How to estimate a comet's brightness

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fizzy123
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How to estimate a comet's brightness

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Sidgwick's method

This is the most widely used procedure, popularized by J. B. Sidgwick within the British Astronomical Association in the 1950s. Here the observer carefully memorizes the brightness and size of the in-focus comet. The instrument is then racked out of focus until the images of the comparison stars have the same diameter as that of the in-focus coma. The observer then judges the recalled brightness of the comet relative to the defocused stars. Typically, you need several tries before arriving at a definite brightness value. This method works very well for diffuse comets. However, it is difficult to apply to those comets (like Hale-Bopp) that appear strongly condensed (concentrated toward the center). Defocused stars look "flat," while the brightness of an in-focus comet changes markedly from the pseudonucleus outward.

Bobrovnikoff's method:

This is usually credited to Nicholas T. Bobrovnikoff but apparently was devised decades earlier. The comet and comparison stars are defocused simultaneously to such a large extrafocal diameter that they can be compared directly with one another. In the case of a bright naked-eye comet, eyeglass wearers can often simply remove their glasses to create the desired effect. Bobrovnikoff's procedure is certainly the easiest to master. It also works best for highly condensed objects like Hale-Bopp, since it smoothes out the coma's steep brightness gradient. Very diffuse objects, on the other hand, can be significantly underestimated in brightness using this method.

Beyer's method:

Devised by Max Beyer, one of the foremost amateur astronomers of the 20th century, this method is similar to Bobrovnikoff's but takes the extrafocal procedure to a more extreme level. To work effectively, the comet's head must be defocused to many times its in-focus diameter. The instrument is racked out of focus until the comet and stars begin to disappear into the sky background. Their order of disappearance is then noted. If a given star disappears before the comet does, it must necessarily be fainter, and vice versa. Measuring disappearance increments between the stars and comet as you turn the focuser allows you to obtain a magnitude value. Beyer's method works best for highly condensed objects of fairly small diameter but is unsuited to very diffuse comets.

Morris's method:

Independently formulated by Charles Morris and Stephen James O'Meara in the early 1970s, this procedure was developed to bridge the perceived gap between the Sidgwick and Bobrovnikoff methods when the coma appears moderately condensed. The comet is put slightly out of focus, just enough to "flatten" the brightness profile and make it easier to determine the comet's average surface brightness. This brightness is then memorized, as well as the out-of-focus diameter. The comparison stars are then defocused to the same out-of-focus diameter. Some observers consider this procedure more difficult to master than the others.

The in-focus method:

was used for centuries. With the unaided eye one simply attempts to compare the brightness of the comet with the surrounding stars, all in focus. As noted earlier, unless the coma is extremely compact and starlike, this will underestimate its brightness. However, if done in conjunction with one of the other, more appropriate methods, it will provide a magnitude value roughly comparable to those obtained for pre-20th-century comets. Thus it helps calibrate the true brightnesses of earlier, historically interesting objects.
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