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The organization for Inter-Planetary Mass  and the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has organized the European Comet Conference ECCO2015 in Ondrejov CZeck Republik from 5-7 june 2015.  In particular it was dedicated to comet astronomy.

More than two dozen participants and lecturers from several European countries attended Ondřejov. Some participants like myself are arrived to Ondřejov already on Friday afternoon and could attend an informal meeting at the fire on a meadow under a 65-cm telescope.

Seminar as such started on Saturday morning for SMPH main organizer Jakub Černý. Jiří Borovička from the ASU Interplanetary Matter Department was welcoming all the participants.

Thomas Lehmann (DE) started as first with the contribution of 'Total Comet Magnitudes from CCD / DSLR Photometry'.  Comet observers using CCD techniques will certainly have far-reaching discussions and problems with the continuity of CCD photometric data and visual observations. Thomas showed that careful processing of data from modern CCD sensors (in the visual field and under high-quality observation conditions) no significant differences arise, between the measured and the visually estimated magnitude, and the problem is mostly to be found somewhere else (in the proper calibration and methodology of a particular Measurement or visual estimation).

The second morning lecture by Jakub Černý (CZ), 'Size distribution of O-C comet nuclei' by by Jakub Černý (CZ), has attracted some attention. The method, which uses measurable physical properties of comets and the development of their ephemerides (primarily non-gravitational forces), makes it possible in essence to independently estimate the size of the nucleus with precision that many seemingly accurate methods can only seem to be.  This was totally new for me and very interesting lecture !

'The quest for the ultimate image of the Eclipse Comet of 1948' by Daniel Fischer (GE) was the next presentation and bring us to the history. Although it is a relatively recent historical event - observation and a comet shot at a complete eclipse in 1948, today's information about this phenomenon is extremely inaccurate and in many ways contradictory. And as it turned out, the story behind the observation is a very complicated story, and its unraveling required superhuman efforts.  Interesting that he has extract from Belgian/Dutch magazine of astronomy.

Comet 29P / SW1: The Most Enigmatic Object in Our Solar System, presented by Richard Miles (UK), was very interesting for today's comet observers. The comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann is one of the the most interesting objects of the Solar System. Richard Miles, in his lecture, outlined the signs of brightening periodicity in the past decades and also proposed a completely new mechanism that such brightening in comets can cause. Its explanation is based on the repeated thawing and freezing of individual compounds under the solid surface of the core, which allows for the non-short-term existence of the liquid phase of some substances. This literally leads to carbonation, which is also present under the surface.  Very interesting lecture ! Because I do several years of observation on this comet to understand his behavior. The reservoir of such blends is expanding and at some point (e.g., after a few rounds of the core) it is already strong enough to pressurize enough to break the cure, overturn, and rapid disintegration (which is the reason for the brightening of some comets , Even 17P / Holmes). Although this idea is quite radical, it certainly does not detract from the physical sense, and its confirmation or refutation could be behind the door as part of the ongoing exploration of the comet 67P by the Rosetta probe.

'Amateur comet work in the UK' presentation by brand new Director of the BAA (British Astronomical Associateion) Nick James (UK). The situation is similar in many respects to our (and to other European countries), and this was the reason why this discussion was followed by discussions on amateur comet observation projects across Europe and related international cooperation in this field. It turns out that the problem is not the lack of capable amateur observers (without them many of the interesting phenomena would be noticed today). The problem is the low interest of the professional public in long-term projects that would allow the maintenance and operation of comet information databases at international level. This is best seen by the ICQ's non-functioning, which has been collecting, archiving and publishing for years for the needs of the professional public.

Saturday afternoon we are invited to the tour of the astronomical institute, both modern and historical. Within the scope of the 2m Perk telescope tour we could visit the enormous building wich houses also a very impressive spectrograph.  We were formally handed over by the representative of the Astronomical Institute Pavel Suchan (representing Peter Right as the discoverer of the asteroid). After that we did very nice historical observatories with very old and nice telescopes !  Some photos can you find in the photo’s here on the webpage.

Later in the afternoon, Michael Kueppers (ESAC, Spain) gave us overview of the 'Overview of Rosetta results' lecture that echoes the achievements of Rosetta. Asked if and when to awaken the Philae case on the surface, he replied that in the next few weeks, the probability was not to be guessed. As we already know, he was right, the Philae case broke into hibernation on June 13th. What is interesting is that if Rosetta itself is in good shape, its mission will be extended by half a year - by mid-2016 (we know it will be until the end of September 2016). Then it should be led to (as far as possible) the smoothest landing on the surface 67P.

The Comet Observation Program 67P with terrestrial amateur and professional instruments includes a lot of points from visual observations to spectroscopy, and practically anyone can get involved. This was the live SKYPE presentation that was given by Padma Yanamandra-Fisher (USA).   The PACA project (Professional Amateur Comet astronomy) is in hands of Padma. Main goal is to make coordinated ground based observation of comet 67P.  Padma gives us an overview and how it works.

On Sunday we started with 2  presentations from Uwe Pilz(GE) The first 'Dust tail simulation' was devoted to its own program for simulating particulate matter released from cometary nucleus, which for many observers represents a very useful tool to simulate the appearance of the dusty balls of contemporary and historical comets. The second post, 'Kphot review', focused on the Kphot photometric program, which has CCD comet measurement to calculate their equivalent visual magnification, thus trying to overcome the difference between CCD and visual observers.