[BAA-ebulletin 00603] M71 and comet Garradd C/2009 P1

[Rick]

[BAA-ebulletin 00603] Close encounter between Messier 71 and comet Garradd C/2009 P1
(c) 2011 British Astronomical Association -- http://www.britastro.org/

Observing Opportunity
A close encounter between Messier 71 and comet Garradd

Close encounters between different classes of astronomical object are always of interest, both for the visual observer and the imager.  Currently comet C/2009 P1 Garradd is in Sagitta and making a close approach (in line of sight terms only of course) to globular cluster Messier 71.

M71 is a very loose globular which is close to us and lacks the condensed core of some of the more familiar summer globulars. In small binoculars or telescopes it appears as a mag 8 misty patch around 6 arcmin diameter and looking very comet like in appearance.  It is easy to locate as it lies in Sagitta between and slightly south of a line from mag 3.5 gamma (the bright star forming the point of the arrow shape) and mag 3.8 delta just under 3 degree to the west. The position of M71 is RA 19h 54m 19s and Dec +18deg 49min (2000).

An ephemeris for Garradd can be found on the BAA Comet Section web page but for the night of August 26 / 27 is given as 19h 53.7m and Dec +18.57deg (2000)

Last night (Aug 24 / 25) under mag 5 skies both comet and cluster were easily visible together in hand held 10x50 binoculars, both appearing similar in magnitude and in size. In 15x70 binoculars (4 deg field) the cluster appeared round with the comet diffuse and fan shaped.

Stewart Moore
Director BAA Deep Sky Section

[Rick]

[BAA-ebulletin 00607]  Comet Garradd sweeps past the Coathanger
(c) 2011 British Astronomical Association -- http://www.britastro.org/

2011 September 1

Observing Opportunity

Over the next three nights Comet 2009/P1 Garradd will pass just below the Coathanger asterism (Collinder 399 or Brocchi's Cluster).

This comet is fairly easy to find with binoculars or a small telescope, and this encounter could make a good target for our astro-imagers.

There is a chart and some more information about this on the BAA Blog: http://britastro.org/blog/?p=822

Callum Potter

[Rick]

APOD today: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110909.html

[Rick]

[BAA-ebulletin 00631]  Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd
(c) 2011 British Astronomical Association -- http://www.britastro.org/

Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd has been putting on a good show in the evening sky over the last few months. It is currently in Hercules at around magnitude 7 and should be visible in binoculars in a dark sky. The comet currently shows nice dust and gas tails and we have received a number of images which are stored in the Comet Section web gallery. This can be accessed by going to http://www.britastro.org and selecting "Galleries->Comets" from the main menu bar.

As noted in the December Journal (p331) the comet remains in Hercules until the middle of February next year but the best viewing time will move from the evening to the morning as we move into 2012. It is expected to be at its brightest in early February, perhaps even reaching 6th magnitude if the current performance is maintained.

An evening sky finder chart for the next couple of months can be found here:

http://www.britastro.org/misc/2009p1_finder.jpg

The Moon is currently moving into the evening sky so the best views will be later in December once dark skies return.

We are planning to include a short review of observations of this comet in the February Journal. Please submit any observations to the Comet Section using the address cometobs at britastro dot org so that we can consider them for inclusion.

Nick James & Denis Buczynski.