Finding comets

[Beardy Bob]

Having just missed out on another great opportunity to image a comet (C/2009 P1 Garradd) because of a mixture of poor weather and not knowing about it until the last minute, I was wondering if there was a reliable program, website, etc that gives reliable and up-to-date information on regular comets and new ones as soon as possible. I find Cartes du Ciel very patchy when it comes to comet data.

[lukebl]

I've always found Carte du Ciel excellent. I use it to locate comets via EQMOD, and found, for instance, that Garradd is bang in the centre of the field of view. Anyway, the websites I regularly check are these ones:

Seiichi Yoshida's Home Page

Comet Chasing

[Beardy Bob]

Thanks Luke, they look promising!

[Psychobilly]

I guess It's worth making sure you have the latest updates from the MPC...

Observable Comets

Peter...

[lukebl]

By the way, you have to make sure that CdC has the opportunity to update its comet database. It should do it automatically, but if you go to Setup > Solar System > Comet > Load MPC file, it will automatically download the latest orbital elements.

[NickH]

MPC ephemeris generator website ...best and only 100% reliable method IMHO

[Beardy Bob]

I'll have a proper look at CdC later. I don't use it for actually finding comets in the field (e.g. via EQMOD) I just use it to show me what is around on any given night.

It shows Garradd so it's clearly pretty up to date, but like I say, it seems a bit 'patchy' as to what it shows. I'll check its databases. Are there different options as to where it gets its information?

[JB80]

If it helps at all once you have the comet you wish to add I made a thread on a relatively easy way to add comets to stellarium not long ago. It downloads the MPC data for you straight to stellarium.

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/153213-adding-comets-asteroids-small-bodies-stellarium.html

[Dave]

Having just missed out on another great opportunity to image a comet (C/2009 P1 Garradd) ....

You haven't missed the chance, the comet is still about. I was imaging it last night. It's slowly moving towards Hercules at the moment, so get out there and have a go.

Dave

[Beardy Bob]

Thanks Dave, you haven't seen the weather forecast here for the next week though! I had one night last week that was perfect and it was nice and high and I didn't know about it - arrgh!

Anyway, I'm tracking it in CdC now in the hope I can grab some time on it if there's a clear spell. Fingers crossed!