Comet 174P/Echeclus outburst: a new image (07 Oct. 2016)
Comet 174P/Echeclus was observed again via the Virtual Telescope Project, to track how its outburst developed.
As you know, we have been following-up this comet several times recently, to track its evolution after the Aug. outburst. While 174P/Echeclus is slowly fading, down to its ordinary brightness and aspect, but even this time, on 7 Oct. 2016, we have found clear signs of cometary activity.
The one above comes from the average of seven, 300 seconds exposures,remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope Project. The coma is at least 30 arc-minutes large (much smaller than last time), and still shows some possible features south from the nucleus.
Weather permitting, we will continue observing this intriguing target to see if a coma will be visible again.
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