Forum der Vereinigung der Sternfreunde

Comet 144P/Kushida has brightened enough to now be visible in my small 50mm f/3.5 and ST-402ME setup. Magnitude estimates have it brightening to around magnitude 8 early in 2024 so these pages will be graced with nice images of the comet in the near future. Calculations on 20x60 second images with no filter showed the comet was magnitude G=13.9 in an aperture diameter of 2' on 2023 December 6.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2023 December 18 was magnitude G=13.4 as calculated from 25x30 second images with no filter and an aperture diameter of 2.5'.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2023 December 31 was magnitude G=11.0 as calculated from 20x30 second green filter images and an aperture diameter of 4'.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2024 January 9 was magnitude G=10.6 as calculated from 25x30 second green filter images and an aperture diameter of 6'. This comet coma continues to grow in size with a rather weak appearing nucleus area.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2024 February 5 was magnitude G=9.4 as calculated from 25x20 second images taken thru a green filter and an aperture diameter of 6'.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2024 February 24 was magnitude G=9.6 as calculated from 10x30 second images taken thru a green filter and an aperture diameter of 5'. The Full Moon graced the night skies.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona

144P on 2024 March 28 is slowly fading at magnitude G=11.1 as calculated from 15x30s images taken thru a green filter in a 3' aperture diameter. The comet still has a nice green coma in a crowded star field.

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Cheers, Mike
Arizona