Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann and its bt fragment: 25 Feb. 2017
We managed to follow-up comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann and its recently discovered fragment bt. A nice comet to monitor over the next months.
Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann and bt fragment. 25 Feb. 2017
After our images from 16 Feb. 2017, the new fragment (labelled “bt”) of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was imaged again, as well as its parent body (C). Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann will reach perihelion next March. Of course, we wil do further follow-up to see how this fragment will evolve.
The image above comes from the average of ten 60-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.75 Tenagra III (“Pearl”) robotic unit part of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The observatory is placed at 1300 meters above the sea level, in the Sonoran desert, providing one of the best skies in the world. This image was taken as part of a cooperation between the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories, Ltd., which will be announced soon.
At the imaging time, the comet was only about 13 deg. high above the horizon.
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