Reports from Geisei Observatory<November 7, 2002>

• 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT, P/2002 T6(NEAT-LINEAR), C/2002 T7(LINEAR), C/2002 U2(LINEAR)

54P/de Vico-Swift
2002 UT        R.A (2000)    Decl.
Nov. 2.64201   1 47 29.23   +17 54 09.3   18
     4.58299   1 46 08.70   +17 51 05.2

P/2002 T6
Nov. 4.60347   1 01 18.08   +8 03 48.9    19

C/2002 T7
Nov. 4.69583   5 54 15.43   +28 15 11.6   16.9

C/2002 U2
Nov. 2.77361   10 42 48.5   +76 40 45.3   16.5
     2.77813   10 42 54.5   +76 40 46.5
     4.73854   11 26 53.8   +76 38 04.3   17

Well into autumn, the sky conditions have improved. When I was just about to challenge faint comets, the PC broke down soon after the breakdown of the 60cm telescope. As a result, it has become impossible to retrieve GSC data. PPM is still usable but accuracy cannot be expected because comparison stars available are some distant away from the center of the comet and fewer in number. Observation of comets at Geisei will be temporarily halted.

Mr. Nobuhisa Kojima in Aichi telephoned me that he would search for Perrine-Mrkos by his 25cm with CCD within +/- 15 days. Mr. Kojima captured this comet by his 30cm telescope in 1969 before Palomar Observatory detected it. He may be able to succeed as he did with Comet Neujmin 2. I hadn't received phone calls from Mr. Kojima for some time. It was 21.30, when I received this call from him. In my dream the LINEAR project found 18D/Perrine-Mrkos. The position was that of one week earlier than the prediction in the Comet Year Book. Will it become a reality? I may turn the 21cm telescope to that region of the sky tomorrow.