Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 25 and 26)
Elenin passes through the image field of view of the STEREO H1 Behind imager on August 25. Click to embiggen. Image processed from NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Inverted image, dark lines and weird loopy bits are imaging artifacts. |  Elenin passes through the image field of view of the STEREO H1 Behind imager on August 26. Click to embiggen. Image processed from NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Inverted image, dark lines and weird loopy bits are imaging artifacts. |
Once again, as with the previous posts I've zoomed and cropped these images of Comet Elenin from the STEREO H1B imager. There are asteroids on the 25 and 26th (although only one is obvious on the 26th). Here's the AVI animation of the August 25 images (1 Mb) and the AVI animation of the August 26 images (1 Mb).
I've plotted the intensity of comet Elenin images relative to a reference star (indicated on the image from the 26th) from the 18th to the 26th. I have the data from the 27th, but the comet passes over a bright star and I can't separate out the brightness of the comet from the star.
There is some dropped points on the 23rd when the imaging arefact of Mercury passed over the comet and reference star images. Again, click to embiggen.
As I've stated before, on calibrated images the comet has faded over 80% since the 19th, however, using this method of normalising (compared to how I did it on the calibrated images earlier) the drop is more like 70%.
Again, we have to factor in that it is further away from the H1B camera despite being closer to the Sun. I have not explicitly tried to calculate magnitudes, especially since Elenin is an extended source.
Anyway, important things to notice: The Coronal Mass Ejection that did all the fancy tail twirling hit between two flare-ups of the comet. The second peak (coming after the arrow showing where the peak CME hit, comes after the CME has washed over it (ie the big peak is not an artefact of the CME brightness adding to the comet, it genuinely gets brighter). The next peak is an aretfact form the comet crossing in from of a star, but the peak after that, although it crosses a star early, is probably also a flare.
After this, the intensity of the comet drops quite a bit; this corresponds to Michael Mattiazzo's August 22 UT image showing a big drop in intensity and Rob Kauffmans images showing the same drop on August 23 UT. After the 23rd there is another big drop that recovers slightly by the 26th.
Images from STEREO on the 27th (image right) don't show the same nucleus elongation that you see in Michaels images on the 27th, but with the STEREO images it's like looking through a pair of 7x30 binoculars compared to the telescopic images. I don't expect to see much until later images.
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Latest C/2010 X1 Elenin News
Rob McMaught reports that he can see only a smear and no central condensation using the E12 instrument, indicative that the comet is indeed disintegrating
The Sungrazing Comets site has a graphic showing the dimming of comet Elenin in STEREO-B , covering August 15-26, 2011 http://bit.ly/ouoRum
which is backed up by quicktime movie (warning 25MB file) from August 14th to August 26, 2011 http://bit.ly/mS4LY5
The Sungrazing Comets site has a graphic showing the dimming of comet Elenin in STEREO-B , covering August 15-26, 2011 http://bit.ly/ouoRum
which is backed up by quicktime movie (warning 25MB file) from August 14th to August 26, 2011 http://bit.ly/mS4LY5
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Sky This Week -September 1 to Thursday September 8
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 5. Jupiter is high in the morning sky. Mars and Mercury are visible in the morning sky. Saturn is low in the western evening sky and visited by the Moon September 1. Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Sunday September 4 showing Mars, Mercury and the brighter stars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 5.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the northern sky. Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars starts the week not far from the relatively bright star Wasat.
Bright white Venus is still lost in the twilight glow.
Mercury is quite close to the horizon in the morning skies. Mercury comes close to the bright star Regulus during the week, although you will need a clear level horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Thursday September 1 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 7:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky not far form the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is now too low in the sky for successful telescopic observation.
Saturn is not far from the crescent Moon on Thursday September 1, the Moon will be very close to the bright star Spica at this time.
Despite Saturns closeness to the horizon , if you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 9:00 pm on Saturday September 3 looking north-east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just atthe threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 6). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week very close to the relatively bright star Phi Capricorni, making it very easy to find. During the week it moves away from Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:30 pm Saturday September 3 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 10:00 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. During the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of clusters, including Brocchi's cluster .
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Sunday September 4 showing Mars, Mercury and the brighter stars. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The First Quarter Moon is Monday September 5.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the northern sky. Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars starts the week not far from the relatively bright star Wasat.
Bright white Venus is still lost in the twilight glow.
Mercury is quite close to the horizon in the morning skies. Mercury comes close to the bright star Regulus during the week, although you will need a clear level horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Thursday September 1 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 7:30 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky not far form the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is now too low in the sky for successful telescopic observation.
Saturn is not far from the crescent Moon on Thursday September 1, the Moon will be very close to the bright star Spica at this time.
Despite Saturns closeness to the horizon , if you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 9:00 pm on Saturday September 3 looking north-east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just atthe threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 6). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week very close to the relatively bright star Phi Capricorni, making it very easy to find. During the week it moves away from Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:30 pm Saturday September 3 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 10:00 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. During the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of clusters, including Brocchi's cluster .
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Labels: weekly sky
Monday, August 29, 2011
Comet Elenin's Potential Break-up on Universe Today
Universe Today has a nice article by Nancy Atkinson on the potential breakup of Comet Elenin. It has the latest images from Rob Kaufmann and Michael Mattiazzo, and an interview with an amateur astronomer you might just recognise.
Labels: comet, miscelaneous, science communicators
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 23 and 24)
Once again, as with this post and this post I've zoomed and cropped these images of Comet Elenin from the STEREO H1B imager in order to capture the tail of Elenin. It doesn't really work so well this time as the comet is fading rapidly. On calibrated images the comet has faded over 80% since the 19th, but we have to factor in that it is further away from the H1B camera despite being closer to the Sun. Mercury is in the field of view, and an asteroid on the 23rd (there is lots more on the larger images). Here's the AVI animation of the August 23 images (1 Mb) and the AVI animation of the August 24 images (1 Mb). |
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Comet C/20009 P1 Garrad August 26 (Near M71) Part 2
This is my colour version of Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad near the globular cluster M71 on August 26. As before, click to embiggen, it's a large file, but worth it.
Image taken with the Global-Rent-a-Scope G-14 instrument, 1 x 120 sec red, green and blue filter exposures stretched with FITS liberator then assembled into an RGB composite using ImageJ.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, Global Rent-a-Scope
Is Elenin Disintegrating?
The latest images from Michael Mattiazzo show more dimming and an elongated nucleus, which might indicate break-up of the nucleus. http://members.westnet.com.au/mmatti/sc.htm
Labels: astrophotography, comet
Comet C/20009 P1 Garrad August 26 (Near M71)
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad near the globular cluster M71 on August 26. Click to embiggen, it's a large file, but worth it.
Image taken with the Global-Rent-a-Scope G-04 instrument, 1 x 120 sec luminance exposures stretched with FITS liberator.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, Global Rent-a-Scope
Carnival of Space #212 is here.
Carnival of Space #212 is now up at the Next Big Future. There the search for rocky exoplanets, how far can earth rocks travel, finding sunspots as they form and much, much more. head on over for a look.
Labels: carnival of space
Saturday, August 27, 2011
In a Well Ordered Universe . . .
. . . You would not have comet Elenin being blasted by the Sun, comet Garrad near M71, and a bright new supernova in M101 all at the same time!
Comet C/20009 P1 Garrad August 25 (Near M71)
Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad near the globular cluster M71 on August 25. Click to embiggen, it's a large file, but worth it.
The comet is pretty close to the cluster tonight, so if you have a small telescope go have a look. A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Image taken with the Global-Rent-a-Scope G-14 instrument, 3 x 120 sec luminance exposures stretched with FITS liberator and stacked in Image J.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, Global Rent-a-Scope
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 21 and 22)
As with the previous post I've zoomed and cropped these images of Comet Elenin from the STEREO H1B imager in order to capture the tail of Elenin. Presenting the images this way makes the tail easier to see. On the 21st another solar flare passed over Elenin, but the effects weren't so dramatic this time. Elenin does seem to be fading more, but I need to calibrate the images to be sure. Mercury is now in the field of view, and an asteroid on the 21st (there is lots more on the larger images, an the 23rd has a couple more coming through). Here's the AVI animation of the August 21 images (1 Mb) and the AVI animation of the August 22 images (1 Mb). |
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Friday, August 26, 2011
Comet Elenin Fades
Elenin passes through the image field of view of the STEREO H1 Behind imager on August 19. Click to embiggen. Image processed from NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Inverted image, dark lines are imaging artifacts.
I wrote earlier that comet C/2010 X1 Elenin was hit by intense solar wind, and that its tail flared up. See the AVI animation of the August 19 images (1 Mb) for the tail dramatically flaring and twisting around. Also see Comet Al's animation of the August 19 event here.
Well, in the wake of that event the brightness of comet Elenin has dropped dramatically, by almost a magnitude (from magnitude 8.1 on the 19th to magnitude 8.9 on the 23rd, the last reported magnitude). You can see before and after images by Rob Kaufmann here showing the drop. Michael Mattiazzo also has images of comet Elenin before and after the flare with estimates of the comet magnitude here.
So what is happening? What is most likely going is that the bast of energetic solar wind particles has eroded exposed "ices" (water and carbon dioxide) creating the brief highly active tail (comet Elein has had a small but nice tail for some time). With these exposed ices gone, the generation of dust and gas drops off and the magnitude drops. UPDATE: Jakub Cerny thinks it is more likely due to depletion of particles in the inner coma, causing dimming that way. Also see Michael Mattiazzo's latest images here, showing what looks to be an elongated nucleus.
Elenin is a new comet, this is the first time it has dropped in to the inner solar system from the Oort Cloud. New comets generally are bright early than drop off quickly as their surface ices are depleted. Older comets tend to be brighter due to fissures and cracks penetrating more deeply into the comet allowing more volatiles to be accessed.
What does it mean for the future? Comets, despite the images of them that look like asteroids, and quite fragile, loose agglomerations of dust and ices smeared together. It has already been suggested that Elenein will not survive perihelion. This recent dimming of Elenin suggests it may be sufficiently fragile to evaporate as it passes close to the Sun, astronomers will be watching this small but cute comet as it plunges towards perihelion for more clues about the structure and dynamics of comets.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Walking to Work This Morning
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 25 to Thursday September 1
The New Moon is Monday August 29. Jupiter is high in the morning sky. Mars is visited by the thin crescent Moon on the 25th. Mercury enters the morning sky and is close to the thin crescent Moon on August 28. Saturn is low in the western evening sky and visited by the Moon August 31. Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Thursday August 25 showing the Moon, Mars, Mercury and the constellations. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Monday August 29.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars starts the week not far from the relatively bright star Mebsuta (eta Geminorium) and heads towards the star Wasat. On the 25th Mars is close to the thin Crescent Moon.
Bright white Venus is still lost in the twilight glow.
Mercury enters the morning skies, but is still quite close to the horizon, on Sunday August 28 the thin crescent Moon is close to Mercury, although you will need a clear level horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Wednesday August31 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 7:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky not far form the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
On Wednesday August 31 the Crescent Moon is not far from Mars.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 8:00 pm on August 27 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.9). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week close to the relatively bright star Phi Capricornii, making it very easy to find. During the week it gets even closer to Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm Saturday August 27 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 10:30 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. During the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of clusters, including M71.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Thursday August 25 showing the Moon, Mars, Mercury and the constellations. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Monday August 29.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars starts the week not far from the relatively bright star Mebsuta (eta Geminorium) and heads towards the star Wasat. On the 25th Mars is close to the thin Crescent Moon.
Bright white Venus is still lost in the twilight glow.
Mercury enters the morning skies, but is still quite close to the horizon, on Sunday August 28 the thin crescent Moon is close to Mercury, although you will need a clear level horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Wednesday August31 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 7:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky not far form the crescent Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
On Wednesday August 31 the Crescent Moon is not far from Mars.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 8:00 pm on August 27 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.9). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week close to the relatively bright star Phi Capricornii, making it very easy to find. During the week it gets even closer to Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm Saturday August 27 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 10:30 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. During the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of clusters, including M71.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 19 and 20)
I've done something different here. I've zoomed and cropped these images of Comet Elenin from the STEREO H1B imager in order to capture the tail of Elenin. Presenting the images this way makes the tail easier to see. On the 19th a solar flare passed over Elenin and the tail flared as well and was twisted about. The weird white patches in the image of the 19th are artefacts of the background subtraction process I use. It looks better in animation. Here's the AVI animation of the August 19 images (1 Mb) and the AVI animation of the August 20 images (1 Mb). |
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Comet Al has a better animation of the August 19 event here.
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Monday, August 22, 2011
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 16 and 17)
 Elenin passes through the image field of view of the STEREO H1 Behind imager on August 16. Click to embiggen. Image processed from NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Bright lines are imaging artifacts. |  Elenin passes through the image field of view of the STEREO H1 Behind imager on August 17. Click to embiggen. Image processed from NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Bright lines are imaging artifacts. |
Comet Elenin is passing across the STEREO H1B field of view fading as it goes. The comet is actually brighter on the 16th than the 17th, despite what it looks like in the image, as the corona was much brighter on the 16th, and washed out the comet when I increased the brightness. I've made a little AVI animation of the August 17 images (1 Mb).
Some recent Earth-bound images of Elenin are here and here.
Labels: comet, Stereo Satellite
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Terror Bird at Uni Open Day
Carnival of Space #211 is here.
Carnival of Space #211 is now up at Vintage Space. There's gas falling into black holes, curved space time, monster quasars, how to move an asteroid and much, much more. Pop on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Homeopaths try and Silence Blogger
The Italian arm of multinational homoeopathic medicine company Boiron is threatening to sue an amateur blogger (BlogZero) over posts he has made that were critical of homoeopathy. If the company was expecting to muffle criticism, boy, did they get that wrong, the story has exploded over the intertubes.
You can find BlogZero's account here (in English), it gets mentioned in the British Medical Journal and Science Based Medicine has a very nice post on the affair.
Oh, and Boiron, Oscillococcinum (and homoeopathy) is pure quack medicine, so sue me.
You can find BlogZero's account here (in English), it gets mentioned in the British Medical Journal and Science Based Medicine has a very nice post on the affair.
Oh, and Boiron, Oscillococcinum (and homoeopathy) is pure quack medicine, so sue me.
Labels: homeopathy, Pseudoscience
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August 15)
August 15 image of Comet Elenin in the STEREO H1B field of view, compare with the image of the 14th. I've cropped the image, so that Jupiter and Mercury are out of fame compared to the 14th
I've made a little AVI animation of it (1 Mb).
Labels: comet, Stereo comet astronomy, Stereo Satellite
Carnival of Space #210 is here.
Carnival of Space #210 is now up at Dear Astronomer (well, it's been up for two days, but I've been distracted). There's liquid water on Mars, comet 45 Honda etc. etc., the rebirth of SETI, fusion propulsion and much, much more. Hop on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Comet Elenin in STEREO H1B (August14)
 Elenin (bright fuzzy patch bottom left) enters the unrolled STEREO H1 Behind imagers field of view on August 14. Click to embiggen. Image processed for NASA/STEREO raw images using ImageJ. Bright lines are imaging artifacts.
|  Simulation of the view from STEREO B on August 17 using Celestia (slightly inaccurate due to old orbital elements) |
On August 14 Comet Elenin entered the STEREO H1B field of view without the satellite having to be rolled (tip of the hat to Comet Al for alerting me). Over the next few days we should have some excellent views of the comet, which is quite bright, but not spectacular, in the H1B imager. I've made a little AVI animation of it (2 Mb). A far better animation of the comet from 6 August to 12 August (when the spacecraft rolled) is here (warning 24 Mb animation).
We've been waiting for this ever since Elenin came into range of the H2B wide field imager (see here for animation). We also got some nice images from H1B when the STEREO spacecraft was rolled to position from August 6 (see here (scroll down for animations) and here for images). But now we can see the comet without rolling the spacecraft, which will allow for more consistent imaging.
Location of comet C/2010 X1 Elenin at 8:00 pm ACST as seen from Adelaide. Similar views will be seen in Australia elsewhere at the equivalent time.
If you live in the southern hemisphere, you can see the comet yourself. It is quite low to the horizon at astronomical twilight (1.5 hours after sunset), when it is dark enough to see the comet. Using a telescope can be tricky that low.
The comet is roughly magnitude 9, still to dim for standard binoculars, so currently you do need a modest telescope to see it. However it will brighten over the week and be visible in binoculars by August 27.
Map suitable for locating Elenin in binoculars (click to embiggen).
Use the colour chart above to orient yourself and locate Saturn, then use the binocular map, the circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. You can get orbital elements here.
You can see a recent image of Elenin here.
Labels: comet, Stereo Satellite
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 18 to Thursday August 25
Last Quarter Moon is Monday August 22. Jupiter is high in the morning sky and visted by the Moon on the 19th and 20th. Mars is close to stars in Gemini, and visited by the thin crescent Moon on the 25th. Saturn is low in the western evening sky. Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Saturday August 20 showing the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and the constellations. Mars is close to the star Mebsuta. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday August 22.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky. It is visted by the waning Moon on the 19th and 20th.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars stars the week close to the relatively bright star Mebsuta (eta Geminorium). On the 25th Mars is close to the thin Crescent Moon.
Bright white Venus and swift Mercury are now lost in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Saturday August 20 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 8:00 pm on August 20 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.9). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week between the relatively bright stars 24 Capricorni and Phi Capricornii, making it very easy to find. 24 Capricorni is the fifth star up and to the right of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). During the week it gets even closer to Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm Saturday August 21 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, initially in the constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin, then moving to Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 11 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. By the end of the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of cluates, including M71.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Saturday August 20 showing the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and the constellations. Mars is close to the star Mebsuta. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Monday August 22.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky. It is visted by the waning Moon on the 19th and 20th.
Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars stars the week close to the relatively bright star Mebsuta (eta Geminorium). On the 25th Mars is close to the thin Crescent Moon.
Bright white Venus and swift Mercury are now lost in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Saturday August 20 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn in the early evening sky. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 8:00 pm on August 20 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is now past opposition, but is still readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.9). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week between the relatively bright stars 24 Capricorni and Phi Capricornii, making it very easy to find. 24 Capricorni is the fifth star up and to the right of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). During the week it gets even closer to Phi Capricorni.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm Saturday August 21 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky, initially in the constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin, then moving to Sagitta, the Arrow.
Although it has brightened substantially, it is still only a fuzzy dot at magnitude 7. The best views will be under dark skies, where you might spy a short faint tail. The best viewing is around 11 pm, when the comet is almost due north and highest in the sky. By the end of the week the comet will be in binocular range of a number of cluates, including M71.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
Hunting Virtual Dinosaurs in Adelaide
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This is a special installation as part of Science Week. You can see these virtual dinosaurs (and mammals, and birds, but hey, birds are dinosaurs) using apps for Smart Phones such as iPhones and Android phones that can be found at Jurassic Week hosted by Adelaide Now.
The stickers you are looking for. This is for the Deodicurus at the corner of North Terrace and Frome Road. I never did find the Rundle Mall ones.
The Jurassic Week site also has a map that locates the dinosaurs. However, zoomed out it is quite inaccurate. You have to zoom in to get an accurate location (best in satellite mode, although slower, you can get landmarks that way as well). For example, at standard zoom it looks as if the dinosaurs near the SA museum are behind the museum, when they are in front on the North Terrace side.
Each dinosaur viewing area is marked with a sticker (see left), but even though the stickers are big, they can be difficult to spot. Some patience is required.
The LAYAR software generates an image that lets you walk around the animal and take pictures from different angles and distances (see above). You can submit your pictures to yourpics@adelaidenow.com.au.
The LAYAR app has a little radar screen that tells you how far away you are and in what direction from the dinosaur. However, I found on my phone (Sony-Ericsson Xperia mini-Pro, running Android) the dinosaurs were very unstable, even when nearly on top of a dinosaur that you have been following, the signal will suddenly drop and "no dinosaurs found" come up. Even if you are in the middle of photographing a dinosaur, it can drop out (and the image can shift around a lot while you are trying to photograph it). For the Ceratosaurus at the balls, I had to walk some distance past it before it registered and then I walks back to it.
It's not just me, I ran into another dinosaur hunter with an iPod who was having the same problems (amusingly, we were imaging the same dinosaur, but the software said it was in a different direction for both of us). Still, if you go slowly and have patience catching the dinosaurs is great fun.
So if you see someone peering intently into space, holding up a mobile phone as they shuffle around in different directions, chances are its a dinosaur hunter.
Labels: science week
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Science Movies at RiAus Adelaide (Wednesday 17 August)
As part of National Science Week, there will be a special RiAus film club featuring the best movies from the SCINEMA Festival of Science Film on this Wednesday (August 2011) at Exchange Place, Adelaide.
Labels: science week
Monday, August 15, 2011
Dinosaurs in Adelaide
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sun Halo
High ice crystals in the clouds make a colourful halo around the sun (click to embiggen)
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Unexpected Mobile Rainbows (part 3)
Comet 45P Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova visible in the Southern Skies
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Comet Comet 45P Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova is now bright enough to see in binoculars in the Southern Hemisphere skies. Unfortunately, it is also a time when the bright Full/almost Full moon is in the skies. It is best seen early in the morning, when the comet is at its highest, and the Moon is low on the horizon. Tonight (Saturday 13 August), it is close to lots of beautiful clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Unfortunately for Stellarium users, Stellarium gives the wrong position for 45P.
Map suitable for use with binoculars, to locate the comet tonight. The rectangle is the approximate field of view of GRAS-12, the circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars. UPDATE: clouded out Labels: binocular, comet, telescope
Unexpected Mobile Rainbows (part 3)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Carnival of Space #209 is here.
Carnival of Space #209 is now up at Starry Critters. This one is rather special, so pop over and have a look. There's the phantom planets of Barnards' Star, anti-protons in space, solar seaweed and much more. Zip over and click on through.
Labels: carnival of space
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 11 to Thursday August 18
The Full Moon is Sunday August 14. Jupiter is high in the morning sky. Mars close to stars in Gemini. Saturn is low in the western evening sky. Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad is visible in binoculars in the northern sky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Saturday August 13 showing the Mars and the constellations. Mars is close to the open cluster M35. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Sunday August 14.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky. Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars forms and attractive triangle with some of the moderately bright stars (Propus and Tejat). By the end of the week it is close to Mebsuta (eta Geminorium).
Bright white Venus and swift Mercury are now lost in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Saturday August 13 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time in South Australia showing the Moon, and Saturn in the early evening sky. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight glow.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 9:00 pm on August 13 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.7). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week close to the relatively bright star 24 Capricorni, making it very easy to find. 24 Capricorni is the fifth star up and to the right of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). It then heads further up the sky towards another relatively bright star Phi Capricorni.
Mid-week bright moonlight will interfere with your ability to see Vesta, although it should remain visible in good binoculars.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm August 14 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is now visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin. It is only a fuzzy dot, and will be hard to locate under suburban skies. So if you have dark skies it is well worth watching. However, mid-week bright moonlight will make it difficult to see the comet.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am local time on Saturday August 13 showing the Mars and the constellations. Mars is close to the open cluster M35. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Full Moon is Sunday August 14.
In the morning Jupiter is high above the north-eastern sky. Mars is low in the eastern sky, in the constellation of Gemini. Mars forms and attractive triangle with some of the moderately bright stars (Propus and Tejat). By the end of the week it is close to Mebsuta (eta Geminorium).
Bright white Venus and swift Mercury are now lost in the twilight glow.
Evening sky on Saturday August 13 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time in South Australia showing the Moon, and Saturn in the early evening sky. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Mercury is lost in the twilight glow.
Saturn is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is getting lower in the sky, and the window for telescopic observation is narrower.
In this short timespan, even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite being past opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, Saturn is still big and beautiful.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
The location of Vesta as seen at 9:00 pm on August 13 looking east from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars and is just over the threshold of unaided eye visibility (magnitude 5.7). To see it with the unaided eye you will need to be in a dark sky location though.
Vesta starts the week close to the relatively bright star 24 Capricorni, making it very easy to find. 24 Capricorni is the fifth star up and to the right of the brightest star in Capricornus (see image to left). It then heads further up the sky towards another relatively bright star Phi Capricorni.
Mid-week bright moonlight will interfere with your ability to see Vesta, although it should remain visible in good binoculars.
Vesta moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.
The location of Comet C/2009 Garrad as seen at 9:00 pm August 14 looking north from Adelaide, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times elsewhere. Click to embiggen,
Comet C/2009 Garrad is now visible in binoculars in the northern sky, in the constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin. It is only a fuzzy dot, and will be hard to locate under suburban skies. So if you have dark skies it is well worth watching. However, mid-week bright moonlight will make it difficult to see the comet.
A chart showing C/2009 P1's location is here.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
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