Comet Section        

 
 

15P/FINLAY IN OUTBURST AND C/2014 Q2 (LOVEJOY) CONTINUES TO BRIGHTEN

2014-December-18

Short-period comet 15P/Finlay is in outburst. Predicted to be around magnitude ~10-11 as it approaches its December 27 perihelion at 0.95 AU from the Sun, observers posting on the comets-ml mailing list (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/comets-ml/info) estimate the comet is much brighter at magnitude ~8-9. Finlay is currently an evening object located about 2 degrees to the southwest of Mars.

Comet 15P/Finlay in outburst as imaged by the FRAM 0.3-m telescope in Argentina. Image posted by Jakub Cerny on comets-ml (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/comets-ml/conversations/messages/24204). Credit: FRAM team.

Long-period comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) may still be too far south for many northern observers but it is steadily heading north. Its rapid brightening trend continues with comet-ml posters reporting naked eye sightings. ALPO Comet Section contributors Willian Souza and Salvador Aguirre have watched the comet brighten from magnitude 7.6 at the start of December to 5.5 last night. It looks likely that Lovejoy will peak at around magnitude 4 to 5 in early January. Charts for both comets can be found on the German Comet Group’s comet chart site.

If the sky is clear for you this Holiday Season, try to give these two ’snowballs’ a peak. The ALPO Comet Section is happy to receive observations of these or any other comets.

- Carl Hergenrother (ALPO Comet Section)

Lightcurve of C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) from magnitude estimates submitted to the ALPO Comet Section by Salvador Aguirre, Willian Souza and Carl Hergenrother.

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