Comet C/2006 VZ13 Linear

[markt]

martinastro said:

Remember C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR is high in Draco at mag + 7.8

Cheers for that Martin

With the 20x80s it was quite obvious once found, but larger and more diffuse than I expected.

Here's a finder chart for it



and more detailed



*hmmm, gets camera ready and crosses fingers*

[paulevans]

Here we go, two for the price of one!

Linear is just below centre in the third opposite the meteor.



Clear skies,

Paul.

[markt]

Nice pic Paul

I got it too, roughly dead centre in the image. Little processing to take away some of the skyglow.



50mm f2.8 iso1600 25s

Both Pauls and my picture clearly show the greeny blue spherical smudge of the comet.

No NLC's currently visible so I guess this is a bonus

[paulevans]

Nice image Mark, well done.

P.

[andycav]

Ooh, you have a LINEAR thread, then I have something to post! Nice images - it really looks green. I can't see any colour with my eye in my telescope.

Here's a sketch of it last night at just past midnight UT. It was a 'bright' (not hard to find) fuzz that brightened to the centre and only at high power did it have a false nucleus. It appeared basically symmetrical to me, but perhaps slightly elongated in the upper left - lower right direction in my sketch (approx. north west - south east), but I wasn't sure.

The field of view is of a 25mm orthoscopic lens on a 150mm reflector giving something like 55', so I'm guessing the diameter of the coma visible was up to 10'.

Cheers to Martin for the heads up.

[martinastro]

Great work guys!

On Saturday night July 7/8th I made my first visual observation of C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR. I plotted the RA and DEC within my copy of Sky Atlas 2000 and then headed outside with the 8.5" F/7 dobsonian reflector. The sky was clear and there was a strong Summer frost! Despite a hazy sky I found the comet at 00.24 BST in the zenith west of the naked eye star 22 Draconis. In the 32mm eyepiece it shared the 1 degree FOV with bright 27 Draconis. The comet was a subtle green coloured circular patch of light with a semi - diffuse edge and a faint, soft, white coloured false nucleus. No tail was seen. Also observed as a small hazy spot in 10X50 binoculars. Mag: 7.8 Dia: 6' D.C: 4

On Sunday July 8/9th I made my second visual observation at 00.16 BST again in a July frost. Comet looked larger tonight, rich in cynogen green and quite similar in profile to my first observation. I detected a possible long jet pointing east. Comet was larger in the 10X50's and was located approx 1.5 degrees south of 22 Draconis. Comet looked healthy and I suspect some observers from very dark skies may catch it with the naked eye over the next week or two.

Mag: 7.8 Dia: 8' D.C:4

Here's a quick sketch as seen through the 8.5"

[markt]

Folks are getting some nice views of Linear

Clear skies allowing I hope to get some more pickies soon

[markt]

Linear is gliding past a 3rd magnitude star in Draco tonight so should be nice and easy to find

(clear skies permitting of course)

[martinastro]

Last night (July 14-15th) I made my 3rd observation of C/2006 VZ13 LINEAR. It was a beautiful clear night however there was faint high level cloud at the zenith which could only be seen through the telescope which made detection of the comet extremely difficult. This was the 3rd night of comet observing in a light July frost! The telrad and OTA was smeared in the stuff. There was a beautiful complex NLC display in view but I had to tare my eyes away from it to concentrate on the comet which I swept up at 01.05 BST. It was located high in the western sky within Bootes not far from the naked eye stars Alkaid and Alcor/Mizar in Uma. The comet at a first glance was a pastel grey colour however with relaxed direct vision I could see a subtle green tone to its ghostly form. The coma was large at 8' across and perhaps larger with a soft white central condensation at the centre of the circular coma which sported mildy diffuse edges so I rated it unchanged at D.C: 4. I seen no tail or jets due to the poor trans which was 6/10. For the same reason I couldn't see it in the 10X50s. The comet was obscured by cloud at 01.15 BST. This was followed by an extremely dense blanket of fog which was at its most deadly out in the countryside where it obscured country roads and reduced visibility to a very dangerous level. Seen two telescopic satellites pass through the FOV with the comet. I agree with the latest magnitude estimates - It looks to be around mag + 7.5

8.5" F/7 dobsonian reflector with 32mm 1.25" eyepiece yielding a field of almost 1 degree. Tonight LINEAR was at its closet to Earth at 0.58 AU or about 50 million miles making it a little bit more than 1/2 the distance between the Earth and Sun. Glad to have seen it on closest approach. Looking forward to watching what it does as it dives toward perihelion!

[markt]

I was looking earlier to find a nice detailed, current finder chart for Linear and found this one >>>



I personally like it as it shows the deep sky objects likely to be in the telescopic / photographic field of view

Fingers crossed one day soon I may get clear skies and see it again before it zips off into the outer reaches of the solar system...

[markt]

OK folks, tonight is the night Comet Linear sails uber close, less than a full moon diameter away, from the globular cluster M3 in Canes Venatici.

I've not seen it since I took my pickie way back at the start of this thread (it's been cloudy for me since then), however the comet is getting closer toward the sun and the data i've looked at put it between 7th and 8th magnitude. M3 on the other hand is brighter at just a shade over 6th magnitude and slightly larger size visually than the comet.

While i've no doubt there are some lucky people that may be able to glimpse this visually in the absolutely darkest of skies, I think realistically for the rest of us it is an easy binocular object. Closest seaparation is 23.30ut and this puts European observers favourably to see it

I've included below a chart that shows the comets path as it gradually plunges south, and also a general sky chart that shows where it is tonight.





Lets hope we all have clear skies and get some nice views and pics of this celestial close encounter

[markt]

bah, last night, looking at the satellite picture, promised to clear from midnight onwards. I sat up, remember it being something to midnight and the next thing I know I wake up and it's 5am, lovely blue sky and i'm sprawled out on my sofa... typical...

[markt]

Got this pickie on the early hours of the 25th.

Not the best by any stretch of the imagination - took quite a bit of searching my Sky Atlas 2000 to locate the comet - even then the fact that I have to put a label on it doesn't bode well. Bonus is M3 is easily visible in the top right of the picture.



70mm f3.5 15s iso800

Despite more torrential rain for me today the forecast for the next couple of days has the potential for some clear skies on the night, hopefully should get some more (better!) images, and with a bit of luck some NLC's too which seem to have been absent from UK skies in the past few days...

Clear skies to you all

[markt]

Linear is passing reasonably close to the globular cluster M53 over the next couple of days, certainly making for a photo opportunity. M53 at magnitude 7.6 is roughly the same brightness as Linear, and roughly a similar size in terms of arc mins.

Should any of you have really dark skies (this isn't me btw!), NGC 5053 - another fainter globular cluster, and fainter still the galaxy NGC 5172 are also close to Linears position and certainly pose a challenge for any imagers out there.

With the potential for some clear skies this weekend in the UK make the most and take a look for Linear, it's plunging south now, and, from the northern hemisphere is getting lower and lower in the twilight - before long it will vanish from out skies