nucleus of the comet. The 14km nucleus and the disk will collide at 37,000 km/hour and release as much energy as 5 tons of TNT. The resulting 'bang' could shake off dust and gases and cause the comet to increase in brightness by up to several magnitudes. The world waits with baited breath...
The following was extracted from GUIDE 8.0 software...
Period of orbit 5.52 years (2014.8 days)
Perihelion distance 1.5060650 AU
Aphelion distance 4.74 AU
Orbital elements:
Semimajor axis 3.1218959 AU
Eccentricity 0.5175800
Inclination of orbit 10.5294000 degrees
Argument of perihelion 178.8407000 degrees
Long. ascending node 68.9434000 degrees
Date of perihelion JD 2453556.82140 ( 5 Jul 2005 7:42:49)
The following are some images I took of it with a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR. Observations and daily ephemerides lower down.
| CLICK ON IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW... | DETAILS: | .. |
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Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Monday 27.29 June 2005 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 26 x 1 and 3 minute @ 800 ASA Comet is about mag 9.9 |
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Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Friday 10.33 June 2005 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 19 x 2 minute @ 800 ASA Comet is about mag 10.5 |
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Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Saturday 16.50 April 2005 (UT) 41cm (16") f4.5 Meade Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 22 x 1 & 2 minute @ 800 ASA Comet is about mag 11.3 |
My observations of this comet...
|
DATE UT
|
MAG
|
DIA
|
D/C
|
TAIL
|
SCOPE
|
COMMENTS
|
| 07.29 June 2005 |
10.3
|
2'.2
|
5/9
|
-
|
16" f4.5 (59x)
|
[9P easily seen. Coma of modest size with a brighter nucleus. 47* alt in the NNE. Stellar LM =15.2 (scope)]. |
| 16.50 April 2005 |
11.3
|
1'.3
|
6/9
|
-
|
16" f4.5 (83x)
|
[9P easily seen. Coma fairly small with a brighter nucleus. 36* alt in the NNW. Stellar LM =15.3 (scope)]. |
| 03.70 April 2005 |
11.8
|
1'.5
|
5/9
|
-
|
16" f4.5 (83x)
|
[9P fairly easily seen. Coma fairly small with a brighter nucleus/central condensation. 24 day Moon interferance. 35* alt in the NNW. Stellar LM =15.0 (scope)]. |