Hi all,
I have been observing C/2024 G3 for the last few weeks using T70 at X07 in Chile. This instrument is able to get down to the mountain ridge horizon which is around 4 degrees at that azimuth and the sky transparecy at X07 is very good. T70 is a very short FL instrument (actually a Samyang 135mm FL lens) but it is good for magnitude estimates of bright comets although the astrometry I get from the images is a bit ropey.
This morning (Dec 28.35) I had a total magnitude of 6.0 unfiltered using Comphot and Gaia DR3 G mags. Michael's estiamate at around the same time using T75 was 5.8 (taken from COBS). These are fitting the lightcurve well so there is no sign of any abnormal activity at the moment.
Using astrometry from the MPC up to December 23 and my more recent astrometry with the 135mm lens there appears to be no obvious improvement to the residuals by including non-gravitational forces. This was using Findorb.
My image from this morning is here:
Other images and data are here:
Here's hoping that this comet survives to provide a nice display post-perihelion. Sadly, us northern observers won't get much of a chance to see it so we will be relying on reports from the southern hemisphere.
Nick James. BAA Comet Section.
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On 28/12/2024 07:42, Michael Mattiazzo via groups.io wrote:
Howdy Folks,
C/2024 G3 ATLAS has been kept under extensive observation by several observers, despite its poor location.
Attached a light curve showing a steady brightening toward perihelion that could see it reach magnitude -3, if it survives.
I¡¯ve also attached images from Dec 25 and 26 showing a curious spine feature (often seen in outbursting comets) but this comet is not in outburst.
Hopefully there is sufficient nuclear material to keep going. It is a very dusty comet as seen with the parabolic hood.
This situation reminds me of C/2002 V1 NEAT in March 2023
Cheers,
Michael
