Comet 2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa December 27, 2002.
Combination of 23, 30-second images, SBIG ST-8E CCD.
8" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.
Yet another bright comet for 2002 was discovered on December 13 when the 9th magnitude comet 2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa was discovered. During mid-December and early January, this comet made a fine sight. Following perihelion the comet rapidly moved south and was only visible from the southern hemisphere, until it reappeared low in the south-west in April as an 11th magnitude object.
This image shows quite well how the comet looked in the telescope. The comet was around magnitude 6.7 , with a well condensed coma that was around 8' across The tail was very faint but could be followed for about 15' in a 10" telescope. The image below is the same set of images but has been processed to show the tail more clearly.
Comet 2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa December 27, 2002.
Combination of 36, 30-second images, SBIG ST-8E CCD.
8" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.
Comet 2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa December 27, 2002.
Combination of 59, 30-second images, SBIG ST-8E CCD.
8" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.
Even comet Kudo-Fujikawa was not the last bright comet discovered in 2002! On December 28, the 15th magnitude comet 2002 Y1 Jules-Holvorcem was discovered. During February and March of 2003, this comet was a fine sight for telescopes and peaked at around magnitude 6 in mid-March, although by this time it was starting to get quite close to the Sun. Following perihelion, the comet faded slowly and moved rapidly south. It also remained close to the Sun until early May, by which time it was very difficult to observe from the northern hemisphere. Shortly after this, it became a southern hemisphere object only as it continued to fade slowly, falling below 12th magnitude by August. From a personal standpoint however, these last comets were a disappointment. A heavy teaching load and the ever wonderful Minnesota weather combined to keep me from the telescope for the entire first half of 2003. I was not able to do any imaging between January 12 and June 19!!! My observations were confined to quick glimpses with 15x80 binoculars!