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Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson passing close to M51


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For the next few days Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson will be passing under 3 degrees from M51.   The closest it gets is 2 deg 34'  Dec 2,  but it's not moving too fast and will be under 3 degrees for a few days after that.   The comet is estimated to be  mag 12.1 so it will be a challenge.   Comet Chasing (http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/) says the comet should be visible in a  6 inch telescope.   I find their estimates to be overly optimistic, however SkyTools 3 has it's surface brightness to be  20.2 mag/arcsec^2 and a size of 49".   That's pretty bright.  Plus it's conveniently placed between 2 bright stars in the eyepiece.    So it might  just might be visible.    I think a telescope with a FOV large enough to fit both in the eyepiece would be too small to see it.   However an imager would be able to do it.   Here is my finder   chart from ST3.    M 51 is the 2 small ovals just outside the finder FOV.

Comet Johnson is estimated to be around mag 7 when it reaches perihelion in mid June., so if it's too faint to see now, it will be much brighter in a few months

Comet_Johnson_12_2_16_2.pdf

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