Comet Boattini is a near naked eye comet which should be easily visible in binoculars from southern skies. It is in fact rather brighter than expected. During later May and early June The time to look will be in the early evening, once the Moon is out of the sky. (Full Moon is on May 20). During this time the comet will cross Pyxis and Puppis to move into Canis Major. As it moves across this last constellation it will pass within 6° of Sirius, being closest on June 10.
By May 23 The comet should be visible soon after 6 pm once the sky is dark following sunset. It will be high in the sky between north and northwest, well to the right of Sirius and quite a bit higher than the star. It will not set until well after midnight. By the beginning of June it will be about 20° above Sirius and a little to the right of the star. Boattini will then set a little before midnight. By June 10 and 11, when the comet will be closest to Sirius, it will be almost due west at 6 pm, 6° to the left of Sirius. This should make locating the comet reasonably easy.
Boattini is at conjunction with the Sun on June 23 and will be lost from view in the evening sky. Since Boattini is well south of the Sun, it will then rise before the Sun as seen from the latitude of New Zealand and be visible in the morning sky just before dawn. Its magnitude is uncertain, it could become a fairly bright object, but should in any case be readily visible in binoculars.
Chart generated with the assistance of GUIDE 8.0 produced by Project Pluto.
Date UT RA declination mag Elong Alt Azim Con ----------- ----------- ------------- --- ----- --- ---- --- 16 May 2008 09h48m40.16s -23 50' 56.3" 5.0 101.0 68 28 Hya 17 May 2008 09h43m40.62s -24 00' 28.8" 4.9 99.2 69 23 Hya 18 May 2008 09h38m32.26s -24 09' 57.5" 4.9 97.3 70 17 Hya 19 May 2008 09h33m14.39s -24 19' 19.1" 4.9 95.5 70 11 Hya 20 May 2008 09h27m46.25s -24 28' 30.5" 4.8 93.6 70 5 Hya 21 May 2008 09h22m07.08s -24 37' 26.7" 4.8 91.7 71 358 Pyx 22 May 2008 09h16m16.04s -24 46' 02.5" 4.7 89.7 71 351 Pyx 23 May 2008 09h10m12.31s -24 54' 11.6" 4.7 87.8 70 344 Pyx 24 May 2008 09h03m55.00s -25 01' 46.8" 4.7 85.8 70 337 Pyx 25 May 2008 08h57m23.25s -25 08' 39.8" 4.6 83.8 69 331 Pyx 26 May 2008 08h50m36.19s -25 14' 41.2" 4.6 81.7 68 324 Pyx 27 May 2008 08h43m32.99s -25 19' 40.1" 4.5 79.7 67 318 Pyx 28 May 2008 08h36m12.87s -25 23' 24.5" 4.5 77.6 66 313 Pyx 29 May 2008 08h28m35.13s -25 25' 40.9" 4.5 75.4 64 308 Pyx 30 May 2008 08h20m39.17s -25 26' 14.6" 4.4 73.3 62 303 Pup 31 May 2008 08h12m24.57s -25 24' 49.6" 4.4 71.1 60 299 Pup 1 Jun 2008 08h03m51.08s -25 21' 08.8" 4.3 68.9 58 295 Pup 2 Jun 2008 07h54m58.70s -25 14' 53.9" 4.3 66.7 56 292 Pup 3 Jun 2008 07h45m47.70s -25 05' 46.4" 4.3 64.4 54 289 Pup 4 Jun 2008 07h36m18.69s -24 53' 27.3" 4.2 62.2 51 286 Pup 5 Jun 2008 07h26m32.62s -24 37' 38.2" 4.2 60.0 49 283 CMa 6 Jun 2008 07h16m30.87s -24 18' 01.3" 4.2 57.7 46 280 CMa 7 Jun 2008 07h06m15.25s -23 54' 21.1" 4.2 55.5 43 277 CMa 8 Jun 2008 06h55m47.97s -23 26' 24.5" 4.1 53.4 40 275 CMa 9 Jun 2008 06h45m11.68s -22 54' 02.1" 4.1 51.3 37 273 CMa 10 Jun 2008 06h34m29.37s -22 17' 09.1" 4.1 49.3 34 271 CMa 11 Jun 2008 06h23m44.33s -21 35' 45.5" 4.1 47.4 31 270 CMa 12 Jun 2008 06h13m00.07s -20 49' 57.4" 4.1 45.6 28 268 CMa 13 Jun 2008 06h02m20.16s -19 59' 56.3" 4.1 44.1 25 266 Lep 14 Jun 2008 05h51m48.21s -19 05' 59.4" 4.1 42.7 22 264 Lep