ALERT! Comets C/2009 P1 (Garradd) C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) and a bunch of new comets.

Comet C/2009 P1 (Garrad) is once more in range of the northern GRAS/iTelescope scopes, just before astronomical twilight in the morning . Roughly around magnitude 7, it shows two distinct tails almost at 90 degrees to each other (image from Gerald Rhemann here).

The Christmas comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) has entered the field of view of the Australian GRAS/iTelescope scopes in the early morning. It’s visual magnitude is around 6.5 or so and rapidly dropping. If the appalling weather we have here clears up there should be some great images to be had. The Astronomical Society of Victoria has a great image gallery here.

Both C/2009 P1 and C/2011 W3 will be strongly affected by moonlight after the 9th until around last quarter on the 16th.

Congratulations to Andrea Boattini who  has discovered two new comets, C/2011 Y2 and Y3 (Boattini), on the 24th and 25th of December (another, if somewhat faint, Christmas comet). Both are rather faint and fading, neither will exceed magnitude 17.

Comet C/2011 UF305 (LINEAR) was a NEO which has been reclassified as a comet. In May it will reach magnitude 14.5, travelling through Cephus and Camoleopardis.

Comet C/2011 U3 (PANSTARRS) will be at it’s brightest when travelling through the Southern skies in June. However, there is a big discrepancy between the MPEC ephemeris value for the magnitude (14.0) and the JPL horizons ephemeris (9.0). JPL prdictions are typically slighly higher than  MPEC predictions, I would bet on the MPEC vaue being correct.

ALERT! Comet C/2010 G2 (Hill) is in Outburst

Alfons Diepvens (Olmen, Belgium MPC:C23) and confirmed by Erik Bryssinck has reported an outburst of C/2010 G2 (HILL). The comet is reported to have increased by 1.84 magnitude in a couple of days. Recent images from Rolando Ligustri using GRAS-11 are here.

Inserting the one-line MPEC elements into the comet/NEA dialog is the best way to image this comet.

Comet P/2006 T1 (Levy) recovered as 2011 Y1

Comet P/2006 T1 (Levy) has been recovered as 2011 Y1, it is some distance away from where it was predicted to be, and very faint (magnitude 19).  The MEPC information is here.

                          P/2006 T1 = 2011 Y1 (Levy)

Observations:
    PK11Y010  C2011 12 17.06325 23 05 56.18 +26 59 18.2          19.8 TrEY007G96
    PK11Y010  C2011 12 17.06519 23 05 56.61 +26 59 16.0          20.1 TrEY007G96
    PK11Y010  C2011 12 17.06719 23 05 56.90 +26 59 12.9          19.6 TrEY007G96
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.72689 23 07 51.72 +26 44 34.5          19.1 TuEY007595
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.74935 23 07 55.80 +26 44 02.2                uEY007J95
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.75524 23 07 56.49 +26 43 55.5          19.6 TuEY007595
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.78187 23 08 01.27 +26 43 18.0                uEY007J95
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.89481 23 08 20.80 +26 40 44.3          19.9 TuEY007J95
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.90097 23 08 22.15 +26 40 36.3          18.1 TwEY007J77
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.90425 23 08 22.39 +26 40 31.6          19.3 TuEY007J95
    PK11Y010 KC2011 12 17.93102 23 08 27.02 +26 39 53.3                wEY007J77

ALERT! Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) is Bright

Comet Lovejoy develops a new tail, after speeding around the sun, while the remnants of the old tail can be seen dissipating. Lovejoy has since developed an ion tail as well. Image credit, NASA/SOHO.

Respected comet observer John Bortle has said of comet Lovejoy on the comets-ml list “I trust that most here appreciate that we are witnessing one of the most extraordinary events in cometary history.”

Not only has comet lovejoy survived skimming 1.5 solar diameters above the solar surface, it has brightened and gained a new tail. Terry Lovejoy, its discoverer, today imaged the comet in broad daylight. 

He estimated the comet to be magnitude -1.2, about 5 magnitudes brighter than predicted.

How the brightness of this comet evolves is completly uncertain, it may rapidly fade, or may remain bright with a tail visible in the twilight, but urgent observations are needed as it draws away from the Sun.

Comet Lovejoy will only be visible in the Australian GRAS scopes, and it will only be high enough above the horizon at astronomical twilight in the morning by around January 2, but GRAS observers should be able to make a contribution to watching this extraordinary comet.

Track of C/2011 Lovejoy as seen from Officer Australia at Astronomical twilight, click to embiggen.

As usual, inserting the one-line MPEC elements into the comet/NEA dialog is the best way to image this comet.