Nick and other observers.

I'm on it at the moment - position by eye at 2021 03 01 19:10 UT  23 35
25.6,  +14 16 26

Richard

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick James" <ndj@nickdjames.com>
To: <baa-comet@simplelists.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2021 11:14 PM
Subject: [BAA Comets] New SWAN comet low in the evening sky

> On February 25 Michael Mattiazzo (Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia)
> reported on comets-ml a possible comet in SWAN spacecraft data moving
> north through Pegasus. He noted that the comet appeared to be
> brightening at magnitude 11-12 and would be visible low in the northern
> hemisphere evening twilight. The position on Feb 25 was approximately
> 23h 23m +13 deg.
>
> Various unsuccesful searches were made for the comet and it was listed
> on the NEOCP on February 27. I tried searching for it yesterday evening
> (Feb 27) using a Canon EOS550D and a 200mm, f/2.8L on a Star Adventurer
> mount but had no luck due to haze near the horizon.
>
> Finally, on February 28 the comet was imaged by Krisztián Sárneczky
> (K88), Michael Jaeger (A71) and Luca Buzzi (204). Following Michael's
> alert this evening I had another go with my 200mm lens and managed to
> detect the comet as shown in the attached image. It is around 11th
> magnitude.
>
> Using the precise positions from tonight it appears that the comet was
> detected yesterday on an image taken by Nico Lefadeux using a 200mm lens
> but this is not confirmed.
>
> The ephemeris below is based on a very short arc but it should help to
> find the comet over the next few days. Astrometry of this new comet
> would be very valuable.
>
> Date (UTC).d   RA              Dec         delta   r     elong  mag
> ---- -- ----  -------------   -----------  ------ ------ -----  ---
> 2021 02 28.0  23 27 12.088   +13 01 42.62  1.4591 .68093  23.7 14.5
> 2021 02 28.2  23 28 07.040   +13 10 04.88  1.4591 .68201  23.8 14.5
> 2021 02 28.4  23 29 01.708   +13 18 25.78  1.4591 .68309  23.9 14.5
> 2021 02 28.6  23 29 56.124   +13 26 43.95  1.4591 .68415  23.9 14.5
> 2021 02 28.8  23 30 50.693   +13 34 59.00  1.4591 .68521  24.0 14.5
> 2021 03 01.0  23 31 45.634   +13 43 12.14  1.4591 .68627  24.1 14.5
> 2021 03 01.2  23 32 40.679   +13 51 24.49  1.4591 .68732  24.2 14.5
> 2021 03 01.4  23 33 35.444   +13 59 35.53  1.4590 .68836  24.2 14.5
> 2021 03 01.6  23 34 29.958   +14 07 43.77  1.4590 .68939  24.3 14.5
> 2021 03 01.8  23 35 24.628   +14 15 48.85  1.4590 .69041  24.4 14.5
> 2021 03 02.0  23 36 19.675   +14 23 52.00  1.4590 .69143  24.4 14.6
> 2021 03 02.2  23 37 14.830   +14 31 54.42  1.4590 .69245  24.5 14.6
> 2021 03 02.4  23 38 09.707   +14 39 55.54  1.4590 .69345  24.6 14.6
> 2021 03 02.6  23 39 04.335   +14 47 53.83  1.4590 .69445  24.6 14.6
> 2021 03 02.8  23 39 59.122   +14 55 48.89  1.4590 .69544  24.7 14.6
>
> Nick James.
>
> To unsubscribe from this list please go to
> http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=aR5jVcAm0PpxqWzIIDZTQWdURWgNdCOC