Hello list

Here are some of my observations of comet C/2006 W3 since June 21st:

C/2006 W3 (Christensen):
2009 Jun.21.95 UT: m1=8.8, dia.=3', DC=6, no tail, 20x90B (R.Kostenko, Poltava,
Ukraine)
[astronomical twilight, excellent transparency, Bortle class 5/6]
2009 Jun.23.97 UT: m1=9.3, dia.=3', DC=6, no tail, 20x90B (R.Kostenko, Poltava,
Ukraine)
[astronomical twilight, good transparency, Bortle class 5/6]
2009 Jun.30.97 UT: m1=9.4, dia.=&2.5', DC=5/, no tail, 20x90B (R.Kostenko,
Poltava, Ukraine)
[astronomical twilight, excellent transparency, Bortle class 5/6]
2009 Jul.01.95 UT: m1=9.3, dia.=3'.5, DC=6, no tail, 20x90B (R.Kostenko,
Poltava, Ukraine)
[astronomical twilight, excellent transparency, Bortle class 5/6]
2009 Jul.02.99 UT: m1=9.2, dia.=4'.3, DC=6, no tail, 20x90B (R.Kostenko,
Poltava, Ukraine)
[astronomical twilight, good transparency, Bortle class 5/6]

ICQ format:
IIIYYYYMnL YYYY MM DD.DD eM mm.m:r AAA.ATF/xxxx &dd.ddnDC &t.ttmANG ICQ XX*OBSXX
2006W3 2009 06 19.95 S 9.7 TK 9.0B 5 20 3 6 ICQ XX KOSXX
2006W3 2009 06 21.95 S 8.8 TK 9.0B 5 20 3 6 ICQ XX KOSXX
2006W3 2009 06 23.97 S 9.3 TK 9.0B 5 20 3 6 ICQ XX KOSXX
2006W3 2009 06 30.97 S 9.4 TK 9.0B 5 20 & 2.5 5/ ICQ XX KOSXX
2006W3 2009 07 01.95 S 9.3 TK 9.0B 5 20 3.5 6 ICQ XX KOSXX
2006W3 2009 07 02.99 S 9.2 TK 9.0B 5 20 4.3 6 ICQ XX KOSXX

Comments:
The weather was clear on all of these nights, ZNELM varied on different nights
between 5.2-5.8m
Most of observations were done in the end of astronomical twilight.
Comet is small, moderately faint (in 20x90B) and well condensed. Some evidence
of false nucleus was observed on Jul.01/02/03 (I confirmed it in 20cm refractor
on Jul.02/03 - I will report that observation separately).
Magnitude estimates are based on 3-5 Tycho-2 stars each time (VSS method).

Jun.21/22 observed at 01:25-01:55 EEST. ML=11.1. Comet altitude 52 deg. Star TYC
2741-470-1 (10.7m) at the edge of the coma.
Jun.23/24 observed at 01:45-02:20 EEST. ML=11.2. Comet altitude 58 deg.
Jun.30/01 observed at 01:45-02:25 EEST. ML=11.4. Comet altitude 65 deg. Star TYC
2728-1471-1 (9.9m) at the edge of the coma.
Jul.01/02 observed at 01:20-02:00 EEST. ML=12.0. Comet altitude 61 deg.
Jul.02/03 observed at 02:15-02:52 EEST. ML=11.5. Comet altitude 69 deg.

Regards,
Roman (White) Kostenko
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