Hergenrother again!

[BlueAstra]

Ok, joining the comet Hergenrother bandwagon! After an imaging run on Friday night I decided to have a look. This is 18 x 90s exposures, taken over about an hour, processed as an animation in PS. No calibration at all, just a curves and levels boost (as an action with batch processing - scary new skill). Thanks for looking.

[JamesF]

Nicely done.

James

[sologuitarist61]

Great image indeed

[LukeSkywatcher]

Now thats a comet. Is it naked eye bright yet?

[BlueAstra]

I think its about magnitude 15

[JamesF]

Now thats a comet. Is it naked eye bright yet?

Not even close, I'm afraid. I've not had the opportunity to look at it over a sequence of days, but a few people have reported that they believe it to be dimming at the moment. Doesn't stop it brightening again later, I guess.

James

[JamesF]

I think its about magnitude 15

It's much brighter than 15 at the moment. S@N were suggesting around 10, I believe, but some have suggested that it's been even brighter than that.

James

[David Smith]

Based on what I saw last night, it definitely isn't mag 15. I would guess around 10 or 11. It was close to a star last night that Skycharts listed as 12th mag and I would suggest it was slightly brighter than that.

[Ags]

It's going like a rocket!

[Ptarmigan]

S@N were suggesting around 10, I believe, but some have suggested that it's been even brighter than that.

Nick Howes (NickH of this parish) et al in the blog "http://remanzacco.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/follow-up-on-168phergenrother-bright.html"

said reports of mag8 but gave no source(s), the followwing night to that post I could get it no brighter than 9.1 or 9.2

quote :

According to reports issued by a number of observers to several astro-forums, comet 168P/Hergenrother is currently experiencing a bright phase: over the course of several nights, it increased in brightness by several magnitudes, reaching a total visual magnitude of approximately 8.

/quote.