Iceman-Jamie wrote:

Anyway I read somewhere here that we may see the after-effects on
earth. It would be a sudden change in the tail or coma would it not.
And at magnatude of 10 which I belive it should be at, how big of a
telescope sould be used to see it?

There's no way to answer that question until nearer to the time when the
impact occurs. The integrated magnitude and appearance of a comet can
vary greatly and the detectability depends not only on the integrated
magnitude but on the apparent size of the coma and how diffuse it is.
So we'll have to wait until this summer to be able to predict how small
a telescope will be needed to see it (based on observations at the time).

My guess at this point is that it should be visible in an 8-inch;
perhaps smaller. And after the impact--who knows? It may brighten
visibly or it may not.

My Comet Chasing page keeps track of the visibility of this and any comet:

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

Clear skies,
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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