Reports from Geisei Observatory <October 6, 1999>

• C/1999 J3(LINEAR)
C/1999 J3 (LINEAR) is bright now. By the 20cm refractor mounted to the 60cm telescope at 4 am on October 6, the magnitude was estimated to be 7.6 with the diameter 5 minutes of arc. It was fuzzy and the tail was not clear. The comet is moving south rapidly. A 3-minute exposure time was sufficient by the 60cm reflector. This comet is visible in the eastern sky for an hour before daybreak and I am sure that the National Observatory has received so many "erroneous" reports of discovery. An aperture of 5cm at 20x shows this comet well. It moves fast even while you are watching it.