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Comet C/2002 F1
Utsunomiya

Michael Jäger photograph of Utsunomiya on April 30
Copyright © 2002 by Michael Jäger (Austria)

This photograph was obtained by Michael Jäger on 2002 April 30.82. It is a composite of two 1-minute exposures obtained with a 250/450 Schmidt camera and Kodak Ektachrome 100 film. He estimated the comet was then near magnitude 5.0.

Discovery

Syogo Utsunomiya (Minami Oguni-machi, Aso-gun, Kumamoto-ken, Japan) discovered this comet in morning twilight with 25x150 binoculars on 2002 March 18.44. He gave the magnitude as 10 and estimated the coma diameter as 1 arcmin. Utsunomiya confirmed the comet the next morning and described it as magnitude 10.0, with a diffuse, weakly condensed coma about 1.5 arcmin across

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Historical Highlights

  • The first published orbit came on March 21. B. G. Marsden (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams) took 31 positions obtained on March 20 and 21, and calculated a parabolic orbit with a perihelion date of 2002 April 23.46. The orbit indicated the comet would pass 0.46 AU from the sun (just under 43 million miles) and could reach a maximum brightness of magnitude 5.6 during the last half of April.
  • The initial visual observations confirmed the magnitude 10 estimate of Utsunomiya. Observers using CCD cameras noted a tail extending toward the west-southwest, with the greatest estimates being near 1.5° in length.

  • Latest Images


    Michael Jäger photograph of Utsunomiya on April 13
    Copyright © 2002 by Michael Jäger (Austria)

    This photograph was obtained by Michael Jäger on 2002 April 13.10. It is a composite of two 4-minute exposures obtained with a 250/450 Schmidt-Cassegrain and Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.


    Alfredo Garcia, Jr. image of Utsunomiya on May 3.13
    Copyright © 2002 by Alfredo Garcia, Jr. (Arizona)

    This image was obtained by Alfredo Garcia, Jr. on 2002 May 3.13. It is a composite of two 30-second unguided exposures obtained with a 127-mm f/5 Orion Short Tube Refractor and an MX5C CCD camera.

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