Reports from Geisei Observatory <April 15, 2005>

• C/2004 Q2 (Machholz), C/2005 G1 (LINEAR), P/2005 E1 (Tubbiolo), and C/2005 E2 (McNaught)
The following are the results of all of the photographic observations of Comet Machholz, which have accumulated since last year. Its brightness has fallen so much that it is barely visible in binoculars.

P/2005 E1 is very faint and there are no suitable comparison stars. Instinctively I estimated it to be between 19.5 and 20th magnitude. With TP6415 film no longer available observation of faint comets is difficult and it requires at least 30-minute guiding. The film I am using at the moment will not be revealed for a while.

C/2005 E2 is bright at 16.5 magnitude. However, It is extremely low in the southern sky and photographing it is as difficult as capturing 18th-19th magnitude comets at the zenith. In May a new method of observation will be introduced at Geisei including the use of different film.

While looking for an old photo, I happened upon a shot in which Mr. Machholz' was observing. He wore a black eye-patch using a 25cm reflector, which was a home-built equatorial comet-seeker. It seems to be designed for ease of comet search. This photo will be provided in my Diary later. My latest comet-seeker will be also shown.

    CK04Q020   2004 12 02.52118 04 52 16.53 -26 16 58.0           5.5 T      372
    CK04Q020   2004 12 06.64661 04 45 47.43 -24 09 00.2                      372
    CK04Q020   2004 12 10.60017 04 38 46.37 -21 26 58.6                      372
    CK04Q020   2004 12 15.61007 04 28 50.88 -16 54 03.7           4.7 T      372
    CK04Q040   2005 02 04.44878 02 51 32.23 +66 06 49.0                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 02 22.44444 03 18 19.4  +79 12 40.2                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 01.48993 04 12 29.6  +82 42 20.0                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 13.55139 08 11 09.2  +84 36 51.8           6.5 T      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 18.68125 09 40 10.7  +83 11 39.4                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 20.75625 10 04 43.1  +82 23 48.3           6.7 T      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 25.45972 10 43 45.0  +80 20 06.8                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 29.48646 11 05 19.72 +78 24 10.6           6.5 T      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 30.45816 11 09 29.59 +77 55 15.5                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 03 31.69826 11 14 18.36 +77 18 02.7                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 04 05.61354 11 29 46.60 +74 46 59.0                      372
    CK04Q020   2005 04 18.67917 11 55 16.84 +67 50 32.9           7.5 T      372

    CK05G010   2005 04 18.77431 18 01 34.52 +50 45 25.7          18.5 T      372

    PK05E010   2005 04 05.60243 11 33 11.46 +03 45 12.5                      372

    CK05E020   2005 04 18.79826 20 20 32.33 -35 45 40.5          16.5 T      372