Comet 6P/d'Arrest

[Mark at Beaufort]

I live in a fairly dark site and I have been trying for a few weeks to view this returning comet. Last night was very clear so I set up my 102mm APO refractor and started the hunt. I had produced a star map in Starry Night Pro 5 down to 12 mag and which showed a FOV of 3 degrees to match my Moonfish 30mm 2" EP. Despite seeing all the surrounding stars I could not detect the Comet.

Has anyone viewed this Comet this time round?

Mark

[barkis]

It will be closest to earth on August 9th at .35 AU is all I know. I have not been looking for it Mark, but there is some Info here, but I don't know if it will help.

http://www.heavens-above.com/comet.aspx?cid=6P&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET

[Mark at Beaufort]

Barkis - thanks for that information. The star field is almost the same as last night. I note that the estimated mag is 10.8 for the comet, which is getting close my max on the 4" refractor. Hereford is very clear at the moment - perhaps I might have another go tonight??

Mark

[lunator]

Mark

Good luck with the observation attempt

I have one thought. If the comet is 10.8 and it is not a point source then it may appear fainter.

Cheers

Ian

[scotastro]

Thanks for the timely reminder. We had a crystal clear night tonight (27th/28th) so went hunting it, using our 16" f5 Newt I found the star pattern easily enough, but at 143x the comet was an elongated smudge very much fainter than the 10.8 mag estimate implies.

Anyone else bagged it?

Mike

GAC

Galloway Astronomy Centre

[Greg]

I hunted for an hour or so under excellent conditions but my 120 Frac failed to catch it..