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March 2002

• March 25
We haven't been lucky with weather since my blunder of March 21 while observing C/2002 F1. Even though fine weather was forecast, it would often turn out to be a typical springtime cloudy night or dark clouds would roll in with cold wintry blasts, thus hiding the stars from our view. This has continuously prevented us from observing Comet Utsunomiya.
On March 21 I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning. I left home at 7 for Cape Ashizurimisaki, which was a four-hour drive. The purpose of the trip was to see a strange beach there. It was a place called Usubae near Tosashimizu City. This beach was off the beaten track and known only to anglers. Walking through a small torii shinto gateway down to the beach from the western cliff of the Cape, you will find the extraordinary sight of huge rocks and a panorama of the Pacific Ocean right in front of your eyes. Although it was raining, I was awestruck and oblivious to my camera getting wet. I took my Minox camera out of my pocket to capture the scene on film. I thought a small "spy" camera like this would be just right for an inaccessible place known to only few people.
It was such a hectic day today that I drove over 400 kilometers. I wanted to go to the observatory at night, but it was cloudy. I am happy as long as I am on the move.

Photo Minox LX on Fuji colour 100 film
Water comes around the upright rocks creating a big pool of water. The waves break over the rocks.

• March 21
I woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning. Unable to go back to sleep I went to my upstairs study. I found a fax message in the dark cold room from Mr. Hirohisa Sato of Sukagawa City. It was an IAUC report on the discovery made by Mr. Utsunomiya in Kyushu.
It was only a short time before dawn. I gathered up my gear and rushed to the observatory, only thinking of getting there as quickly as possible. How long do you think it took me to get to the observatory, 40 kilometers away from home?
I succeeded in aiming the 60cm telescope at the position of the object in question. However, because I was in such a haste, I miscalculated the position by one day. There was no image on several exposures. I couldn't see it in the 20cm telescope, either. I discovered my mistake only after getting home. I was so disappointed that my valuable time had been wasted.
On top of this I saw a sign of worsening weather. I decided not to go to the observatory today.

• March 15
Cherry trees are not flowering yet in Kochi City, but the weather has warmed up considerably. Morning and evening observing has become easier. However, it is still not easy to drive to the observatory, which is quite a distance from home. I will go to the observatory in the evening to observe Comet Ikeya-Zhang, then have to wait until early morning to observe C/2002 E2. The "in-between" eight hours will be used for patrolling the sky with the 60cm and 21cm f/3 telescopes. While observing, I stay with the telescopes all the time. I remember that some time ago I forgot to bring my observing notebook to the observatory and had to go back to my place to pick it up. It was an 80 kilometers round trip.
I went to the municipal swimming pool to swim about 1000 meters. I need this to recharge my batteries for nightly observing. Observation requires techniques, but a physical fitness is conducive to successful observations.
I observed the new comet C/2002 E2 (Snyder-Murakami), which was independently discovered on March 12 by Mr. Shigeki Murakami.
Through the 60cm telescope the nucleus is very sharp and the coma is small. In the 20cm telescope at 40x the nucleus is not visible, but the coma was 3.5' across and fairly extensive. I found the comet easily by moving the telescope just as I do for sweeping for comets. As the skies are generally well lit up wherever you look, higher magnifications are appropriate for comet seekers. For example, I would recommend 35 power for a 15cm reflector.
The rain has stopped. I am going off to the observatory now.

• March 8
Mercury, a bright lonely white point of light, caught my eyes in the pink-colored evening sky, while I was waiting for reluctant twilight to progress at the observatory. (See Photograph 1) It appeared as a slightly reddish disk through the 20cm refractor at 40x mounted to the 60cm reflector.
At 18:40, as soon as I aimed the 20cm telescope at the comet's predicted position, I glimpsed the comet against the pale background. It was magnitude 4.8 and the coma was a little short of 10' in diameter. It was not bright enough to be visible to the naked-eye.
Photograph 2 was taken by the ε210. The blue coma and tail were impressive.

Photo 1 Mercury in the evening sky

Photo 2 Comet Ikeya-Zhang C/2002 C1
(Trimmed for the center of the photograph)

• March 4
During the daytime, I went to the observatory with Mr. Keiichiro Okamura, a member of the observatory staff, to do some work. We did some repair work on the pathway from the parking area to the observatory buildings. It was a public viewing day today, but there were no visitors. I stayed on at the observatory to make evening observations. I was anxious about an approaching low air-mass system, as they would affect us half a day earlier than forecast. As expected, clouds gathered in the west soon after the sunset; after only a 30-minute observation of Comet Ikeya-Zhang, Through the 20cm refractor at 60x the coma was 7' in diameter and m1 was 5.0. The tail was faint. I am hopeful that Ikeya-Zhang is identical with the comet of 1661 as some people suggest and that it becomes brighter and larger. However, from the way it looks at the moment, it doesn't seem to be on its way to a naked-eye visibility. In those days following the invention of the telescope, people would only notice comets with a certain size of the coma. If the coma was small, it would be difficult to differentiate from the stars.
C/2002 C1 makes me anxious because of its small size. When the arc of the comet's orbit over a period of two months is confirmed and the perturbations by the planets are traced back, we may be able to see some clues to its identity.
Three precise positions of the comet are provided in Reports from Geisei Observatory. However, the center of the coma could not be determined precisely resulting in an error margin of ±1". I hope these are useful for your calculations.
The deviation from Mr. Sato's latest orbital calculations is about 1". I hope these observations make Comet Ikeya-Zhang 's orbit closer to that of the comet of 1661. Next observation will be made on Friday..