CoMets

(κομήτες
☄)

Amar A. Sharma
Bangalore Astronomical Society
Contents:-
 Historical beliefs

 What are they? - Constituents of a comet

 Orbits

 Some prominent comets

 Observing comets

 Amateur comet hunting & discoveries

 What can amateurs, YOU, do here?

In eyes of our ancestors…
 Ancient ‘ignorant’ times

 Sudden appearance / disappearance of celestial

bodies

 Bizzare manifestations

 No plausible explanations!

 Related to omens and disasters

The real comets
 Solar System bodies – Minor Planets – few meters to 40 km

 Rock, dust, water ice, and frozen gases such as carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia.

 Organic compounds - methanol, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde,

ethanol and ethane
 More complex molecules such as long-chain hydrocarbons and
amino acids

 Dirty snowballs – Fred Whipple 1950

 Now believed to be dusty or rocky surfaces, with ices hidden
beneath the crust – Icy dirt/mudball
Layout of a comet
A story after time dawned…
 Mathematicians [Comet hunters-on-paper] like Halley, Encke, Lexell
and Cromellin calculated, and predicted the next return of comets.

 Visual observers used to then track and hunt for them at predicted
positions.

 Halley’s comet was predicted to return at end of 1758 (after

apparitions of 1531, 1607 & 1682).

 Johann Georg Palitzch, a German farmer from Dresden actually

spotted it on Christmas eve of 1758 in Pisces, first with un-aided
eye and then telescope.

 Orbital understanding developed and these were realized to be just

celestial bodies going round the Sun
Orbits
Some memorable comets of the
recent years…
C/2001 Q4 NEAT
C/2009 R1 McNaught
C/2006 M4 SWAN
C/2004 F4
Bradfield
Comet Hyakutake
Comet Hale Bopp
Comet Ikeya
Seki
C/2006 P1 McNaught
73/P Schwassmann-Wachmann-
3
17/P Holmes
Comet Shoemaker-Levy
Observing comets
 Become a better sky-observer
 Orient yourself with the night sky, constellations,
patterns
 Start observing heavenly wonders with
binoculars, then telescopes
 Observe as many comets as possible
 Acquire the tools and techniques – hardware,
computerized telescope, computer with sky-
software
 Love comets!
 They appear no different
than galaxies, nebulae
or some star clusters in
the sky

 Light is basically
traveling enormous
distances before
reaching us

 Hence all deep-sky

objects appear “fuzzy”
and as if invisible,
featureless patches of
light

 Train your eyes and

observe the best you
can
My observations & sketches

C/2001 Q4 Comet 73-P Schwassmann-

(NEAT) Wachmann-3
4/P Faye
Successful comet hunters

Don Machholz (10)

David Levy (22)

William Bradfield (18)

George Alcock (5)

Setup your own comet search and study
program
Personalized Observatory
At the
time of
discovery
…
 Amateurs are doing most of comet work these days!

 A comet is usually very far away, generally beyond Mars or Jupiter orbit,
hence extremely faint. Million times than naked human eye can
perceive. Does not display a tail

 Needs a large telescope with a very sensitive detector like CCD camera
to discover, in its incoming orbit to the Solar System
Reporting comets
 First confirm 100% the “patch” you have observed is a
genuine one; not a ghost image, inter reflection or glare
or a fake
 Note its movement and direction
 Come a second night for a follow-up
 If confirmed, contact a very authorized source to verify
 Send an email to MPC@IAU with details on their page
 Wait till they confirm from international observers

 If you strike gold, the comet’s name will follow your last
name, and etch in history books!
 For amateurs there is a yearly Edgar Wilson Prize
offering $20,000 to be divided!
 India’s only comet discovery
C/1949 N1 (Bappu-Newkirk-Bok)
 Prof. M.K.Vainu Bappu – only Indian to have discovered a comet, but from
outside the country. (The spot is still OPEN !!! )
• Discovered in 1949 on photographic plate, when on a
scholarship at Harvard University.

• Co-discovery with colleagues Bart Bok and Gordon

Newkirk.

• Long period comet. Perihelion distance – 2.05 AU,

Aphelion distance – 3033.60 AU

• Accidental discovery. Received a reprisal from Indian Govt.

instead of congratulations!

• More in blog ‘A treatise on Vainu Bappu's Comet ’ in BAS website – compiled by Amar.
http://www.bas.org.in/Home/blog/amaruniverse/2009/23/03/treatise-vainu-bappus-comet
 THANKING YOU
Happy Comet hunting!

 amar10sharma@gmail.com
 +91-9535098126

 B.A.S – www.bas.org.in
 info@bas.org.in