MPEC 2010-T98, issued 2010 October 13, reports our recovery of comet 164P/Christensen. We found the comet on October 07 and October 11, 2010 at about magnitude 20.4. We imaged it remotely from D96 code (Moorook) using a 0.15-m f/7.3 refractor + CCD.
On 2010, Oct.11 the seeing conditions at Moorook (Australia) were exceptional, so we had the chance to identify the comet at the very limit of our capabilities, as a faint dot of light (magnitude about 20.4). Then, knowing where to look for, we searched in our archive images, and found it again in our stackings of 2010, Oct. 7; then we had the astrometry over two nights, that was fitting pretty well the expected orbit of 164P.
However comet 164P/Christensen is much fainter (more than 3 magnitudes) compared to the predictions.
Our recovery image (details on image):
Comet 164P/Christensen was last observed (before our recovery) on June 18, 2005 by G96 (Mt. Lemmon Survey).
by G. Sostero, E. Guido, L. Donato & V. Gonano
2 comments:
Well done guys! Good to see 164P again, and keep up the great professional work!
--Eric J. Christensen
Dear Eric
thanks for your words. We really appreciate it!! It has been a pleasure to observe YOUR comet 164P/Christensen!!
Ciao,
Ernesto, Giovanni and all the Remanzacco Team
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