Visual Comet observing and

hunting

Amar A. Sharma

 Bangalore Astronomical
Society (BAS)
(www.bas.org.in)
Outline of my talk
 History of visual comet hunting
 How to become a comet hunter?
 Tools and Techniques
 Some examples of successful hunters
 India’s only Comet discovery!

 Questions
HISTORY OF COMET HUNTING
 Comet hunters-on-paper like Halley, Encke, Lexell and Cromellin calculated, and
predicted the next return of comets. Visual observers used to then track and hunt
for them.

 Halley’s comet was predicted to return at end of 1758 (after apparitions of 1531,
1607 & 1682). Johann Georg Palitzch, a German farmer from Dresden actually
spotted it on Christmas eve of 1758 in Pisces, first with un-aided eye and then
telescope.

 The comet race was formally begun by Charles Messier. This was to avenge for
not being able to spot Halley’s Comet Christmas return of 1758! He compiled
Messier’s Catalog in due course of hunting.

 The 17th, 18th and 19th centuries gave birth to many accomplished comet hunters,
who built their own telescopes for hunting.

 Some historic comet hunters with highest number of discoveries are – Pons (26 /
37), Brooks (21), Barnard (16), Messier (13 / 20), Swift (13), Peltier (10).
How to become a comet hunter
 Step 1: Become a better observer

 Step 2: Observe as many comets as

possible

 Step 3: Acquire the tools and

techniques
Step 1 : Become a better observer
 If you have observed the Messier Catalog and good
share of the NGC catalog, then you are a good
observer. It means you can identify various types of
celestial objects.

 The key to observing is – practice, practice, practice!

 Make it a point to get acquainted to sketch DSO’s and

comets, if unable to image them.

 A small telescope or binocular most used can discover

comets and DSO’s, and not the one gathering dust !
Step 2 : Observe as many comets as
possible
 Firstly, love comets. Comets are wonderful and important celestial
bodies to be studied.

 Several internet resources like Aerith.net, Skyhound, BAA Comet

section, Astrosite Gronigen provide weekly updates on comets.

 Yahoo groups like CometObs and Comets-ml have the world’s

best and active amateur and professional comet researchers
providing daily (!) updates on many comets.

 Take your telescope or an imaging setup to a dark place atleast

once a month to observe them. If you take it out twice, you could
see changing features in these comets, and even new comets.

 Once you have selected your visual target (which could be either
in the all-night sky, or dawn or dusk sky) use all possible
magnifications, studying the comet closely. Try to record it for
future reference, by either sketching or imaging it.
 Observations to make
 Comets are like the DSO’s – faint face-on galaxies, or bright condensed globulars (depends on
their inner composition, angle and distance from Earth and Sun, and other factors) not always
having tails.

 COMA DIAMETER - Observe the entire shape and texture. Use averted vision to enhance faint
viewing, since the boundary will not be well defined. Estimate the coma diameter using two field
stars. Tails are generally tapering away from one part of the coma.

 DEGREE OF CONDENSATION – How ‘soft’ the coma is, on a scale of 0-9.

0 - Diffuse coma of uniform brightness
5 - Condensation appears as a diffuse spot at centre of coma – described as moderately condensed
9 - Stellar or disk like in appearance

 ESTIMATE MAGNITUDE – Use nearby field stars of known magnitude, one brighter and one
fainter, to estimate brightness, by defocusing them. There are different methods.

 MOVEMENT – Many comets do exhibit slight movement even within an hour.

 ADDITIONAL FEATURES – Large apertures can show jets, features in tails, and even splitting of
nuclei. Anti-tails are some phenomena contemporary to tails of comets.

 SKETCH IT – Sketching helps train the eye to see the smallest detail. Builds eye-hand-mind
cordination.
Degree of
Condensation
(DC)
Credit : British Astronomical
Association (BAA)

http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/

Some of my
observations…
 4/P Faye Date/Time : 17 October
2006 @ ~19:30 UT (1:00 am
LT)

Observing Location :
Hosahalli, 70 km North of
Bangalore

Instrument : 10" f/5.1

Dobsonian telescope. 32 mm
Ramsden eyepiece.

Magnification : 40x
FOV : 1.25 degree

Constellation : Aries

Magnitude : 9

Description : This object was a very beautiful one. It was Sky condition : Sky was
reminiscent of a small comet painting, with a small coma dark and good in that
and a small tail. The tail was distinct as a protrusion from
direction. Object was close to
the coma. The comet was pretty bright for it's size. This
comet, one of the most beautiful ones I've observed till now, zenith. Transparency and
was a Birthday's Gift to me, when I observed it on 17th seeing were good.
October after the stroke of midnight!!
 Date/Time : 25 Feb 2006 @

C/2006 A1 (Pojmanski) ~ 23:30 UT (5:00 am LT)

Observing Location :
Hosahalli, 70 km North of
Bangalore

Instrument : 8" f/8

telescope. 32mm Ramsden
eyepiece

Magnification : 50x
FOV : 1 degree

Constellation : Capricornus

Magnitude : ~6

Sky condition : Light

polluted in this East direction
Description : It looked just like a bright globular cluster in with reddish color. The object
appearance and small in size, highly condensed. After few was some distance above the
horizon. Transparency and
seconds of staring a thin extension of haze pointing
seeing were average
towards the west was revealed. This tail was approximately
around half degree in length, very diffuse and thin. A star
appeared in the tail of the comet
Step 3 : Acquire the tools and
techniques
 A Telescope or Binocular?
Ofcourse the preferred choice would be a reflective telescope
because of-
Large aperture, Ease of availability, Available short-focal length hence wide fields, Higher
magnifications, change-able magnifications
 A binocular loses out because of – small aperture, fixed
magnification. It gains on wider field, and portability.
 But, finally, select an equipment you will be most comfortable
with, during your long, enduring and arduous comet hunting task.

Aperture (mm) Faintest Magnitude

50 8
80 9.5
150 11
200 12
300 13.5
400 14.5
 My setup
 I decided and purchased a large 25x100 astronomical
binocular for comet hunting, simply for choices of – personal
preference, comfort and ‘intuitive’ trust on their power.

 Binocular discoveries were famous with the Japanese and

Australian comet hunters of the yester-years.

 I particularly selected Oberwerk IF 25x100, for it’s good

repute as a low cost large astronomy binocular, and good
optics.

 Custom built a parallelogram mount, which is meant for such

large heavy (5 kilo!) binocs, and allows free movement in any
part of the sky at any height.
My setup

Comparative sizes
of 25x100 binocs
 Step 3 : Acquire the tools and
techniques
 Prepare with : Equipment and accessories, Proper star-charts
(Norton’s Star Atlas, Cambridge Star Atlas, Uranometria, Sky Atlas
2000.0) or any desktop planetarium software (Cartes du Ciel, The
Sky, MegaStar, Sky Map)

 Ideal Observing location : Clear horizons, away from Light-Pollution.

Safe, not far but accessible.

 Others include : Eyepatch, Observing log book, pencils, dim red

flash-lights, eyepieces, and winter wear !

 Know which comets are where in the sky, to avoid going over them.
Watch out for outbursts of previously unknown comets!
Scanning technique
• Searches of the prime sky areas, like near the eastern and western horizons, before sunrise and
after sunset, and polar regions, along with Milky Way should be intensively made. Utilize all New
Moon periods. Stay in the Comet Haystack region (upto 60* from the Sun). Preferred is an alt-
azimuth mount.

• Previous studies of discovered comets show that more comets have been discovered in the
morning sky than in the evening sky. Ensure that morning activity receives as much as, if not
more attention than evening effort.

• Scan in horizontal or vertical strips of the sky, as per your convenience. Spend between 3 and 5
seconds on each field. At the end of each strip, reverse back, overlapping the f.o.v by atleast a
quarter. Continue till you have reached 40* to 60* in altitude.

• You would come across lots of galaxies, clusters, nebulae, and telescopic meteors and satellites
while the scans. Watch out for the misleading ‘asterisms’ – close groupings of stars whose
collective fuzz looks like the glow of a DSO.
Some successful comet hunters

Don Machholz (10)

David Levy (22)

William Bradfield (18)

George Alcock (5)

India’s only comet discovery
• Prof. M.K.Vainu Bappu – only Indian to have discovered a comet,
but from outside the country.
• Discovered in 1949 on photographic plate, when
on a scholarship at Harvard University.

• Co-discovery with colleagues Bart Bok and

Gordon Newkirk.

• C/1949 N1 (Bappu-Newkirk-Bok)
• Long period comet. Perihelion distance – 2.05 AU,
Aphelion distance – 3033.60 AU

• Accidental discovery. Received a reprisal from

Indian Govt. instead of congratulations!
• More in blog ‘A treatise on Vainu Bappu's Comet ’ in BAS website –
compiled by Amar.
http://www.bas.org.in/Home/blog/amaruniverse/2009/23/03/treatise-
vainu-bappus-comet
QUESTION
S?

THANK
YOU.