17 minutes exposure. Kodak Tri-X 400 film. 5" f/5 refractor, prime focus.
Generally comet 26/P Grigg-Skjellerup is a rather faint member of Jupiter's family of comets. However after the 1972 return, the comet was perturbed into a new orbit. As a result of this new orbit, the 1977 return saw the comet make a comparatively close approach to the Earth, with a minimum distance of only 0.18AU. As a result, the comet briefly reached magnitude 10 during mid April as it moved rapidly northwards across the sky.
Comet Grigg-Skjellerup 1902II. April 13, 1977. At this stage the comet was a small diffuse object of about magnitude 10.1.
Comet Grigg-Skjellerup 1902II. April 19, 1977. At this stage the comet was a small diffuse object of about magnitude 10.5. The movement of the comet during the 10 minute interval between photographs is just visible.
Although never a prominent object, it was still interesting to observe. Even more so 5 years later when a new meteor shower associated with this comet appeared in Puppis.