The comet spotted last week in the constellation Cetus
should continue to brighten as it approaches the Sun. That's
the upshot of the orbital elements calculated on Monday by
Brian G. Marsden (Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory). Marsden's data suggest that Comet Ikeya-Zhang,
C/2002 C1, could become as bright as 4th magnitude by mid-March, but
it will be difficult to locate low in the western evening sky
after sunset. During the first week of April, the comet skirts
north of the Sun and enters the morning sky. Skywatchers in the
Northern Hemisphere will likely get their best views in late April,
when the comet makes a slow trek from Cassiopeia into Cepheus
and then Draco for those using binoculars and small telescopes.
The comet is already visible in 7x50 binoculars. Mike
Begbie of Harare, Zimbabwe, got his first look on Sunday evening,
February 3rd. He found it to be magnitude 8.2, noting that the
head (or coma) appeared "spherical, but surprisingly condensed."
According to Marsden's calculations, this comet
reaches its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) on
March 18th. At that time it will be midway between the orbits of
Venus and Mercury, at 0.51 astronomical unit (76 million
kilometers) from the Sun. Be sure to check the observing
section of SkyandTelescope.com in the coming weeks for
further details.
Comet Ikeya-Zhang, C/2002 C1
Date |
RA 2000 |
Dec. |
Elong. |
Mag. |
Const. |
0h UT |
h m |
° ' |
° |
|
|
Feb 1 |
0 08.3 |
–17 51 |
45 |
8.9 |
Cet |
Feb 3 |
0 11.6 |
–16 52 |
44 |
8.8 |
Cet |
Feb 5 |
0 15.0 |
–15 51 |
43 |
8.6 |
Cet |
Feb 7 |
0 18.4 |
–14 48 |
43 |
8.4 |
Cet |
Feb 9 |
0 22.0 |
–13 43 |
42 |
8.2 |
Cet |
Feb 11 |
0 25.7 |
–12 35 |
41 |
8.0 |
Cet |
Feb 13 |
0 29.4 |
–11 24 |
40 |
7.8 |
Cet |
Feb 15 |
0 33.2 |
–10 11 |
39 |
7.6 |
Cet |
Feb 17 |
0 37.1 |
–08 54 |
38 |
7.4 |
Cet |
Feb 19 |
0 41.1 |
–07 33 |
38 |
7.2 |
Cet |
Feb 21 |
0 45.2 |
–06 09 |
37 |
7.0 |
Cet |
Feb 23 |
0 49.2 |
–04 41 |
36 |
6.7 |
Cet |
Feb 25 |
0 53.3 |
–03 09 |
36 |
6.5 |
Cet |
Feb 27 |
0 57.4 |
–01 32 |
35 |
6.2 |
Cet |
Mar 1 |
1 01.5 |
+00 10 |
34 |
6.0 |
Cet |
The object's dual name recognizes the two comet
hunters who first found it on February 1st: Kaoru Ikeya of
Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, and Daqing Zhang in Henan
province, China. Zhang described the comet as a small, 8.5-
magnitude glow 3 arcminutes across in his 20-cm (8-inch)
reflector.
If the name "Ikeya" rings a bell, it should. Between
1963 and 1967, Kaoru Ikeya discovered or codiscovered five
comets. One of them, Comet Ikeya-Seki, was the famous
naked-eye Sungrazer of 1965. But little had been heard from
Ikeya (at least outside Japan) until he made his sixth comet
discovery last week. "He is the phoenix!" says
astrophotographer Shigemi Numazawa of Niigata, who adds
that Ikeya, now age 58, manages the Ikeya Optical Lab, a
supplier of telescope mirrors to Japan's discriminating
observers.
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