Chart for Enke on the 19th November

[Whitters]

Mike,
Here is a chart for the 19th



Chart produced using Guide 8

[Whitters]

P/Encke (2P)  mag 8.3
Period of orbit       3.30 years (1205.6 days)
Perihelion distance   0.3384500 AU
Aphelion distance     4.10 AU
Orbital elements:
  Semimajor axis           2.2168730 AU
  Eccentricity             0.8473300
  Inclination of orbit    11.7690000 degrees
  Argument of perihelion  186.4970000 degrees
  Long. ascending node    334.5890000 degrees
  Date of perihelion   JD 2453003.35000 (29 Dec 2003 20:24:00)
Right ascension: 19h53m44.483s
Declination: +25 25' 20.64"
Mean position at current epoch:
Right ascension: 19h53m54.255s
Declination: +25 25' 57.73"
Apparent position at current epoch:
Right ascension: 19h53m52.668s
Declination: +25 26' 01.29"
Dist from home planet:  0.26290067 AU (39,329,381 km)
Heliocentric position:  lon 46.35633  lat 11.19342
Heliocentric radius 0.96137 AU
51.65% illuminated
Phase angle: 88.11 degrees
Elongation from Sun  76.47 degrees (evening sky)
Speed of apparent motion: 7.473'/hour at position angle 232.0
Motion is 2.36 degrees/day in RA, -1.84 degrees/day in dec

[Whitters]

[Rocket Pooch]

Well as a newbie I have no idea what all this is on about.  I'd like to see this object so can someone help with some points of reference?

That's if it ever stops raining.

Ta

[Rick]

Yeah, we need to get rid of the clouds first.

Top chart is a white-stars-on-black which gives a slightly enhhanced idea of what the sky should actually look like. Second chart is a more conventional star map. "2P" marks the position of the comet.

[Rocket Pooch]

Ah maybe I should have said a complete newbie, however there seems to be a Y shaped constellation (Sagitta) on the maps so I think its turn left towards Sagitta from the bottom of Vulpecula.  

If you could let me know is thats right it would be great.  Also how bright is it at the moment and do we have a tail yet?
 

[Whitters]

Chris,
Yes thats right. though this baby is moving quickly, at the weekend it was next to the veil nebula in Cygnus. Give it a couple of weeks and it will be gone from our skies. Probably about the same time it stops raining!
tail status: Titchy.