COMET SECTION NEWS FOR OCTOBER 2014
2014-October-4
Evening Comets
C/2014 E2 (Jacques) [Perihelion on 2014-Jul-02 at 0.67 AU from the Sun]
Comet Jacques is the brightest comet of 2014 having peaked at V ~ 6 in early/mid-July (not counting small SOHO comets very close to the Sun). Now 3 months past perihelion, Jacques has rapidly faded and is currently near 10th magnitude in Aquila (where it will spend the month). It will fade even further as it moves from 1.79 AU to 2.22 AU from the Sun and 1.30 AU to 2.29 AU from Earth.
Recent ALPO images and observations of C/2014 E2 (Jacques) can be found in the Comet Section Image Gallery andMagnitude Database. Finder charts can be found on the Comet Chasing website.
C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) [Perihelion on 2014-Sep-28 at 0.63 AU from the Sun]
Comet Oukaimeden is still with us. Due to its intrinsic faintness, there were concerns that it would disintegrate as it approached its late September perihelion. While disintegration may still happen, as of early October the comet was looking healthy. Willian Souza and Carl Hergenrother submitted 14 visual and CCD magnitude estimates during September. Before being lost in the glare of twilight at mid-month, the comet had brightened to V~6.5.
Now past perihelion the comet is rapidly fainting as it moves away from the Sun (0.63 to 0.94 AU) and Earth (0.83 to 1.83 AU). This month Oukaimeden will be a difficult observation for northern observers and just a little better for southern observers as the comet does not stray far from the Sun. It starts the month in Hydra (Oct 1-3) before moving into Libra (Oct 3-31).
Recent ALPO images and observations of C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) can be found in the Comet Section Image Galleryand Magnitude Database. Finder charts can be found on the Comet Chasing website.
C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) [Perihelion on 2014-Oct-25 at 1.40 AU from the Sun]
Siding Spring will pass within ~132,000 km of Mars (just 1/3rd the Earth-Moon distance) on October 19. For Martians and spacecraft near Mars, the comet will be a brilliant object of negative magnitude. Here on Earth, the comet is an evening object moving from Scorpius (Oct 1-11) to Ophiuchus (Oct 11-31). Unfortunately the comet has been fading intrinsically and recent reports put it much fainter than predicted at 10-11th magnitude. Regardless of what’s really up with Siding Spring, it will probably remain fainter than 10th magnitude this month.
Recent ALPO images and observations of C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) can be found in the Comet Section Image Gallery andMagnitude Database. Finder charts can be found on the Comet Chasing website.
Morning Comets
C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) [Perihelion on 2014-Aug-27 at 1.05 AU from the Sun]
Finally a comet that isn’t underproducing this month! C/2012 K1 is a morning object moving from through Hydra (Oct 1-3) and Puppis (Oct 3-31) this month. By the end of the month, it will be a difficult object for far northern observers.
Observations by Willian Souza this month saw K1 holding fairly steady between 7th and 8th magnitude. We should expect more of the same this month as an increasing heliocentric distance (1.20 to 1.49 AU) is balanced by a decreasing geocentric distance (1.35 to 0.95 AU).
Recent ALPO images and observations of C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) can be found in the Comet Section Image Galleryand Magnitude Database. Finder charts can be found on the Comet Chasing website.
New Discoveries
Since the last Comet Section News post, 10 new comets were discovered: C/2014 Q6 (PANSTARRS), C/2014 QU2 (PANSTARRS), C/2014 R1 (Borisov), C/2014 R3 (PANSTARRS), C/2014 R4 (Gibbs), P/2014 R5 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS), C/2014 S1 (PANSTARRS), C/2014 S2 (PANSTARRS), C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) and P/2014 S4 (Gibbs). Nearly all of these comets are expected to remain faint. C/2014 R1 (Borisov) was discovered by Galin Borisov with a telescope in Russia at ~16th magnitude on Sept 5, 2014. Initially expected to be a faint comet, it has recently been observed as bright as 12th magnitude leading to hopes that it will become brighter when it reaches perihelion on Nov 20 at 1.33 AU. The comet is on a relatively short-period orbit with a period of ~193 years.
As always, the Comet Section is happy to receive all comet observations, whether images, drawings or magnitude estimates.
- Carl Hergenrother (ALPO Comet Section Coordinator)
