Comet 29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 1

Comet 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann was discovered on November 15, 1927, by Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann at the Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, Germany. It was discovered photographically, when the comet was in outburst and the magnitude was about 13. Precovery images of the comet from March 4, 1902, were found in 1931 and showed the comet at 12th magnitude.

The comet is unusual in that while normally hovering at around 16th magnitude, it suddenly undergoes an outburst. This causes the comet to brighten by 1 to 4 magnitudes. This happens with a frequency of 7.3 outbursts per year, fading within a week or two. The magnitude of the comet has been known to vary from 19th magnitude to 9th magnitude, a ten thousand-fold increase in brightness, during its brightest outbursts. Highly changing surface processes are suspected to be responsible for the observed behaviour.

The comet is thought to be a member of a relatively new class of objects called "centaurs", of which at least 80 are known. These are small icy bodies with orbits between those of Jupiter and Neptune. Astronomers believe that centaurs are recent escapees from the Kuiper belt, a zone of small bodies orbiting in a cloud at the distant reaches of the solar system. Frequent perturbations by Jupiter will likely accumulate and cause the comet to migrate either inward or outward by the year 4000.

 

March 12th, 2014                20"CDK with FLI camera. 15mins unfiltered.


Outburst of Comet 29P - June/July 2013             All 20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


August 14th, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


July 28th, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


July 22nd, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


July 5th, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


July 1st, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


June 21st, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.


 

June 18th, 2013     20"CDK@F4.5. FLI-PL6303E camera. 4x3mins unfiltered.

 


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