It has been many months since we had comet news this exciting!

Two new comets have been discovered recently, both my amateurs. These
comets are currently bright enough to be visible in amateur telescopes,
provided we get the moon out of the way. Orbits for both have just now
been published and are still preliminary.

2004/Q2 (Machholz) is a 10th magnitude comet in Eridanus with a 3' coma
that should be visible in a 6-inch telescope from all but far-northern
latitudes. Unfortunately moonlight will interfere until Sep 9th or so.
Comet Machholz, discovered visually in a 10-inch reflector on August
27, is the 10th comet discovered by Don Machholz of California.
According to the preliminary orbit this comet will brighten dramatically
and may be visible to the naked eye after Christmas!

2004 Q1 (Tucker) is a 12th magnitude object in Cetus with a 25" coma
that should be visible in an 8-inch telescope. Moonlight will interfere
until the 5th or so. Comet Tucker was discovered on CCD images by Roy
A. Tucker of Tucson Arizona on August 23. This comet should brighten
until around November 1, when it should be brighter than 11 magnitude
and be in Andromeda. Throughout this time it will be well placed for
evening observation from both the northern and southern hemispheres.

More information will be posted to the comet chasing web site on
Wednesday, September 1:

http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html

Clear skies and good comet chasing!
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

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