Comet Section Observing Guide
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Comet Section Observing Guide 1 The British Astronomical Association Comet Section www.britastro.org/comet BAA Comet Section Observing Guide Front cover image: C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) by Geoffrey Johnstone on 1997 April 10. Back cover image: C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) by Lester Barnes on 2011 December 23. © The British Astronomical Association 2018 2018 December (rev 4) 2 CONTENTS 1 Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 6 2 An introduction to comets ......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Anatomy and origins ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Naming .............................................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Comet orbits ...................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Orbit evolution .................................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Magnitudes ........................................................................................................................................ 18 3 Basic visual observation ......................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Sources of information ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Finder charts ...................................................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Star hopping ...................................................................................................................................... 19 3.4 Instruments ........................................................................................................................................ 20 3.5 Other equipment ................................................................................................................................ 21 3.6 Visual observation ............................................................................................................................. 21 3.7 Estimating the magnitude .................................................................................................................. 23 3.8 Estimating the coma diameter ........................................................................................................... 24 3.9 Submitting observations .................................................................................................................... 25 4 Advanced visual observation .................................................................................................. 26 4.1 Telescope magnification .................................................................................................................... 26 4.2 Magnitude estimate ........................................................................................................................... 26 4.3 Star Magnitude sources ..................................................................................................................... 27 4.4 Coma Diameter .................................................................................................................................. 30 4.5 Degree of condensation .................................................................................................................... 31 4.6 Features in the coma ......................................................................................................................... 33 4.7 Tails ................................................................................................................................................... 34 4.8 Drawing comets ................................................................................................................................. 35 4.9 How to improve your observations .................................................................................................... 36 4.10 Very bright comets ............................................................................................................................. 37 4.11 Electronic submission of visual observations .................................................................................... 38 5 Imaging comets ...................................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Cameras ............................................................................................................................................ 39 5.2 Wide-field imaging ............................................................................................................................. 40 5.3 Remote observing .............................................................................................................................. 42 6 Processing your images ......................................................................................................... 45 6.1 Image calibration ............................................................................................................................... 45 6.2 Image stacking ................................................................................................................................... 46 6.3 Image processing .............................................................................................................................. 47 6.4 Sky Gradient removal ........................................................................................................................ 48 3 6.5 Other processing tools ....................................................................................................................... 48 6.6 Submitting images to the section archive .......................................................................................... 48 7 Extracting scientific data from images ..................................................................................... 53 7.1 Astrometry ......................................................................................................................................... 53 7.2 Getting an MPC code ........................................................................................................................ 56 7.3 Photometry ........................................................................................................................................ 57 7.4 Monitoring dust production ................................................................................................................ 64 7.5 Spectroscopy ..................................................................................................................................... 65 8 Observation reporting procedures .......................................................................................... 67 8.1 Visual observation report form ........................................................................................................... 67 8.2 Visual observation observing blank ................................................................................................... 69 9 Resources .............................................................................................................................. 71 9.1 Online ................................................................................................................................................ 71 9.2 Periodicals ......................................................................................................................................... 71 9.3 Books and atlases ............................................................................................................................. 71 4 Contacts Section website: www.britastro.org/comet BAA comets discussion email list: http://lists.britastro.org/mailman/listinfo/comets-disc Director: Nick James, 11 Tavistock Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 6JL, England. E-mail: [email protected] Visual observations and analysis: Jonathan Shanklin, 11 City Road, Cambridge, CB1 1DP, England. E-Mail: [email protected] Section Secretary: Denis Buczynski, Templecroft, Tarbatness Road, Portmahomack, Near Tain, Ross-Shire, IV20 1RD, Scotland. E-mail: [email protected] Editor of The Astronomer magazine: Guy Hurst, 16 Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, BASINGSTOKE, Hampshire. RG22 4PP, England. E-Mail: guy @ tahq.demon.co.uk CCD imaging advisor: Peter Carson: [email protected] Newsletter editor: Janice McClean. [email protected], 9 Hansol Road, Bexleyheath, Kent DA6 8JQ BAA Office: British Astronomical Association, Burlington House, Piccadilly, LONDON. W1V 9AG Phone +44 (0) 207 734 4145 Fax: +44 (0) 207 439 4629 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.britastro.org/ 5 1 FOREWORD Comets are wonderfully unpredictable objects. This is what makes them so much fun to observe. You never quite know what you are going to see when you go out to observe them which is why it is important to keep them under observation as frequently as possible. This guide is intended for beginners