[ATM] Interesting observation made

["Shekhar Phatak" <shekhar@vsnl.com>]

Hello all,

Early in the morning on February 13, 2005, Ketan Pendse, a friend of
mine and I noticed some new and extraordinary object in the sky. This
object is not listed in anyof the catalogues (Messier, NGC etc.). It
remained visible to the naked eye from 3.30 am until twilight.

We have already sent our observation report Central Bureau of
Astronomical Telegrams. The report reads as follows.
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Preliminary Report: Ketan Pendse + Shekhar Phatak
Name of Observers: Shekhar Phatak
Contact Address:  203-B Umashankar Apartment, Opp. Hotel Shriman, Paud
Road, Pune 411038 Date of observation: 12 Feb. 2005 Time of
observation: 22 UT
Observation Method: Naked eye + Binocular 20X50 + Reflector 4" f/8 Visual
Place of Observation: Sinhagad - Fort 30 km south-west of Pune
Approximate Long. 18.233 deg N Lat. 73.567 deg E Altitude 1100 m.
Observers: All Amateurs - members of Jyotirvidya Parisanstha, Pune
based 60 years old amateur astronomers' association- having good
experience of about 10 years. Both have experience of Messier
marathon.
Observation: Some fussy object flared bright at approximate RA 12 h 36
m Dec. -23 deg. at 22 UT. (We are not very confident of these since we
did not take it seriously then). The object disappeared almost
immediately, thus we thought it was some meteor.
We noticed the object at RA 16h 08m 08s Dec -14d 34m 40s within half
an out ( 22:30 UT) as it brightened again (little brighter than Omega
Centauri.as seen through my 12" f/4.5 Newtonean with 9 mm eye-piece)
These RA/Dec are reasonably accurate.  The object kept on moving
eastwards. We could not record its RA/Dec due to twilight.
The shape observed through the telescope (4" f/8 Newtonean) was
Spiral, very similar to a face on spiral galaxy.
As it was generally moving towards Sun, we think it could be a comet
very near to earth (because it was moving quite fast ).
We informed reappearance immediately to Suhas Gurjar, President
Jyotirvidya Parisanstha, who observed the object from Pune city
immediately. There was no paralax between the two readings, which
indicates that it was a far away object and not a local atmospheric
phenomenon.

Ketan Pendse - Shekhar Phatak
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Since then a report has already come in that the object was also
sighted from a location about 100 km north of Pune, more or less
confirming our observation that the object was not a result of any
local atmospheric phenomena.

We have already forwarded our report to observatories around the
globe, with arequest to try and spot the object again. If is indeed
a comet, it should now be possible to locate it in the area of
Opheuchus/Saggitarious. By this mail, I am requesting you to try and
trace the object, if you are a serious observer, or forward this mail
to any one who would be interested in helping us in tracing the
object.

It was too spectacular a phenomenon to take it lightly.

Clear skies,

Shekhar

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