This weekend there will be a "conjunction" of two comets: 260P/McNaught and C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) in the constellation of Aries. At their closest (during the afternoon of the 7th) they appear within 10 arc-minutes of each other, but they remain within half a degree through the previous and following nights.
This graphic from the C2A program shows their trajectories:
Unfortunately they are not very bright (only around 11th magnitude), so the best time to look out for them will be after the Moon sets, in the pre-dawn hours.
Two comets for the price of one?
- rwilkinson
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- Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:47 pm
- Location: Bolton
- rwilkinson
- Member
- Posts: 1345
- Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:47 pm
- Location: Bolton
Re: Two comets for the price of one?
I've just got an image from an iTelescope in New Mexico:
This time I was operating the telescope "live", rather than waiting to get the data back from a pre-submitted job.
260P is the one near the centre of this field.This time I was operating the telescope "live", rather than waiting to get the data back from a pre-submitted job.
- rwilkinson
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- Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 6:47 pm
- Location: Bolton
Re: Two comets for the price of one?
Last night for once, whilst it was cloudy in Spain and New Mexico, the skies were clear in Bolton!
So I set up a little imaging system pointing through an upstairs window, to catch the comets as they cleared the tall trees in the Park:
So I set up a little imaging system pointing through an upstairs window, to catch the comets as they cleared the tall trees in the Park: