Check this one out! Paul C has confirmed a prediction that Comet Ikeya-Zhang will pass very close to M31 at or about 4th April and will be at a predicted mag of 5.3. He got a good view of it Friday 1st before he went to the GM in Timperley. In April it should make a good photo opportunity?
The orbital elements from Chris Marriott at SkyMap for Comet Ikeya-Zhang are:-
T=2002 Mar, TT=18.9784, q=0.507061, e=0.990111, w(omegaLC)=34.6666, Omega(UC)=93.3718, i=28.1206, H=7.5 and G=4.
If you input these elements into SkyMap you can plot the position and track of Ikeya-Zhang to know where it will be and when! NB LC=lower case and UC= upper case.
by Unknown ADAS member
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