[BAA Comets] C/2012 X1 Linear 20131031 1829 image

[DENIS BUCZYNSKI]

Hello all,
I imaged this comet this evening low down in the west just after sunset. 
Comet altitude was less than 15 degrees. The outburst seems to be over 
now and the surface brightness of the coma is now much less than it was 
last week. The coma is still growing in diameter (430 arc sec tonight). 
The central condensation looks larger and the central northwards curving jet is looks like the start of a tail structure now. The northwestern 
edge of the coma seems less bright and less well defined and looks more 
open ended than does the north eastern edge. The edge of the coma from 
west around to north is well defined but the western quadrant is poorly 
defined. This gives the coma an odd shape compared to the circular form 
it took just after the outburst phase began. It will be interesting to 
see how the coma and tail structures develop over the next few weeks. It will be something 
to take our minds off worrying about the slower than expected 
brightening of C/2012 S1 ISON as that comet approaches perihelion. Image is available at the following link on the Comet Gallery of the BAA.
Denis Buczynski
BAA
http://britastro.org/baa/index.php?view=detail&id=1790&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=200