COMET 2004 Q2 (Machholz) - PHOTOS AND OBSERVATIONS. Possum Observatory
Comet 2004 Q2 (Maccholz) is a newly discovered comet of about magnitude 10.5 in the morning sky (as at 1 September 2004). It is heading roughly east (i.e. lower in elevation) by about 0.3 degrees per day. It could be about mag 5 in January of 2005... The following was extracted from GUIDE 8.0 software (for the 1st Sept 2004)...
Perihelion distance 1.2861400 AU
Orbital elements:
Eccentricity 1.0000000
Inclination of orbit 38.3260000 degrees
Argument of perihelion 14.8070000 degrees
Long. ascending node 95.9210000 degrees
Date of perihelion JD 2453397.87000 (27 Jan 2005 8:52:48.0)
Dist from home planet: 2.10457195 AU (314,839,480 km)
Heliocentric position: lon 27.97338 lat -36.22867
Heliocentric radius 2.45155 AU
Elongation from Sun 97.61 degrees (morning sky)
Speed of apparent motion: 45.947"/hour at position angle 107.7
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: |
Sunday 31.39 October 2004 (UT) 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian.... Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 26 x 1 minute @ 800 ASA Tail is about 6' in PA of 268* |
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Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Tuesday 19.64 October 2004 (UT) 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian.... Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 7 x 1.5 minute @ 1600 ASA Tail is about 12' in PA of 265* |
-040922-6cf-1min@800asa-text.jpg) |
Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Tuesday 22.65 September 2004 (UT) 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR 6 x 1minute @ 800 ASA Tail is about 7' in PA of 250* |
-040903-10cf-1min@1600asa-text.jpg) |
Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Friday 02.66 September 2004 (UT) 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR Nine x 1minute @ 1600 ASA Tail is about 12' in PA of 242* |
-040902-9cf-2min@800asa-text.jpg) |
Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Thursday 01.68 September 2004 (UT) 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR Nine x 2 minutes @ 800 ASA Tail is about 8' in PA of 242* |
-040831-50cf-30sec-3200asa-text-po.jpg) |
Date (UT): Scope: Camera: Exposures and ISO: NOTES: |
Tuesday 31.71 August 2004 41cm f4.5 Meade SF Newtonian Canon EOS 10D digital SLR Fifty of 30 second @ 3200 ASA Tail is about 8' in PA of 234* |
My observations of this comet...
|
DATE UT
|
MAG
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DIA
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D/C
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TAIL
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SCOPE
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COMMENTS
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31.71 Aug 2004
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10.5
|
2'.0
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4/9
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8' (photo)
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41cm Newt
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[15 day old moonlight interference. Q2 appears very
faint due to the strong moonlight and some slight highcloud. Smallish
head, moderately condensed. Images I took reveals a tail of about 8'
in a PA of 234*. 73* alt in the N. Stellar LM =14.1 (scope)].
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