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Welcome back to the periodic column dedicated to comets.
A very exciting month is approaching, with two short period periodic comets reaching perihelion with an excellent magnitude 7, a brightness that will allow them to be observed under good skies even with small binoculars.
2P/INK
You will hit rock bottom October 22“Brilliant” according to estimates with an excellent seventh power. But unfortunately, at that time and in the days leading up to it, the planet will be too close to the Sun to be seen. Therefore, we will have to look for it in the first half of the month, waiting for it to disappear among the dawn lights, and find it near the eastern horizon, first among the stars of Leo and then among the stars of Virgo. Its brightness, especially towards the middle of the month, will not differ much from the expected maximum values reached a few days later. On October 1st it will still be quite high, but as the days go by it will get lower and lower until, as mentioned above, it will become unnoticeable after the middle of the month.
I had the opportunity to observe it with a 25 x 100 binocular at the end of September and found it somewhat elusive, both because it was relatively low in the sky and also because of its not-so-high brightness (mag 10). and its diffuse appearance, lacking convincing condensation.
2P map in October. The faintest stars are magnitude 9.
103B/Harley 2
For 103P it is also the month of the perihelion transit, a moment that is determined about ten days before his brother Enki, that is, on October 12. Unlike the latter, Hartley will be located very high in the sky and will therefore be better observed until the moment of his arrival. It reaches a minimum distance from the Sun and its light curves indicate a maximum power not far from the seventh magnitude and, therefore, within the reach of modest telescopes or even small binoculars under very dark skies. The one with the auricle will cross the sign of Gemini, ending its journey in the sign of Cancer. You can start observing it late at night, but the best time is near the end of the astronomical night, when we will find it high in the sky. On the nights of October 12 and 13, it will pass within half a degree of the planetary nebula NGC 2392, known as the “Eskimo Nebula.”
I easily saw it at the end of September with 25×100 binoculars, a large uniform 5/6′ spot, without pseudonuclei, with a low degree of condensation. The brightness was around the magnitude. 9.
Map of 103P in October. The faintest stars are magnitude 9.
Finally, a brief report on the approval of C/2023 P1 Nishimura that took place in September. Unfortunately, despite the good brightness achieved, the perspective conditions (as mentioned above) were so critical that it was not possible to follow it well until a few days before perihelion, which was very low on the horizon. From its small, almost stellar head, you could admire a magnificent tail, which delights the photographs of the best and most equipped amateur astronomers. But even visually it did not go unnoticed. Personally, on September 8, about ten days before perihelion, thanks to a 20×90 telescope, although only a few degrees above the horizon, I was able to capture almost a degree of tail of the comet whose magnitude at that time was fifth magnitude. Making them distinguishable (at least in the head) even with modest 8×40 binoculars. Obviously under excellent high altitude skies. Then someone saw it even after the encounter with the sun but it was limited to a “small star” in the intense light of the setting sun.
See you next month!
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2023-10-01 02:09:38
#October #Comets
