21P/Giacobini-Zinner grows a tail

[JeremyS]

BAA Comet Section Director, Nick James, describes what to look out for with this comet over the next couple of months (including a locating chart)

[goodricke1]

I'm finding it difficult to estimate the brightness of this comet... on a single DSLR frame it looks around mag 7.5 but through 20 x 80 binos it's big and nebulous and at least a magnitude brighter. It does seem on course to meet expectations.

[Davey-T]

15 minutes ago, goodricke1 said:

I'm finding it difficult to estimate the brightness of this comet... on a single DSLR frame it looks around mag 7.5 but through 20 x 80 binos it's big and nebulous and at least a magnitude brighter. It does seem on course to meet expectations.

Been observing it for a while during the recent spell of good weather, not something I've been able to do on previous comets and the brightness seemed to vary up and down from one night to the other.

Dave

[Nyctimene]

Spotted 21/P Giacobini-Zinner this morning  at 01.30 CEST with the 5.1" Heritage Flextube. NELM 5.0, so slightly sub-average. Using the 26mmf/62° ES LER, I found the comet, starhopping from Epsilon Cas, within five minutes, SkySafari showing the accurate position. The magnitude of the 4 arc min coma was about 8.3 mag (using the Sidgwick method with HD 7443 and HD 7757 as comparison stars). DC (= degree of condensation)  about 5. Using the Seben zoom set to 8mmf, giving 81x mag, a small, but distinct stellar nucleus ("false nucleus") could easily be made out. There was a very faint hint of a short, broad tail visible, extending for about 8 - 10 arc min to SW. A nice comet, promising for the next weeks. - On the way back, I stumbled over the small open cluster NGC 637. The "Heart and Soul" nebula formation was, despite the use of a Baader UHC filter, almost invisible.

Stephan

[Wyvern]

Here's a couple of very basic shots I've snatched over the past couple of days.

Regards, Les

[Kn4fty]

Great post! Awesome pics! This is on my list for this weekend, weather permitting. 

[John]

Just been observing this one with my Tak FC100. Looks around mag 7.5 or so I'd say. Definately elongated and averted vision does suggest a tail of sorts. Easy to find tonight

 

[kerrylewis]

Just given the 350 Dob a spring clean; mirror washed etc and, with a clear night forecast tonight, I'm hoping to get a look at 21P G/Z with a bit more aperture. 

[andrew63]

It was visible in my 10x50s tonight, although not easy to see. It's certainly brighter and larger now, and more 'comet like' through the telescope.

andrew

[RobertI]

Spotted it with the 130P tonight, very easy to see, but shape more difficult, I thought it looked slightly fan shaped with the nucleus more towards the 'hinge' of the fan, but the images don't seem to look like this, so probably more my imagination! Nice to see it though.

[Davey-T]

Just had a look at it, seems about the same brightness as the other night,  faint sign of a short fat tail, just imaging it to see if the tail is visible.

Dave

[kerrylewis]

A good view last night with the Dob. Very clear with the 14" aperture even before the skies were truly dark. Couldn't really see a tail as such more an elongated core stretched out in one direction. A sort of stubby tail? Watched it for over an hour which was long enough to detect movement against the background stars. I was pleased to find it without the help of goto although it did take a while! Must fit the Telrad back onto the Dob ?

[Nyctimene]

Spotted 21/P G.-Z. this morning at 01.45 CEST with the Heritage 130 P; NELM 5.0. Easy to see at 25x mag; the brightness seems not to have increased during the last two nights; still about 8.3 to 8.5 mag. (compared to HD 10152 with 8.3 mag). Coma diameter about 4 arc min; the broad, fan-like tail was more apparent than before, similar to Rob's impression, and could be made out with direct vision (better, of course, with averted vision) The nucleus was a tad dimmer, IMO. With 7x50 binos, the comet was just visible. Let's  hope and continue..

Btw: during about 45 min observing time, I didn't spot a single Perseid meteor (partly due to a restricted field of view, but still strange) - just two days before the maximum - your experiences?

Stephan

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

Btw: during about 45 min observing time, I didn't spot a single Perseid meteor (partly due to a restricted field of view, but still strange) - just two days before the maximum - your experiences?

Had the DSLR set up with 24mm lens aimed at Pegasus region, snapping away while I was comet hunting, only caught 2 dim specimens in 2 hours, saw a nice bright one overhead as I was packing up.

Dave

[RobertI]

I saw a couple of brightish meteors coming from that area, one left a bright glowing trail. ?