Comet Elenin Observing Guide

A fellow blogger with this information. I am finding this comet very interesting

Comet C/2010 X1 was discovered by Leonid Elenin (Lyubertsy, Russia) using the 45-cm astrograph and a CCD camera at the International Scientific Optical Network's robotic observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. The comet has been well observed by observatories from the beginning of 2011 to the present, with visual observers finally picking up the comet on April 5. The comet began the year at a nuclear magnitude of about 19, and brightened to about 18 by February 1, 17 by March 1, and 16.5 by April 1. The January and February observations typical revealed a coma about 0.3' across and a tail extending 0.3-0.5'.

The comet will reach perihelion (0.48 AU) on September 10. The comet will pass 0.23 AU from Earth on October 16. On 7th August, the comet has been reported to be shining at magnitude 9.0 with angular diameter 3’. The comet is very low in the West at the time of evening twilight in August 2011 but it will get bright rapidly and will be shining at mag 6 on August 31st. It won’t be possible to observe this comet during September as it will pass the Sun.

The comet will emerge through the early morning eastern sky during the first week of October. This time the comet is predicted to be as bright as mag 4.8 or 5.0.

On October 14th, the comet (~mag 5.1) will be just 1.5 degrees from the 9th magnitude galaxy NGC 2903 in Leo.
On October 15th the comet will be within 6 degrees North of Mars.
On October 18th the comet will be nearly 6 degrees north of the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer.
On October 22nd the comet (~ mag 5.8) will be just 1 degree from the star Pollux in Gemini.
On October 31st the comet (~6.8) will be 2 degrees E-SE of the Open Cluster Messier 37 in Auriga after midnight.


The brightness will start to decrease rapidly as November begins. The comet will be at magnitude 9 during November 15th. The comet will pass very close of the Pleiades (Messier 45) from November 20 to November 24. It will be just 42’ away from the stars of Pleiades on November 22. On November 23rd the comet will be just 31’ from Maia (the 3.8th mag star in Pleiades). During this time the comet will be shining at magnitudes 9.5.

Here, below the charts are given showing positions of this comet from 1st October to 25th November 2011.

http://skygazersbhuj.blogspot.com/2011/08/comet-c2010-x1-elenin-observing-guide.html
RAHUL'S ASTRONOMY BLOG: COMET C/2010 X1 ELENIN OBSERVING GUIDE