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Astrophotography

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
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2/9/2017 11:47 AM
Very cool site. Thanks for sharing that.

Willie

> On Feb 9, 2017, at 11:33, Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
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> You can look at this interactive orbital graph and change the dates and time to see its' motion.
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> https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?obj=45p&h=11&m=45&date=2017-02-08
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2/9/2017 11:17 AM

Hey Jeff, hope things are good with you.

 

Actually, the comet appears to be more to our north than between us and the Sun.  It's going to continue moving north and will be in Ursa Major soon.

You can look at this interactive orbital graph and change the dates and time to see its' motion.

 

https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?obj=45p&h=11&m=45&date=2017-02-08

 

Looking at what our vantage point is now, I would think we'd see a grand tail, if the comet was real active.  I suspect it's not very active, plus we're just too close to see the scattered debris of dust and gas.  I'm thinking that as it pulls away in the next couple of weeks, we'll be able to detect a tail.  But, maybe not.  Comets are weird creatures.

 

 

Take care, Johnny

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Astrophotography" <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 11:44pm
To: "johnnyb@reagan.com" <johnnyb@reagan.com>
Subject: re: Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova <<$16593708078$>>




Correction: I meant toward us (earth) as is is close to being directly between us and the sun. 
On Wed, Feb 8, 2017 at 6:39 PM Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
A good explanation for the absence of a visible tail may be that the tail is streaming directly away from earth. Since it is visible only near sunrise the solar wind would be from us to it. That fuzz around the core could be the tail as sen from the front.


2/8/2017 11:36 PM
Correction: I meant toward us (earth) as is is close to being directly between us and the sun. 

On Wed, Feb 8, 2017 at 6:39 PM Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
A good explanation for the absence of a visible tail may be that the tail is streaming directly away from earth. Since it is visible only near sunrise the solar wind would be from us to it. That fuzz around the core could be the tail as sen from the front.
2/8/2017 9:30 PM
Excellent, Johnny.

Willie

> On Feb 8, 2017, at 11:07, Astrophotography <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org> wrote:
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> Got out this morning to see what comet 45P/HMP looked like. It appeared very defused and much dimmer than I expected. Plus there was NO TAIL! You can read what is being said about that here:
> http://www.spaceweather.com/
>
> I couldn't find it in the eyepiece with the 12.5". So, I just took a few shots with the canon riding piggy-back.
> This was a single shot 1 min. exp. @ 3200 iso. as it appeared over the trees to my east around 5:37 am.
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> Attachment(s):
> File: HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg (795.6 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1658777_0_HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg
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2/8/2017 6:30 PM
A good explanation for the absence of a visible tail may be that the tail is streaming directly away from earth. Since it is visible only near sunrise the solar wind would be from us to it. That fuzz around the core could be the tail as sen from the front.
2/8/2017 2:39 PM

That's what's so surprising to everyone.  At close approach to Earth on the 11th, everyone was projecting it to be near, or bright enough to be naked-eye.  The bad thing about waiting until then is that the Moon will still be up past the 9th.

 

It's really moving fast now.  20 arc sec. per min.

 

 

Johnny

 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Astrophotography" <astrophotography@centexastronomy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2017 1:50pm
To: "johnnyb@reagan.com" <johnnyb@reagan.com>
Subject: re: Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova <<$165895082013$>>




Interesting that it is not so bright.

Aubrey

-----Original Message-----
From: mailer@mail2.clubexpress.com [mailto:mailer@mail2.clubexpress.com] On Behalf Of Astrophotography
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2017 11:07 AM
To: abrickhouse1@att.net
Subject: Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova <<$16587776511$>>




Got out this morning to see what comet 45P/HMP looked like. It appeared very defused and much dimmer than I expected. Plus there was NO TAIL! You can read what is being said about that here:
http://www.spaceweather.com/

I couldn't find it in the eyepiece with the 12.5". So, I just took a few shots with the canon riding piggy-back.
This was a single shot 1 min. exp. @ 3200 iso. as it appeared over the trees to my east around 5:37 am.

Attachment(s):
File: HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg (795.6 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1658777_0_HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg
2/8/2017 1:44 PM
Interesting that it is not so bright.

Aubrey

-----Original Message-----
From: mailer@mail2.clubexpress.com [mailto:mailer@mail2.clubexpress.com] On Behalf Of Astrophotography
Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2017 11:07 AM
To: abrickhouse1@att.net
Subject: Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova <<$16587776511$>>




Got out this morning to see what comet 45P/HMP looked like. It appeared very defused and much dimmer than I expected. Plus there was NO TAIL! You can read what is being said about that here:
http://www.spaceweather.com/

I couldn't find it in the eyepiece with the 12.5". So, I just took a few shots with the canon riding piggy-back.
This was a single shot 1 min. exp. @ 3200 iso. as it appeared over the trees to my east around 5:37 am.

Attachment(s):
File: HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg (795.6 KB) -- Address: http://s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/901132/attach/1658777_0_HMP2-8-17-05-37.jpg
2/8/2017 11:01 AM
Got out this morning to see what comet 45P/HMP looked like. It appeared very defused and much dimmer than I expected. Plus there was NO TAIL! You can read what is being said about that here:
http://www.spaceweather.com/

I couldn't find it in the eyepiece with the 12.5". So, I just took a few shots with the canon riding piggy-back.
This was a single shot 1 min. exp. @ 3200 iso. as it appeared over the trees to my east around 5:37 am.
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