[BAA Comets] Observing Campaign for Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

[Richard Miles]

This famous outbursting comet is currently in the constellation of Pisces 
and approaching 70 degrees solar elongation in the morning sky. It is an 
observing target of great interest to amateur astronomers, who have logged 
almost 30,000 observations since its discovery in 1927, most in the last 20 
years. In the coming few years it will continue to move northwards and will 
be readily accessible for observation for up to ~80% of the time.

An informal photometric observing campaign has been underway since 2014 
using a standard approach for studying its inner coma and discovering new 
outbursts of which there are roughly 10-20 per annum. To aid observers, I 
have now written a tutorial detailing how to observe this enigmatic object, 
and participate in this campaign. It also leads you through the process of 
analysing your images using Herbert Raaab's Astrometrica software package so 
that you can report reliable magnitude measurements.

The tutorial is available via the BAA Homepage, or by going to:
https://britastro.org/node/18562

Clear skies,
Richard Miles