Comet 103P/Hartley

Comet 103P/Hartley is now approaching Earth and increasing brightness but it is not as easy to observe as the 5th or 6th magnitude given by ephemeris suggests. I was able to see the comet on October 7, when it was very close to the Double Cluster (NGC 869-884) in Perseus. With the 120mm refractor I get the best view at 45x: the comet has a big and very diffuse, round coma with a brighter condensation in the central zone. The coma (or comet atmosphere) gets gradually lost in the background sky, so it is difficult to tell its size, but I think It could get close to the size of the full Moon. As other observers have noted, it is visually very similar to big galaxies like M 33 or M 101. Later I could see it with 7×50 binoculars, but with a lot of difficulty and knowing its precise location.

Sketch: 2HB graphite pencil on white paper, scanned and processed with Photoshop Elements 2.0
Object Name: 103P/Hartley
Object Type: Comet
Location: Asturias, Spain
Date: October 7, 2010
Instrument: 120mm f/8.3 refractor + Panoptic 22mm (45x)
NELM: 5.5

Regards,
Diego González

6 thoughts on “Comet 103P/Hartley”

  1. Diego,

    Your sketch is excellent.
    I saw the comet as in your picture, last week.
    It looked like Messier object. The brighter condensation in the central zone and the come are easy visible, as you have drawn and written in your text.

    Marek

  2. Hi Diego, thanks for your skilful drawing and informative description. I have been trying in vain to observe the comet with my 15×70 binocular every clear night during the last three weeks. I hope the information you provided will help me observe it! Thanks again!

  4. Diego,

    Nice sketch, I’m also working on a similar view with hopes of submitting soon. Keep the sketches coming.

    Juanchin

  5. Thank you all for your comments, and also thanks to the ASOD administrators for publishing my sketches!

    Diego

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