Has anyone been observing Comet C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) as it passes through Lepus / Eridanus - near Orion? Here in Missouri we've been socked in with cloudy weather and rain for what seems like waaay too long, but this weekend's weather looks promising. Reports are that "This thing is big, big, big.." and extremely easy to find:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/2004_Q2.gif
At
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#04Q2
Observers are reporting that it is at least as bright
as m=6.0 to 6.3 while some Arkanas observers report it
at m=5.7. See:
http://www.arksky.org/cgi-bin/cometlog.pl?request=C/2004_Q2_(Machholz)
This comet is predicted to reach mag 4.1 in early
January.
See this web site for charts and orbital diagrams:
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/charts.html
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/
Recent images at
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041108_candy.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041117_sostero.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041121_montanucci.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041127_sostero.jpg
http://www.arksky.org/asoimg/machNEG.jpg
http://www.arksky.org/asoimg/machholz_1203.jpg
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/2004_Q2.gif
At
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#04Q2
Observers are reporting that it is at least as bright
as m=6.0 to 6.3 while some Arkanas observers report it
at m=5.7. See:
http://www.arksky.org/cgi-bin/cometlog.pl?request=C/2004_Q2_(Machholz)
This comet is predicted to reach mag 4.1 in early
January.
See this web site for charts and orbital diagrams:
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/charts.html
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/
Recent images at
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041108_candy.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041117_sostero.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041121_montanucci.jpg
http://theastronomer.org/comets/2004q2_20041127_sostero.jpg
http://www.arksky.org/asoimg/machNEG.jpg
http://www.arksky.org/asoimg/machholz_1203.jpg