Peter,

Thanks for that report. I used comphot on the green channel of a colour
image taken this morning using an ASI2600MC on a Redcat 51 and I get a
total magnitude of 9.6 and a coma diameter of 2.0 arcmin so remarkably
close to yours although using very different equipment. The comet should
brighten by a few magnitudes as it moves in to perihelion.

I haven't submitted this estimate to COBS yet since I'm waiting for the
comet to get a proper designation. I don't understand why it is taking
so long. There is no question that it is a comet and there is a huge
amount of astrometry on the PCCP, including observations from 2024
September, so the orbit is very secure.

This comet is definitely worth getting up for. It it is within the range
of small smart telescopes and it would be good to get lots of coverage
so that we can use comphot to track the total magnitude over the next
few months.

Nick.

On 05/04/2025 09:48, Peter Carson wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Here's a link to my image of PCCP comet SWAN25F taken this morning in a partly cloudy sky at my remote observatory in Extremadura, Spain.
>
>
> https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20250405_084431_237788bee95c0786
>
>
> It shows a tail approximately 12 arcminutes long and has a total integrated magnitude of 9.6, with a coma 2.1 arcminutes in diameter, as measured in Comphot.
> A nice surprise comet and worth the effort of leaving my nice warm bed before dawn!
>
> Peter