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(meteorobs) Comet P/Encke in Outburst!




   I was able to see the famous periodic comet Encke from downtown Greenbelt,
Maryland yesterday evening. It is currently undergoing an outburst and is 
about 7th magn. I saw it with 12x63 binoculars. On Saturday night observers 
will be in for a real treat if it doesn't fade as P/Encke will be in the same 
low power field as Brocchi's Cluster (aka 'The Coat Hanger')!

  Even though comet P/Encke has the shortest period of any known comet
(~3.3 years), it isn't always favorably placed. I saw it once before in
1990. Below is an ephemeris taken from the Charles S. Morris comet website:


2003 11 17    20 25.59   +30 27.1    0.261    1.009    87.0    8.6  
2003 11 22    19 32.89   +21 28.2    0.268    0.925    68.8    8.1  
2003 11 27    18 50.31   +12 28.2    0.291    0.839    51.8    7.7  
2003 12 02    18 15.75   +04 21.9    0.327    0.750    36.7    7.2 
2003 12 07    17 47.32   -02 36.0    0.378    0.658    24.0    6.7  
2003 12 12    17 24.22   -08 30.4    0.444    0.566    14.7    6.0  

Good Observing!
GWG

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