TACos,
I observed Toutatis from home Monday and Tuesday nights. It wasn't too
hard to find, just a short hop from 36 Cap on Monday and from 34 (Zeta)
Cap on Tuesday (I used the charts in Sky & Telescope magazine). I drew
little diagrams each night to compare the position.
It was pretty dim, so I had to wait until after moonset. I'd guess
about mag 11.0 to 11.5, based on comparison to the dimmest nearby stars
I could see, which was about 12.0.
I knew from the charts in the magazine that its apparent position would
shift significantly from night to night, but I was surprised that I
could detect movement on Tuesday night in just 45 minutes. It helped
that it was near two stars of almost the same magnitude, and formed a
little obtuse triangle with them at first, but 45 minutes later it was
colinear with them.
As it passes closer to Earth, it will be moving (apparently) even
faster. However, the moon is starting to get in the way, so I'd
suggest bigger aperture if you want to see it the next couple of
nights. Then it's gone (unless you live much farther South).
(Observed with TV NP 101 at 60X (9mm).)
Bob J.
Received on Wed Sep 22 17:45:32 2004