Reports from Geisei Observatory <March 9, 2003>

• Photograph of C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa)
In spite of quarter moon, I was able to catch Comet Kudo-Fujikawa again over the southern ocean. Through the 20cm refractor it was very faint at magnitude 10.5 and the coma was about 2' across without any tail confirmed due to moonlight and a low altitude. This assured me of my keen eyesight as a comet hunter. My heart yells at me "there is something here!" although there is nothing clear or nothing at all seen in the field of view. And when the evening twilight ends, a fuzzy image of a comet comes into view faintly.

The comet was captured by the 60cm reflector with a one-minute exposure. A longer exposure would fog the film reducing the size of the coma on the film. The position measurements to be provided later.

C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa)
One-minute exposure from 19:18 on March 9, 2003
60cm f/3.5 reflector
Photo by Tsutomu Seki at Geisei Observatory (372)