Two new amateur discovered comets

Hi everyone.

News of two new comets, both of which have been discovered by amateur observers.

First up, 2004 Q1 (Tucker) is a 14th magnitude comet in Cetus which should be visible with medium/large size scopes. Roy A. Tucker of Tucson Arizona found it on August 23. It should reach ~ mag 12 later in the autumn.

Of most interest is 2004/Q2 (Machholz), a 10th magnitude comet in Eridanus discovered using a 6-inch reflector on August 27 by Don Macholz - his 10th comet discovery.

Preliminary elements indicate this comet may be visible to the naked eye as a 4th - 5th mag object in December 2004 &/or January 2005, with the northern hemisphere favoured - though the magnitudes are uncertain as yet, of course. The comet passes through the Pleiades on Jan 13th, 2005 - a nice astrophotography opportunity if ever there was one!!!

The basic elements:

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
T 2005 Jan. 27.370 TT MPC
q 1.28614 (2000.0) P Q
Peri. 14.807 -0.299154 -0.728033
Node 95.921 +0.800265 -0.543493
e 1.0 Incl. 38.326 +0.519694 +0.417832
From 25 observations 2004 Aug. 27-28.

Epherimedes and path charts can be found at:

groups.yahoo.com/group/cometandmeteorobserving/ - have to give it a plug ;)

Clear skies.

Brian

Hi everyone.

The orbit for C/2004 Q2 has been refined. The new parameters are:

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
T 2005 Jan. 24.837 TT MPC
q 1.20341 (2000.0) P Q
Peri. 19.591 -0.320380 -0.713939
Node 93.580 +0.764464 -0.583002
e 1.0 Incl. 38.596 +0.559421 +0.387814
From 38 observations 2004 Aug. 27-30.

The updated ephemeris from CBAT:

Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase
m1 m2
2004 08 23 04 10.36 -21 59.8 2.239 2.519 93.9 23.6
11.3
2004 08 28 04 16.91 -22 24.6 2.144 2.464 96.0 24.1
11.1
2004 09 02 04 23.31 -22 52.2 2.049 2.408 98.1 24.5
10.9
2004 09 07 04 29.54 -23 22.5 1.956 2.353 100.2 24.9
10.7
2004 09 12 04 35.54 -23 55.5 1.864 2.298 102.2 25.4
10.5
2004 09 17 04 41.29 -24 30.7 1.774 2.242 104.1 25.8
10.3
2004 09 22 04 46.74 -25 08.0 1.685 2.187 106.1 26.2
10.0
2004 09 27 04 51.85 -25 46.7 1.598 2.132 107.9 26.6
9.8
2004 10 02 04 56.56 -26 26.5 1.513 2.077 109.8 27.0
9.6
2004 10 07 05 00.83 -27 06.8 1.429 2.022 111.6 27.4
9.3
2004 10 12 05 04.57 -27 46.7 1.347 1.968 113.3 27.7
9.1
2004 10 17 05 07.71 -28 25.2 1.266 1.914 115.1 28.1
8.8
2004 10 22 05 10.17 -29 00.9 1.187 1.861 116.8 28.5
8.6
2004 10 27 05 11.88 -29 32.2 1.110 1.808 118.4 28.9
8.3
2004 11 01 05 12.74 -29 57.2 1.034 1.756 120.1 29.3
8.0
2004 11 06 05 12.64 -30 13.5 0.961 1.705 121.8 29.6
7.7
2004 11 11 05 11.48 -30 17.9 0.889 1.655 123.5 29.9
7.4
2004 11 16 05 09.15 -30 06.2 0.819 1.607 125.2 30.2
7.1
2004 11 21 05 05.58 -29 33.3 0.750 1.559 127.0 30.4
6.8
2004 11 26 05 00.72 -28 32.5 0.685 1.514 128.9 30.5
6.5
2004 12 01 04 54.50 -26 55.6 0.621 1.470 130.9 30.5
6.1
2004 12 06 04 46.93 -24 31.8 0.561 1.428 133.0 30.3
5.8
2004 12 11 04 38.06 -21 07.8 0.506 1.389 135.1 30.1
5.4
2004 12 16 04 28.04 -16 27.8 0.455 1.353 137.0 29.8
5.1
2004 12 21 04 17.10 -10 16.7 0.412 1.320 138.3 29.7
4.8
2004 12 26 04 05.49 -02 24.9 0.377 1.290 138.4 30.4
4.5
2004 12 31 03 53.53 +07 01.7 0.354 1.264 136.5 32.3
4.3
2005 01 05 03 41.54 +17 32.6 0.345 1.243 132.5 35.7
4.1
2005 01 10 03 29.90 +28 16.1 0.350 1.226 126.8 40.0
4.1
2005 01 15 03 18.99 +38 19.1 0.368 1.213 120.6 44.3
4.2
2005 01 20 03 09.17 +47 08.7 0.397 1.206 114.8 47.8
4.3
2005 01 25 03 00.76 +54 36.4 0.434 1.203 109.9 50.3
4.5
2005 01 30 02 54.15 +60 49.4 0.477 1.206 105.9 51.8
4.7
2005 02 04 02 49.88 +66 00.8 0.523 1.214 102.8 52.4
4.9
2005 02 09 02 48.76 +70 24.0 0.572 1.227 100.4 52.3
5.2
2005 02 14 02 52.08 +74 10.5 0.622 1.244 98.7 51.7
5.4
2005 02 19 03 02.08 +77 28.2 0.673 1.266 97.5 50.7
5.7
2005 02 24 03 23.09 +80 21.3 0.723 1.292 96.7 49.5
5.9
2005 03 01 04 04.07 +82 47.8 0.774 1.322 96.2 48.2
6.2
2005 03 06 05 21.17 +84 33.8 0.824 1.355 96.1 46.7
6.4
2005 03 11 07 19.13 +85 07.6 0.875 1.392 96.1 45.2
6.6
2005 03 16 09 08.25 +84 13.5 0.925 1.431 96.3 43.7
6.9
2005 03 21 10 15.18 +82 23.4 0.975 1.473 96.6 42.2
7.1
2005 03 26 10 53.27 +80 07.8 1.026 1.516 97.0 40.8
7.4
2005 03 31 11 16.53 +77 40.3 1.078 1.562 97.5 39.3
7.6
2005 04 05 11 32.06 +75 06.3 1.131 1.610 97.9 38.0
7.8
2005 04 10 11 43.35 +72 28.3 1.185 1.659 98.3 36.7
8.1
2005 04 15 11 52.20 +69 48.0 1.241 1.709 98.6 35.5
8.3
2005 04 20 11 59.59 +67 06.4 1.298 1.760 98.8 34.3
8.5
2005 04 25 12 06.05 +64 24.7 1.358 1.812 98.9 33.3
8.7
2005 04 30 12 11.93 +61 43.5 1.421 1.864 98.9 32.3
9.0
2005 05 05 12 17.44 +59 03.6 1.485 1.918 98.7 31.3
9.2
2005 05 10 12 22.73 +56 25.5 1.553 1.971 98.3 30.4
9.4
2005 05 15 12 27.90 +53 49.9 1.624 2.026 97.8 29.6
9.6
2005 05 20 12 33.00 +51 17.3 1.697 2.080 97.1 28.9
9.8
2005 05 25 12 38.06 +48 48.3 1.774 2.135 96.2 28.1
10.0
2005 05 30 12 43.12 +46 23.1 1.853 2.190 95.1 27.5
10.2
2005 06 04 12 48.18 +44 02.0 1.936 2.246 93.9 26.8
10.4
2005 06 09 12 53.27 +41 45.1 2.021 2.301 92.5 26.2
10.6
2005 06 14 12 58.39 +39 32.7 2.109 2.356 91.0 25.5
10.8
2005 06 19 13 03.54 +37 24.8 2.200 2.412 89.3 24.9
11.0
2005 06 24 13 08.74 +35 21.4 2.293 2.467 87.5 24.3
11.2
2005 06 29 13 13.96 +33 22.7 2.388 2.523 85.6 23.7
11.4
2005 07 04 13 19.22 +31 28.4 2.485 2.578 83.6 23.1
11.6
2005 07 09 13 24.53 +29 38.4 2.584 2.633 81.5 22.4
11.8
2005 07 14 13 29.87 +27 52.9 2.684 2.688 79.3 21.8
11.9
2005 07 19 13 35.24 +26 11.6 2.786 2.743 77.1 21.2
12.1
2005 07 24 13 40.64 +24 34.4 2.889 2.798 74.7 20.5
12.3
2005 07 29 13 46.07 +23 01.3 2.993 2.853 72.3 19.8
12.4
2005 08 03 13 51.53 +21 32.0 3.097 2.908 69.9 19.1
12.6
2005 08 08 13 57.01 +20 06.5 3.201 2.962 67.4 18.4
12.7
2005 08 13 14 02.52 +18 44.6 3.305 3.017 64.8 17.7
12.9
2005 08 18 14 08.05 +17 26.3 3.409 3.071 62.2 17.0
13.0
2005 08 23 14 13.60 +16 11.5 3.512 3.125 59.6 16.2
13.2
2005 08 28 14 19.16 +15 00.0 3.615 3.179 57.0 15.4
13.3
2005 09 02 14 24.73 +13 51.7 3.716 3.233 54.3 14.7
13.4
2005 09 07 14 30.31 +12 46.5 3.816 3.286 51.6 13.9
13.6
2005 09 12 14 35.89 +11 44.4 3.914 3.339 48.9 13.1
13.7
2005 09 17 14 41.48 +10 45.3 4.010 3.393 46.2 12.3
13.8
2005 09 22 14 47.06 +09 49.2 4.104 3.445 43.5 11.6
13.9
2005 09 27 14 52.63 +08 55.8 4.195 3.498 40.8 10.8
14.1

In terms of closest approach, the comet passes within 0.35 AU of us in
early Jan, so if current brightening rates hold up, we could see it
around mag 4 by then, but it's a case of wait and see, could be
brighter, could be fainter. In terms of path, the path changes
slightly - the comet no longer passes through the Pleiades but instead
passes by on Jan 7th, but also passes close by the Double Cluster in
Perseus on Jan 26th!!! Some great opportunities for photography!!!!
I'll update the finder charts later today.

Clear skies.

Brian