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The evening sky reveals four telescopic comets, the latest being Periodic Comet Howell, which outburst recently and is now visible at magnitude ten. Periodic Comet Giacobini-Zinner is currently at its brightest. Meanwhile, Comet Williams swings behind the sun and into our morning sky.
On September 13 while conducting his asteroid project, Roy Tucker found a comet on a CCD image. It was the same object that had been picked up two weeks earlier by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search. Originally it was believed to be an asteroid This comet, now named Comet LONEOS-Tucker, has an 8-year orbital period and is expected to remain fainter than magnitude 14.
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COMET HUNTING NOTES: As seen from the earth, how far are comets from the sun when first discovered?
This angle, called elongation, has been calculated for the 78 comets found visually by amateurs since 1975. It ranges from 22 to 171 degrees. Over half of the comets have been found within 58 degrees of the sun. Of the 78 discovered, 70 were found within 92 degrees of the sun.
Why are they found at such small elongations? Not only do comet hunters concentrate their searches on areas near the sun, but comets generally become brightest in these regions.
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