[BAA Comets] Probable outburst of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann!

[Richard Miles]

Further to my request for images of this comet as per the appended message, 
John Drummond, Possum Observatory, Patutahi, Gisborne, New Zealand (E94) has 
detected a probable outburst in images taken on 2014 October 20.347-20.355 
with a 0.35-m f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain + CCD (four unfiltered 60-sec 
exposures) in which the nucleus region of the comet appears to have 
brightened by about 2.2 magnitudes. The comet nucleus was last measured at 
R=17.2 on October 17.01 by J.-F. Soulier in images taken from SpaceObs 
(W96), Chile operated by A. Maury.

Observers are strongly encouraged to obtain follow-up confirmation of this 
probable outburst during the next 24-48 hours, as the comet may now be 
around 14th magnitude or possibly brighter.

If confirmed, this outburst is consistent with my predicted time window 
which was communicated to J.-F. Soulier and M. Mattiazzo on October 10. A 
nominal date of October 23.0+/-3.5 was predicted at that time (the exact 
calculation gave October 22.9+/-3.6, which were rounded to the nearest 0.5 
day). This prediction was an update of an earlier one made on September 21 
when the date of October 20.7+/-3.0 was proposed in a private communication 
to Jean-Francois Soulier.

In the last 4-6 weeks, Comet 29P appears to have entered a new phase of 
renewed activity attributable to a significant obliquity in its rotational 
axis which has the effect of imposing seasonal variations in its outburst 
activity. The comet is approaching solar conjunction and so it will be a 
challenge for observers wishing to secure follow-up images of this latest 
outburst.

N.B. A second outburst is also possible (from a different source on the 
nucleus) between October 28 - November 02.

Good luck and clear skies,
Richard Miles
British Astronomical Association
Email: rmiles [at] baa [dot] u-net [dot] com



----- Original Message ----- 
From: rmiles.btee at btinternet.com [comets-ml]
To: comets-ml at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:47 AM
Subject: [comets-ml] Appeal for comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann images


 This comet is rapidly approaching solar conjunction and so observations 
will only be possible for the next two weeks or so before it disappears into 
evening twilight.
It is currently quiescent at around mag 16-17 but there is a fair chance 
that it will outburst at some point during the interval October 19 - 
November 2.
I am appealing to southern hemisphere observers (comet is currently at 
Dec. -28 degrees) to try and secure images (taken either unfiltered or using 
an R filter) with a view to detecting its next outburst. If possible take a 
series of images before the comet sets too low or drops below your local 
horizon. It will become increasingly challenging to catch the comet in the 
twilight sky as it moves to lower and lower solar elongation during the rest 
of this month.
If you have any success in imaging this faint comet, or even in detecting an 
outburst, then do please correspond with me offline.
Thanks in advance for any help with imaging ,
Richard Miles
British Astronomical Association
Email: rmiles [at] baa [dot] u-net [dot] com

P.S. Amateur observatories can usually follow comets much closer to the Sun 
than is possible from professional ground-based observatories in this 
critical range of solar elongation. For the record, these are the 
elongations of 29P at 00h UT during the coming days:
Date    Solar Elongation (deg)
October 19       39
October 20       38
October 21       37
October 22       36
October 23       35
October 24       35
October 25       34
October 26       33
October 27       32
October 28       31
October 29 &nbs p;     30.6
October 30       29.9
October 31       29.1
November 1       28.3
November 2       27.5
November 3       26.7



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Posted by: rmiles.btee at btinternet.com




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