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Reports from Geisei Observatory <May 10, 2007>


C/2007 E1 (Garradd), C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy), and P/2007 H1 (McNaught)

    I made the following observations during clear nights before and after the May holidays.

    C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) has moved northward and faded. From Geisei it was at the 10th magnitude with an easily visible 4'-diameter diffused coma. I suspected it would be very difficult to observe in light-polluted skies. You would be quite promising as a comet hunter if you could detect a faint comet like this while sweeping the sky using an average size comet seeker.

    In the 1950s when I was young, I searched the skies while always mindful of already-discovered comets. When I could not detect these comets, I tried to find a reason for my failure very seriously. In order to discover a new comet, a passion for search is vital. I remember the successful discoveries by A. Mrkos at the Skalnate Pleso Observatory in former Czechoslovakia (present Slovakia). He was called "Comet-attractor Mrkos". Many of the astronomical telegrams reporting discoveries sent over to Japan in those days were of Mrkos comets just like LINEAR comets in recent years, which have been dominating comet discoveries.
   PK07H010   2007 04 25.79618 22 13 16.34 -08 15 05.1          17.0 T      372

   CK07E010   2007 04 29.51076 08 10 39.08 +18 03 43.1          15.0 T      372
   CK07E010   2007 05 07.47569 07 50 45.36 +20 08 58.1                      372
   CK07E010   2007 05 07.48021 07 50 44.82 +20 08 58.9          14.1 T      372
   CK07E010   2007 05 07.48507 07 50 44.18 +20 09 04.3                      372

   CK07E020   2007 05 07.57083 17 24 45.59 +50 59 18.8           9.7 T      372
   CK07E020   2007 05 07.57604 17 24 42.85 +50 59 52.7                      372
   CK07E020   2007 05 07.57743 17 24 42.11 +51 00 01.3                      372
   CK07E020   2007 05 08.64132 17 15 14.13 +52 48 15.4           9.9 T      372
   CK07E020   2007 05 08.64757 17 15 10.72 +52 48 52.1                      372 


Copyright (C) 2007 Tsutomu Seki.