This comet was discovered by an amateur astronomer on August 27, 2004 with a 6-inch reflector. This was the 10th comet discovered by Don Machholz. The comet is in a steep prograde orbit, and at its closest to the Sun is still outside our orbit. As a consequence, when the comet was at its best, it was up in the night sky almost all night long. In contrast, a comet that has its perihelion inside our orbit will often be near the Sun in the evening or morning sky when it is at its best, and may only be visible right after sunset or just before sunrise, respectively.
This is an RGB composite CCD image taken with an ST-8E and CFW-8 color filter wheel using a Takahashi FCT-150 telescope at f7. This image was taken from my backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Constellation: Eridanus
RA:04h 31m 50.0s Dec:-18d 14' 43".
December 14, 2004
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona.
Recent Images.
Complete list of images.
Description of equipment used to acquire images.
Home
Feedback and comments should go to Sid