At Kitt Peak Observatory, comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff was rediscovered on Sep. 13, 1999, in the eastern parts of Andromeda. It presented itself to the observer comparable to comet Schuster. Adding further observations, covering a greater period, impose a drastic correction of the so far published brightness formula. The analysis of the 18 FG member and 45 international observations now point to a rather small activity factor. The brightness evolution can be well described by the formula
yielding a maximum brightness of 13.3m. The apparent coma diameter increased from 0.5' at the start of the apparition to 1.4' in December, but decreased thereafter (until February) to 1.0'. The absolute coma diameter increased rapidly from 20.000 to 45.000 km, decreasing only slightly afterwards. The DC-value increased from DC 0-1 to DC 3-4, but decreased considerably since then.
Total Brightness and Coma diameter
Andreas Kammerer
