October 10, 2012: One new comet, one new galaxy, one old planetary

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Yesterday the sky was reasonably clear (some haze about) but I set up the big scope and tried to hunt two fairly bright comets. Comet C/2012 K5 (LINEAR) in Bootes was elusive, but Comet 168P Hergenrother in Pegasus was surprisingly easy. The listing of mag 11.8 in the finder chart was decidedly pessimistic, and my guess would be somewhere between 10 and 10.5 easily. It showed up as a compact little ball of fuzz, decidedly asymmetrical, with a distinct suggestion of a tail. I was very pleased with my fifth comet to date (curiously clustered in the alphabet: Hyakutake, Hale-Bopp, Holmes, Garradd, Hergenrother). I hope to try C/2012 K5 early in the evening today. It should be doable with my scope.

I then tried galaxies from the Shapley-Ames Catalogue: NGC 16 and NGC 24, but both mag 12.8-ish galaxies were beyond the scope under these conditions. I then turned to an easier one: NGC 7332 in Pegasus. This was much easier, at mag 11.4 and with good surface brightness. It is an edge-on lenticular. Nearby mag 12.1 NGC 7339 was not visible (nor was I on the lookout, because it was not shown on the Sky Atlas), after some fruitless attempts at a few other NGC 7741, I gave up. Conditions were not good enough, and the haze was getting worse.

I star-hopped to NGC 7662, the Blue Snowball instead. This is always nice, and I had a go with my new O-III filter (from ABS-UK) to see if I could spot more detail, but it remained an amorphous ball. I could not resist having a go at NGC 7640, but it was not going to be a galaxy night. In good conditions, it should be well within the range of my scope. Finally, I had a go at IC 5217, but at mag 12.5-13 and with a near stellar appearance, I could not spot it. I will try again under better conditions and with a proper finder chart.

Some more clouds started to drift by, so I packed the scope up.

So, mainly failures, but the two new ones and a good look at an old friend made it worth the effort.

[rory]

seems you attacked some tough galaxies michael.shame about the conditions. congrats on the new comet.

[fredster]

That sounds a productive session despite the galaxy failures. New comet sounds interesting. I wonder how that will appear in a fast 4.7" refractor?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

seems you attacked some tough galaxies michael.shame about the conditions. congrats on the new comet.

Thanks! Many galaxies were mag 11-12 so not that tough for an 8" scope (I have bagged a few mag 13.2 on a really good night). It's just that the slightest haze, especially with just a bit of LP scuppers most attempts at galaxy hunts.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

That sounds a productive session despite the galaxy failures. New comet sounds interesting. I wonder how that will appear in a fast 4.7" refractor?

I think it would be doable in a 4.7" scope. It was clearly resolved at 65.5x (31mm) and better at 93x (22mm) in my 8". If I get another chance this evening, I may try the kids' 4.5" mini-dob

[Bluey]

I had a look for Hergenrother last night, and to be honest, I wasn't very confident about finding it, but I found it straight away! It is my first comet and I couldn't take my eyes off it, it is amazing to see, so far away and so small (relatively). I even think I managed to make out a small tail, but this may have been wishful thinking

Bring on 2013 and hopefully 2 brighter visitors.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I had a look for Hergenrother last night, and to be honest, I wasn't very confident about finding it, but I found it straight away! It is my first comet and I couldn't take my eyes off it, it is amazing to see, so far away and so small (relatively). I even think I managed to make out a small tail, but this may have been wishful thinking

Bring on 2013 and hopefully 2 brighter visitors.

Congrats on your first comet! I do not think seeing a tail was wishful thinking. If I could spot it from my back garden with an 8" scope, your 10" should suffice to see it.

[m_j_lyons]

I had a look for Hergenrother last night, and to be honest, I wasn't very confident about finding it, but I found it straight away! It is my first comet and I couldn't take my eyes off it, it is amazing to see, so far away and so small (relatively). I even think I managed to make out a small tail, but this may have been wishful thinking

Bring on 2013 and hopefully 2 brighter visitors.

Just provided no new visitors start making themselves VERY visible around mid December this year!

lol

Happy hunting

[Double Kick Drum]

Great report and some challenging objects there.

Thanks for the comet heads up. I don't think it was recommended for smaller scopes but if it is mag. 10.5 or better, I will have a crack at it.

Clear skies

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report and some challenging objects there.

Thanks for the comet heads up. I don't think it was recommended for smaller scopes but if it is mag. 10.5 or better, I will have a crack at it.

Clear skies

Best of luck. With your skill at DSO hunting, and given the fact that the star field is quite sparse, I think you will find it easily (weather permitting)

Happy hunting!

[scarp15]

I am looking forward to an opportunity to observe the comet with my C8 at Kielder star camp on Friday night (clear skys forcast at the moment),