Comet Bennett 1969i
Abstract
On 1969 December 28, our member Jack C. Bennett in Pretoria, South Africa, discovered a small, diffuse comet of 8.5 magnitude. The discovery was made during a regular programme of sweeping for new comets he had been carrying out over several years. The comet was in Tucana, declination 65 deg south. Precise positions were soon obtained at the Perth Observatory, Western Australia, by Harris, Candy and Gans. The orbit computed by M. P. Candy, a former Director of the Comet Section, showed the comet to have a perihelion distance of about 0.5AU and an inclination close to 90 deg. Our Comet Section Director and Circulars Editor S. W. Milbourn noted in BAAC 515 that comet Bennett was 'likely to become a bright naked-eye object as it moves quickly north at the end of March.' We were not to be disappointed.
- Publication:
-
Journal of the British Astronomical Association
- Pub Date:
- February 1999
- Bibcode:
- 1999JBAA..109...14H