Comet Hunting Log

Red Barn Observatory MPC/IAU H68

Established 2006

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Comet Hunting Log

This log will accurately describe in detail all of the time I spend hunting comets. It has been said that the dedicated comet hunter will spend an average of 900 hours searching for comets before his first discovery. Of course this was said before the huge sky surveys were invented and discovered virtually every moving object in the sky. But I plan to stick with it, and discover my comet. I've never tried to actually keep an accurate comet hunting log (or any other kind of log), but the more experienced in Astronomy I become, the more I understand the need for a log book. It will always allow me to "go back" and see exactly what I have done and where I've searched. I've searched for comets many nights throughout the years visually and I will not try to go back and log that time. I choose to start fresh and begin my logging now, and perform it by means of visual searches and CCD.

All of my CCD search areas will consist of three images and sometimes four or more if if a suspect is noted in one set. The equipment I am using is a 0.30m Schmitt-Cassegrain telescope set at f/3.3, a 200mm f/4.5 telephoto lens, and an SBIG CCD ST7 camera. Usually, with the 0.30m Schmitt-Cassegrain, I will only take a 30 second exposure of each area, producing a limiting magnitude of m16 - m16.5 with a FOV of 30' x 19.5'. The 200mm f/4.5 telephoto lens will produce a limiting magnitude of ~14 with a FOV of around 1.5 square degrees - producing a nice search area for comets (this method is still in-the-works).

My visual searches will be performed with a 10" f/4.5 reflector on an equatorial mount and I will use either a 32mm or 26mm eyepiece for observations. I will usually start out performing the visual searches while the sky is becoming dark enough to use the CCD. If I have a suspect with the 10", I can follow-up with the CCD and 0.3m. If real, the object can be easily measured and reported to the MPC.

I search as close to the horizon as possible to avoid searching the same areas that the large surveys are searching. HERE is a link to their search areas and sky coverage plots. Many comets have been discovered visually by searching the "low" skies just after sunset or just before sunrise. Searching near the horizon by means of CCD is somewhat difficult because you must complete a set of images quickly before the area you are searching sets below the horizon. In my opinion, this is the area that should be searched to discover new comets.

Comet Hunting Will Soon Continue!!

Comet Hunting Program

Total Logged Search Time: 10 hours 01 minute.

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006 - NONE

November 2006 - NONE

December 2006 - NONE

These last three months were spent entirely on NEO observations and software upgrades.

Comet hunting will continue in January 2007 with a semi-automated search.

January 2007

February 2007