Monday 29 October 2018

Southern Comet Chasers


38P/Stephan-Oterma in Gemini, magnitude: 8.08. (Click to enlarge images)

Comets visible in Southern Hemisphere from end of October 2019 till early November 2018 for best viewing.
Date Chart 1- 7: 7 November (New Moon). Comets 2 Day interval and 20 Days on chart. 



38P/Stephan-Oterma in Gemini will next reach perihelion in early November. In mid December this comet will pass within 0.8 AU of the earth. It is predicted to reach maximum brightness of magnitude 6.7 in late November.
 46P/Wirtanen in Fornax: An evening comet visible in small telescopes. This comet begins the month in Fornax at magnitude 11.3. Look for a 5' coma. It should brighten rapidly. The best visibility is late in the month as seen from the southern hemisphere.



21P/Giacobini-Zinner in Canis Major reached perihelion in early September. Also in early September this comet will pass within 0.4 AU of the earth, when it is currently predicted to reach maximum brightness of magnitude 7. A morning comet visible in binoculars. This comet begins the month in Monoceros at magnitude 8.2. Look for a 2.5' coma. It should fade rapidly, moving into Canis Major by month's end.


C/2016 M1 (PANSTARRS) in Circinus passed perihelion in early August. Maximum brightness of magnitude 8 occurred in late July.  A southern hemisphere evening comet visible in small telescopes
This comet begins the month in Centaurus at magnitude 10.2. Look for a 3' coma. It should fade slowly, moving into Circinus by month's end. The best visibility is early in the month as seen from the southern hemisphere.


64P/Swift-Gehrels in Andromeda will next reach perihelion in early November, when it will also pass within 0.4 AU of the earth. It also is predicted to reach maximum brightness of magnitude 9.7 in early November. An evening comet visible in small telescopes This comet begins the month in Andromeda at magnitude 11.6. Look for a 1.5' coma. It should brighten by about 0.7 magnitudes by month's end.
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann in Aquarius is reported to have had a ~3 magnitude outburst on September 21, and has now faded. Typically, it has primary outbursts, resulting in a brightening of 0.5 - 1.0 magnitudes, which occur roughly every 59 days, typically taking 5-10 days to subside. But up to three subsequent outbursts may occur 5-10 days afterward, each typically smaller than the last, although on some occasions they can be even brighter than the first. These outbursts make 29P one of the most interesting comets to follow, both visually and scientifically. 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann has a 14.8-year orbital period, and will next reach perihelion in early March 2019. But it varies in its distance from the Sun from 5.8 AU (at perihelion) to 6.3 AU (at aphelion), which is an unusually small variation for a comet, and remains quite far from the sun at all times.  An evening comet visible in a 6-inch (15 cm) telescope This comet begins the month in Pisces at magnitude 11.4. Look for a 1.5' coma. It should fade slowly, moving into Aquarius by month's end.


C/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS) in Hydra passed perihelion in mid July. A morning comet visible in an 8-inch (20 cm) telescope This comet begins the month in Cancer at magnitude 12.3. Look for a 1' coma. It should brighten slowly, moving into Hydra by month's end.

- Compiled by Hannes Pieterse, ASSA Bloemfontein
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