[BAA-ebulletin 00886] Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) on its way to our skies

[Rick]

[BAA-ebulletin 00886] Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) on its way to our skies
(c) 2015 British Astronomical Association    http://www.britastro.org/

This comet has been recovered following solar conjunction and it should soon become visible low in the dawn twilight from northern latitudes. It could become a naked-eye object through December and over the Christmas period.

The BAA has just issued circular 835 which provides information on observing this comet. Members can download this from here:

https://britastro.org/downloads/3843 (BAA member's login required)

There is also a news item based on the Circular here:

https://britastro.org/node/6790 (Available to all)

Nick James. Director, BAA Comet Section.

[Rick]

Today's APOD ( http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151207.html ) shows the comet. It's an interesting looking object.

[The Thing]

Looks like someone is zapping it with a ray gun making the tail shoot off!

[Carole]

It's bizarre the way the tail is split, I thought both tails were supposed to point away from the Sun due to the solar wind.  I wonder why this one is so different. 

Carole

[Rick]

The dust tail lags. The ion tail doesn't (much). The comet has just swung round the Sun, but quite a bit of the dust tail was swept off the comet earlier in the orbit, and was pushed away from the comet in a different direction initially. The angle we're seeing the comet from accentuates this.

[MarkS]

I'm setting my alarm for 5am

Mark

[Rick]

Be interested to see whether you got any images this morning. Enough haziness here to make it difficult to see diffuse objects with binoculars...

[Rick]

Yesterday's APOD and today's EPOD give different kinds of views...