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The ye old objects-of-the-month club, and any other observing tidbits we come up with like observing reports from members.
2019-04-27: Hey You Asteroids...Get Off My Star!
Caught an asteroid blocking our view of a star that is 1800 lightyears away.
That was just the exact time I wanted to take a picture of it, too! Used my
C6 and a Canon T6i DSLR on my Celestron Evolution mount. The camera was set
to ISO3200. I drove the mount (goto) a star ahead of SAO 137356 and stopped
the motors. Opened the shutter and let the stars drift through for 148 seconds.
I worked out the gap times from printing the picture then using 148sec/212mm.
The picture is the full APS-C field of the sensor. I kept the shutter open
as long as I could. The position of everything was getting pretty close to
going outside the box for that scope and sensor size in SkySafari on my iPad.
Good thing I stuck it out. If I had stopped early I would have missed the
gap. The bright white star is HD87838 at mag 7.73. SAO 137356 is mag 8.75.
Nina's magnitude was about 13.5 and it is about 80 kilometers across. It's
in the main asteroid belt.
Bob2
2019-01-03: Comet 46P/Wirtanen Nears Polaris
A view of the north celestial pole with Polaris (brightest star at left),
and the blue-green comet (at arrow). A RegiStax composite of 5 images using
a Canon EOS T3 and 18mm f.l. lens at ISO 800; and f/3.5. Each image is a 2
min. exposure taken at 10 min. intervals from 9:00 to 9:53 pm MST.
No Quadrantids (or sporadic meteors) were seen or imaged between end of twilight
and 1:45 am. This image is slightly cropped and contrast-enhanced; and suffers
from some astigmatism and a slightly misaligned polar axis.
R. B. Minton, Olney Springs, CO
2018-12-04: Comet On The Move
Last night, I had a great view of comet 46P/Wirtanen. It was clearly visible.
naked eye, as a soft dot just below pi Eridani. This was at an elevation of
about 20 degrees, around 7:30 pm. Two hours later, it was quite a sight. The
'great view' was in 15x70 binoculars. It was about 1/5 of the field width
(about 0.9 degrees), with a soft dot core (nucleus), a large, bright spherical
glow (coma) and a nearly 2x larger faint halo (gas 'tail'). The faint outer
zone was larger at 9:30 pm (around 40 degrees elevation). I had a sense of
asymmetry (offset nucleus), but couldn't quite 'see' it.
Around 7:30, the Milky Way was overhead. I scanned the Deneb area with the
15x70's and was blown away by the numerous dark nebulae, and the visible range
of darkness (opacity). It was one of those truly moving experiences. Most
of these were irregular and quite large relative to most galaxies observed
by amateurs. When I tried to identify some of them, I was frustrated by the
lack of detailed mapping of these features. No doubt, this is due to a lack
of interest by amateurs, likely the result of the sky quality needed to appreciate
them.
The dark nebulae around Deneb were considerably reduced two hours later (about
30 degrees lower elevation). However, M31 was incredible -in the 15x70's it
was huge (spanned most of the 4.4 degree field), looking very much like a
inclined spiral galaxy. :-) M110 was large and M32 was visible but obscured
by the disc of M31.
I then turned to the Orion region. The sword area and belt (with Collinder
70) were amazing. In the sword, NGC1977 and 1980 were both visible as soft
glows. I then caught sight of a soft arcuate glow on the edge of the field.
I was able to trace the entire Baranrd's loop in the 15x70's without a filter
and with direct vision. Changes in brightness and width were easily visible.
The Rosette nebula (in the 15x70's) was huge (around 1 1/2 degrees dia.) and
highly varriegated - wreath like.
Quite a night! All with 15x70 AP binoculars (kindly loaned to me by Larry
Arbeiter).
The wind was calm and the temperature was 21°F - cold but easily manageable.
Light meter reading (10° version) was 21.58 mpsas, overhead, in the Milky
Way. The Milky Way typically decreases such a reading by about 0.2 mpsas.
Clear skies,
Bob Pody
FOLLOW UP:
Taken with a ASI1600MC on a C8 HyperStar lens, 30 seconds, gain 250 at Box
Canyon, NM. That's Pi Cet to the left. Maybe the start of a tail if you squint
a lot.
Bob G (Bob2)
2018-06-11: A Couple Of Observing Alerts
1) Last chance to observe Omega Centauri this year. It is now visible at the
end of astronomical twilight almost due south, within a binocular field of
the horizon (less than 5 degrees). By midnight it is below the horizon. Don't
miss this spectacular DSO.
2) Mars is rapidly approaching opposition (end of July) when it will be 24
arc seconds in diameter. It is already over 16 arc seconds and appears very
similar in size to the disc of Saturn. Much detail can already be seen in
small scopes at only 150 - 200x.
3) We are now getting periods of a few days of monsoonal circulation (though
not the rain, which is likely a few weeks off). The monsoons bring a lot of
clouds and fewer nights, but the best seeing of the year. Take advantage of
any clear nights and treat yourself to some superb views.
Clear skies,
Bob Pody
2018-05-12: Challenge Accepted
Dr. Dan and I were taking a peek at Omega Centauri through some binoculars
at Etscorn Observatory...and then M13...and then the idea came up to take
a picture with the same settings of both objects to compare their sizes. M13
is on the left, and Omega Centauri on the right. The pictures are intrinsically
crap, because I was testing the mount and the scope, and not planning on taking
any good pictures, but you can get the idea. These are the same scale, and
were the same exposure length, so the size difference is real. The Omega one
is hazy, because of light pollution.
Bob G (Bob2)
May 2018
If you have a low southern horizon, scan the horizon around 11:30 pm for a
view of the Omega Centauri globular cluster. Look between Corvus and Spica
(along the horizon). It is visible to the naked eye under dark skies, but
more easily spotted in binoculars as a large (moon-size) granular glow. If
you place Omega Centauri at the bottom of the binocular field you will spot
the Centaurus A galaxy near the top of the field as a small dim 'spot'. The
famous dust lane is easily seen (with averted vision) in small telescopes.
Clear skies,
Bob Pody
2019-05-07