15P/FINLAY IN OUTBURST AND C/2014 Q2 (LOVEJOY) CONTINUES TO BRIGHTEN
2014-December-18
Short-period comet 15P/Finlay is in outburst. Predicted to be around magnitude ~10-11 as it approaches its December 27 perihelion at 0.95 AU from the Sun, observers posting on the comets-ml mailing list (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/comets-ml/info) estimate the comet is much brighter at magnitude ~8-9. Finlay is currently an evening object located about 2 degrees to the southwest of Mars.
Long-period comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) may still be too far south for many northern observers but it is steadily heading north. Its rapid brightening trend continues with comet-ml posters reporting naked eye sightings. ALPO Comet Section contributors Willian Souza and Salvador Aguirre have watched the comet brighten from magnitude 7.6 at the start of December to 5.5 last night. It looks likely that Lovejoy will peak at around magnitude 4 to 5 in early January. Charts for both comets can be found on the German Comet Group’s comet chart site.
If the sky is clear for you this Holiday Season, try to give these two ’snowballs’ a peak. The ALPO Comet Section is happy to receive observations of these or any other comets.
- Carl Hergenrother (ALPO Comet Section)