COMET C/2002 C1 (IKEYA-ZHANG)
Comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) 12 Mars 2002 – Toni
Scarmato, Calabria, Italy
This image show the
curve of light of the Comet C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang),
using the average data of the visual observations (blu
points) from UAI (Unione
Astrofili Italiani) and ICQ
web page by D. Green. Seem clear that the theoretical curve 7+10.8logr+5logD (r is Sun-Comet radius and D
Earth-Comet radius), compute with the data before perielio is not able
to follow the behaviour of the comet
after the perielio. Instead, the theoretical curve 6+7logr+5logD seem to be a good fit of the average
of the visual observations. If this is a good light curve, then the magnitude
of the comet in February month seem underestimate of about 1 magnitude.
Toni’s Scarmato
Astronomy HomePage
San Costantino di
Briatico, Calabria, Italy