Hi Patrick: Thanks, but all I want is a chart showing it's path a few weeks before and after perilelion. The ephemeris in the 1997 Observers Handbook is fine, but I'm looking for the lazy man's approach before I start typing in ephemeride data. My computer time is limited and I was hoping for a ready-to-print chart before generating my own. It's pretty easy to identify the night or morning the shots were taken once I know the part of the sky to match-up the star pattern. If anyone has a copy of the Hale-Bopp paperback, I'd appreciate an emailed scan of the chart showing the comet's path. Mine's buried in deep storage. :o( I'll type in the ephemeride terms as a last resort. On 7/15/07, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> wrote:
Hi Chuck,
You might want to try the Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service at: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html
It will generate a list of positions going back several years.
You'll need to enter it's official designation, C/1995 O1. I don't think you have to enter an observatory code but if you do you can use mine, 718.
Just for fun I asked it where H-B will be for the next 10 hours:
CJ95O010 Date UT R.A. (J2000) Decl. Sun Moon h m s Dist. Alt. 2007 07 15 220000 04 26 56.9 -83 09 10 107 +64 2007 07 15 230000 04 26 59.1 -83 09 15 107 +56 2007 07 16 000000 04 27 01.2 -83 09 19 107 +45 2007 07 16 010000 04 27 03.4 -83 09 24 107 +34 2007 07 16 020000 04 27 05.6 -83 09 28 106 +23 2007 07 16 030000 04 27 07.8 -83 09 32 106 +12 2007 07 16 040000 04 27 10.0 -83 09 37 106 +01 2007 07 16 050000 04 27 12.2 -83 09 41 106 -08 2007 07 16 060000 04 27 14.4 -83 09 46 106 -17 2007 07 16 070000 04 27 16.6 -83 09 50 106 -24
Looks like to see it you'll need to haul your 15 meter Dob to the Antarctic. :)
pw
On 15 Jul 2007, at 13:31, Chuck Hards wrote:
Does anyone have a url handy for a chart showing the night-by-night path of Hale-Bopp? I'm trying to date the dozens of photos that I shot; I have long-ago lost my exposure notes...I can't believe that it's been over ten years.
I have that large paperback that was published, but it's buried in my basement somewhere and I can't lay my hands on it quickly. I also dug out my 1997 Observers Handbook, it does have an abbreviated ephemeris for Hale-Bopp that I could plug into my planetarium program, but I'm hoping that someone else already has such a chart site bookmarked and you can save me some searching and keyboarding.