Comet C/2002 T7 Linear Sighted in Singapore this mornin!!!!!

[rcj]

Hi all,
After two failed attempts to catch a glimpse of T7 Linear in the early morning sky, it was successully seen at 0600HRS on 20th April 2004 about 14 degrees above the eastern horizon. At a current core magnitude estimate of 4.4, it's visibility in our skies was greatly anticipated as it emerges into our morning skies in the equatorial latitudes. The hunt for it started at 5am earlier, with a 4-inch refractor and 32mm eyepiece (yielding about 25.6X and giving an approx 90 arc-minute TFOV). We (Sam, Terry, Shaolu, Thomas and myself) started the search from Epsilon Pagasi, having the 7X50 finder trained on the star (as at that moment it was the lowest star we could see from the light polluted eastern horizon together with low lying foilage that covered up to about 13 degrees of altitude). As time passed we star hopped to Markab (Alpha Pegasi) and then went right across to a quadrilateral group of stars before finally arriving at Theta Piscum and then Iota Piscum (the final stop!). At this moment it was already 0550HRS, and we still wondered if we could actually even catch sight of the elusive object! Time was running out and the sky might just turn deep blue anytime! By the time it was around 0555HRS to 0600HRS, I'd decided to starhop another extended 3 degrees into the viscinity of the comet (as "predicted" by Starry Night Pro with updated Harvard emphemeris). The comet is supposed to be seen near two stars around magnitude 6.8. As minutes passed, suddenly a distinct diffuse globular-cluster-like object emerged into view via the 32mm eyepiece! We could still see the foilage in the same field of view, with the comet just clearing it at 0600HRS! This was the moment, from then on, Sam had also catch sight of it using the 8-inch SCT! Frenzied moments followed, with intense excitement, as we used a variety of magnifications on the comet. It had a diffuse core with its faint but visible tail pointing towards the two mag6.8 stars. For most of us, it was the first time to see a comet, so it was certainly an exciting and memorable moment! We will be observing and possibly imaging the comet again later the next morning. Interested parties please contact me if you would like to join in the observation.
Cheers!
(94884029)

[chrisyeo]

Remus,
interested in joining you. Will call you.

Chris

[Airconvent]

Hi Remus,
Imagine I missed the comet by 6 hrs! Too bad its a working day....sigh.
I've never seen a comet before, so I'm hoping there will be another chance to see one. The sky was quite cloudy tonight which means the comet would likely be a miss tonight. Did you manage to take some photos yesterday?
I would assume you being in the hobby for so long, this would have been you 100th comet?

As for the comet, can I assume that it will progressively rise earlier everyday?
Does this mean that eventually, we can see the comet at 12 am or would it be too faint by that time for easy observation?

rich

[Jeremy]

That's a super observation, Remus. The comet's not visible from these latitudes, so you're making me jealous! Keep posting your reports.

It will be interesting to see who gets the first image of it in Singatro (yes, that is a challenge to you all!!)

Kind regards,
Jeremy

[rcj]

Hi Jeremy,
Nice to hear from you! It was pretty exciting to see a comet once again! Just this morning, the T7 was sighted again, and was sure at least two other singastro members caught it too! However, the eastern horizon was plagued with thin clouds, and the comet was rather dim. Though not seen visually yet, T7 is reported to have a western anti-tail besides the usual tail. Will try to image it on Saturday morning. Hopefully weather will be clear! BTW, YKChia has already gotten into processing the video frames of the comet today! Congratulations YK!

[Sam Lee]

Haha, don't allow the clouds to discourage us! We will go for it again this Saturday morning! The Comet will rise continuosly until 3rd of May (if i'm not wrong!). After that, it will start falling back into the horizon! So interested parties who wants to take a peek at this comet better be quick!

And oh by the way, this is my first time observing a comet, AND the feeling is GOOD!
Regards,
Sam

[ykchia]

Hi folks:

/repost here../

My second attempts this morning. 5:18 my alarm rang. This time I
had the star-maps printed out(wide angle, narrow angle), battery
fully charged the night before. I did my observation near the lift
area on 12th storey from Woodlands.

My setup was a tripod mounted watec-902H twin lens ( 70mm and
105mm) video lens and a three video in/one video out switch
connected to a small TV. Sweeping and ID the starfields took
seconds and the comet was readily detected by the ultrasensitive
video at the exact location of the prediction. The non twinkling of
this object gave its nonstellar origin away..

Sky was not too good with thin clouds. The comet was located
close to a twin pair of mag 6.78+ stars. It appeared bright with
high degree of condensation. This was one of the smallest ( in dia)
comets seen so far.

I let the videowalkman on recording mode while I ran indoors to
grab my two binos. The 10x70 Nikon 2nd-hand bino was light enough to
be handheld. Next I tried the N2 filled 7x50 - the view is slightly
dimmer but the comet was there. ('first' comet-light for the 10x70,
7x50 had seen at least a couple of comets and accompanied me to Iran
for another Linear years ago)..

I readjusted the tripod to account for the drift and the sky was
becoming better.. more dim stars can be seen on monitors... I
packed up around 6:15am.

The next time I may want to view this through a C8/video
combinations...may be.. Should I left my alarm settings for another
few days...

BTW - Lyrids meteor shower tomorrow am - watch 2am onwards when
radiant is > 30 degree elevation.

So get out your binoculars... T7 is waiting for you ... it will
reappearing in late May as a PM object - can you wait that long..

rgds
ykchia

www.ykchia.com

[rcj]

Inspirational report you have there, YK! According to the software, it seems T7 will be highest around 3-5th May then it will sink lower into the eastern horizon and re-emerging into the evening skies around 20th May which by then, some of us would be in Mersing to view it on the 21st. FYI, Q4 (Neat) should be visible about 9 degrees above SSW this coming Friday at about 7:45PM. Current magnitude of 4.7 with 2.5 degree tail (estimated). Will try to catch it as well. Q4 should be rising higher and higher as days pass from April 23rd onwards.

[rcj]

Just got news from Mike that the film comet shots might turn out just fine for the 300mm lens though kinda washed-out from light pollution via a 135mm lens which we attempted to take this morning the moment it emerged into view. However due to thin clouds, it might be rather faint and takes a fair bit of processing to bring out as much detail in T7. fingers crossed!

[ykchia]

Hi Remus:

Thanks for the info - yes i just check also.. T7 will get higher and higher..
Just did a quick page update ( see link here) . Included is a small uninteresting video image of the T7. No patience to select good frames from thousands.....

At least this show the FOV you should be very familar with -- the twin - star pairs....Bino users look out for this....

http://www.ykchia.com/t7now.htm


rgds
ykchia
www.ykchia.com