Saturday, December 31, 2011
Venus on New Years Eve, 2011
Lovejoy Diary Day 11
Slept in. Missed a call from ABC local radio about strange goings on in the sky.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Lovejoy Diary Day 10
Clear skies, although somewhat moisture laden. Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy seen with difficulty against the Milky Way. Needed averted vision to be sure. Still moderatley visible in binoculars, visually tail probably only around 6 degrees long now.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Lovejoy Diary Day 9
Cloud again. I caught a glimpse of comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy through occasional sucker holes, and it appeared much faded, but that could be due to thin remanant cloud.
Saw two satellites flying in formation, then a third passed them the other way.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Venus and the Moon, December 28, 2011
The Sky This Week - Thursday December 29 to Thursday January 5
The First Quarter Moon is Sunday January 1 (New Years day). Venus is easily visible in the western evening sky. Jupiter dominates the evening sky to the north once Venus has set. Jupiter is near the waxing Moon on the 2nd and 3rd. Mars is visible in the morning sky heading towards Saturn, which is near the star Spica. Mercury at its best in the morning near the horizon. Comet Lovejoy is faintly seen in the morning sky below the Southern Cross. Earth is at Perihelion on the 5th.
Sorry no diagrams this week, due to lack of internet access while travelling and using a borrowed computer with none of my programs, Southern Skywatch will be delayed as well.
The Christmas Comet, comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy, is fading. It is currently as bright as the Magellanic clouds, and its magnificent tail is shortening. As of writing, although dim it is still easily seen with the unaided eye as a streak of faint light below the pointers (alpha and beta Centauri) below the Southern Cross (although light polluted suburban sites may have a lot more difficulty picking it up, and need binoculars already). It will fade during the week, and may become a binocular object by the end of the week. UPDATE 31 Dec the comet has faded more quickly than I expected. It is now very difficult to see with the unaided eye except at the very darkest sites.
When looking for the comet, you will need to get up at least an hour and a half before local sunrise to see it at its best. You will need to wait a few minutes in the dark for you eyes to accommodate to the darkness to pick it out. Even things like mobile phone screens and the preview panes on digital cameras can mess up your night vision. The comet currently begins juts above the southern horizon and extends up to just below the pointers. It will rise higher in the sky as it fades, making it easier to see. Even as the comet fades it will still be a great sight.
As long as you are up looking at the comet, wait a a while for Mercury to rise.This and next week are the best times to see this fleet world in the morning.
Labels: weekly sky
Lovejoy Diary Day 8
Not so good this morning, caught glimpses of comet in gaps in the cloud. Got the impression it had faded quite a bit, but hard to be sure with cloud reflecting light from town. Saw ISS pass in front of tail through gap in cloud.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A Short Christmas Walk
Lovejoy Diary Day 7
Saw the comet again this morning, got up at 3:30 am to mostly clear skies and headed up a nearby hill where I could block out the anoying marine navigation light.
There were some clouds around the southern horizon, but they soon cleared to show comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoys tail streching up past the pointers.
The tail is much dimmer now, still easily seen with the unaided eye if your sky is reasonably dark, about as bright as the large Magellanic cloud. There is no identifyable head.
For imaging I was using 800 ASA and 15 secs exposure.
Chased away from this remaarkable comet by cloud at 4:30 am.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Some Images of Comet Lovejoy
Seeing as I can't post any of my images, I thought I'd post some links to other people's amazing images (much better than mine).
Guillermo Abramson with some very good images form South America.
http://guillermoabramson.blogspot.com/2011/12/ultimas-fotos-del-cometa-lovejoy.html
Colin Legg's amazing animation of the comet rising in Perth
Image taken from the international Space Station around the same time
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/12/22/a-celestial-visitor-seen-from-space/Evolution of the comet tail courtesy Rob Kaufman
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/W321-25Dec2011ver2.jpgAnother Colin Legg's image
A great image from the Possum Observatory
The Comet from Siding Spring Observatory by Rob McNaught
http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~rmn/C2011W3.htmGuillermo Abramson with some very good images form South America.
http://guillermoabramson.blogspot.com/2011/12/ultimas-fotos-del-cometa-lovejoy.html
Labels: astrophotography, comet, comet lovejoy, Kreutz, sun grazer
Lovejoy Diary Day 6
Cloud again. There are heaps of fantasic images being taken by friends and from space, but with my only connection to the internet my mobile phone, I can't link to them.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Lovejoy Diary Day 5
The lightning storms of last night returned with roof rattling vengance in the morning. The sky lit up like flashbulbs, and noone got any sleep from the rolling, cracking thunder.
Needless to say, I didn't do any comet watching, took photos of ligtning wracked clouds instead.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Lovejoy Diary Day 4
It's 4:15 local time on upthe. Mornington Peninsula, the tail of comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy stretches anastonishing 15 degress above the horizon. At this relative dark site it's like a pale searchlight piercing the heart of Centaurus.
A bit frudtrating as a) there is a bright navigation light I can't block out and b) I can't post any photos, I can only post via mobile phone.
Still, the comet tail is magnificent, and will be great on christmas morning.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Road Trip Night 2
Road Trip Diary Day 2.3
Lovejoy Diary Day 3
Cloud, (sigh)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Road Trip Again
We are off on another road trip, with limited internet connectivity, so posts and pictures of comet will be sporadic.
If I don't communicate before then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and enjoy our Christmas comet.
I Saw It Again! (comet Lovejoy's tail is pretty)
Getting up at 4 am did the trick, the tail was visible by 4;30 and best around 4;45. I still used my Google SkyMap to orient myself. The tail was best seen with averted vision, but given that the tail is in the most light polluted part of the skywhere I am, rising over the cement works lit up like a chistmas tree, that is not bad.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Observing Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy's Tail (A Christmas Comet)
Location of Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy at 4:30 am on Thursday 22 December (roughly an hour and a half before sunrise) as seen from Adelaide, similar views should be seen elsewhere in Australia at equivalent local times. Although close to the horizon, a 10 degree tailwill stick up past the bright star above the comets position (click to embiggen).I saw the tail of comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy on Wednesday morning at 4:54 am, although from others descriptions and images, its obvious that earlier is better (around 4:00 - 4:30 am) , the tail is quite long, and is readily seen in the earlier hours.
You will need a relatively clear, level horizon, preferably without too many bright lights in the way. You may need to sweep the south-eastern horizon for the tail to pick it up, but once you see the tail you should pick it up with the unaided eye. The comet is fading, but also rising higher in the sky, so the tail should be a bit more obvious over the next few days, it might even be mildly spectacular for Christmas. Certainly worth getting up at Dark O'Clock for, the best comet since C/2006 P1 McNaught.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, sungrazer, unaided eye
I SAW IT! (Comet Lovejoy's Tail in the Twilight)
 |  |
Got up at 4:30 am this morning, and the sky was magnificently clear. Struggled into my gear and headed out with binoculars and camera. Unfortunately, the comet was located not only close to the horizon, but towards the greatest concentration of sodium lights in my area and the brightly lit cement factory. With the help of Google SkyMap on my mobile phone (cringe) I located the rough area where the comet should be around 4:50 am.
Soon as I swept with binoculars I could see it, once I knew that I was actually looking at the comet tail (rather than a thin plume of smoke from the cement factory), it was identifiable (just) to the unaided eye.
Like Vello Tabur I could easily identify the tail on images taken with my digital camera (not an SLR). The tail extended past epsilon Scorpii, so was at least 5 degrees long.
The tail was easily identifiable in binoculars out to at least 5:09 am ACDST. At no stage could I see the head though (in contrast to the recent telescopic daylight images), even though faintish stars like epsilon Sco and mu 1&2 Sco were easily visible in binoculars.
So I have to get up a 4:00 am to catch the sky at it's darkest and see if I can get better images of the tail.
I also got to see the ISS shoot between Spica and Saturn and the Moon, so it was a VERY good morning.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, sungrazer, unaided eye
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
More Amazing Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy Images
High resolution false colour image of Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy from the STEREO H1A imager. Images courtesy of Karl Battams and STEREO/NASA.Comet Lovejoy moves away from the Sun 18-19 December 2011, false colour, note the development of an ion tail. The long "spikes" from the comet and Jupiter (the other bright object) are imager artefacts. See my animation below.
Some more fantastic images of comet Lovejoy are coming out of the data. Via Karl Battams we have a quicktime movie of Comet Lovejoy in STEREO/SECCHI's EUVI-A imager's 171-Angstrom wavelength camera, showing amazing wiggles in the comets tail.
Then there is an animated H1A view of the comet, processed differently from mine to subtract stars.
Animation of the comet in H1A in false colour to highlight tail details.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy's Tail Visible
Location of Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy at 4:54 am on Wednesday 21 December (an hour before sunrise) as seen from Adelaide, similar views should be seen elsewhere in Australia at equivalent local times. Although close to the horizon, a 5 degree tail should stick up past the bright star above the comets position (click to embiggen).I had no luck seeing Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy this morning, clouds of course. But two groups did. Peter Sayers in Tasmania (Image via Space Weather) could see it as a just unaided eye object in the twilight, while Vello Tabur couldn't see it in binoculars or unaided eye, but a five degree tail turned up in his DSLR shots.
I'll have another go this morning, hopefully the weather will be kinder, and I will be forearmed with knowledge of comet Lovejoys dimness.
Labels: astrophotography, comet, comet lovejoy, comets, sungrazer
The Sky This Week - Thursday December 22 to Thursday December 29
The New Moon is Sunday December 25 (Christmas day). Venus is easily visible in the western evening sky and close to the crescent Moon on the 27th. Jupiter dominates the evening sky to the north once Venus has set. Mars is visible in the morning sky heading towards Saturn also visible in the morning sky near the star Spica. Mercury is visible in the morning near the horizon, and is close to the Moon on the 23rd. Comet Lovejoy may be seen in the morning sky.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am local daylight saving time on Friday December 23 showing Saturn near Spica and the waning Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The New Moon is Sunday December 25.
Mars is in the north-eastern morning sky, in the constellation of Leo. It is heading towards Spica and Saturn.
Saturn is above the north- eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica.
Mercury appears low in the morning twilight. You will need a reasonably, clear eastern horizon to see it. On the 23rd, Mercury is close to the crescent Moon, forming an attractive triangle with the bright star Antares. The comet Lovejoy's location is shown (see below for more details).
Evening sky on Tuesday December 27 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Venus in Capricornius. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is readily visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for somewhat over an hour. Venus is Capricornius this week, but does not pass any bright stars. On December 27, Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on Saturday the 29th of October.
However, Jupiter is still a great binocular and telescope object and will be for many weeks to come. Jupiter is visible for most of the night, setting in the early morning.
Evening sky on Saturday December 24 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 10:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Jupiter. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. INSET: Jupiter and its Moons as seen at this time, Europa will pass in front of Jupiter from around 22:00 ACDST, Ganymede will be eclipsed and Io will also pass in front of Jupiter (click to embiggen)
In the evening Jupiter is readily visible in the north-eastern sky, from about twilight.
Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars. For good telescopic observation Jupiter is best from 9 pm - 1 am.
There are some good Jupiter Moon events, as on the evening of December 24, you can find a list of Jupiter Moon events with timings here (scroll down a bit)..
Although Jupiter is the most prominent now, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 4:54 am ACDST on Sunday morning December 25 (an hour before sunrise). Similar views may be seen from other Australian locations at equivalent local time (click to embiggen).
Comet Lovejoy is a newly found Kreutz sungrazing comet that surprisingly survived after a close encounter with the Sun. While people have seen comet C/2011 W2 Lovejoy in daylight with telescopes, there is no unambiguous report of seeing comet Lovejoy by the unaided eye (the horrible weather hasn't helped).
There is a possibility that we might see a tiny tail and possibly the comet above the horizon in the twilight in the coming days, it almost certainly should be visible in good binoculars. The Stellarium image above shows where the comet should be at nautical twilight. You will need a flat, clear eastern horizon for a good chance to see the comet (if it is visible). But it should be easy to find near the spine of the scorpion.
In contrast comet C/2009 P1 will be easily visible in good binoculars as a small fuzzy ball with a short tail.
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 5:00 am local daylight saving time on Friday December 23 showing Saturn near Spica and the waning Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.The New Moon is Sunday December 25.
Mars is in the north-eastern morning sky, in the constellation of Leo. It is heading towards Spica and Saturn.
Saturn is above the north- eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica.
Mercury appears low in the morning twilight. You will need a reasonably, clear eastern horizon to see it. On the 23rd, Mercury is close to the crescent Moon, forming an attractive triangle with the bright star Antares. The comet Lovejoy's location is shown (see below for more details).
Evening sky on Tuesday December 27 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Venus in Capricornius. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is readily visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for somewhat over an hour. Venus is Capricornius this week, but does not pass any bright stars. On December 27, Venus is close to the crescent Moon.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on Saturday the 29th of October.
However, Jupiter is still a great binocular and telescope object and will be for many weeks to come. Jupiter is visible for most of the night, setting in the early morning.
Evening sky on Saturday December 24 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 10:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Jupiter. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. INSET: Jupiter and its Moons as seen at this time, Europa will pass in front of Jupiter from around 22:00 ACDST, Ganymede will be eclipsed and Io will also pass in front of Jupiter (click to embiggen)In the evening Jupiter is readily visible in the north-eastern sky, from about twilight.
Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars. For good telescopic observation Jupiter is best from 9 pm - 1 am.
There are some good Jupiter Moon events, as on the evening of December 24, you can find a list of Jupiter Moon events with timings here (scroll down a bit)..
Although Jupiter is the most prominent now, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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.
Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 4:54 am ACDST on Sunday morning December 25 (an hour before sunrise). Similar views may be seen from other Australian locations at equivalent local time (click to embiggen).Comet Lovejoy is a newly found Kreutz sungrazing comet that surprisingly survived after a close encounter with the Sun. While people have seen comet C/2011 W2 Lovejoy in daylight with telescopes, there is no unambiguous report of seeing comet Lovejoy by the unaided eye (the horrible weather hasn't helped).
There is a possibility that we might see a tiny tail and possibly the comet above the horizon in the twilight in the coming days, it almost certainly should be visible in good binoculars. The Stellarium image above shows where the comet should be at nautical twilight. You will need a flat, clear eastern horizon for a good chance to see the comet (if it is visible). But it should be easy to find near the spine of the scorpion.
In contrast comet C/2009 P1 will be easily visible in good binoculars as a small fuzzy ball with a short tail.
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
Monday, December 19, 2011
Can We See Comet Lovejoy in the Tuesday MorningTwilight
Eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 5:30 am ACDST on Tuesday Morning December 20. Similar views may be seen from other Australian locations at equivalent local time (cick to embiggen).While people have seen comet C/2011 W2 Lovejoy in daylight with telescopes, there is no unambiguous report of seeing comet Lovejoy by the unaided eye (the horrible weather hasn't helped).
From the the latest STEREO images (see video below, Mercury and Jupiter are in the frame as well) and telescope reports, it seems that the comet is currently around the brightness of Mercury. Predicting what the comet will do, and how bright any tail will be, is fraught with uncertainty however.
There is a possibility that tomorrow morning (Tuesday Dec 18) we might see a tiny tail and possibly the comet above the horizon in the twilight. The Stellarium image above shows where the comet should be shortly after nautical twilight. You will need a flat, clear eastern horizon for a good chance to see the comet (if it is visible).
It's worth getting up for a look, this has been an extraordinary comet, and it's possible that we may see something beautiful (even though it is more likely we will see nothing).
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Carnival of Space #228 is here.
Carnival of Space #228 is now up at The Next Big Future. Comet Lovejoy features (naturally), as does the discovery of gypsum on Mars (more water), black hole lunches, the Golden Age of space exploration as seen from the 1960's and much, much more. Head on over and have a read.
Labels: carnival of space
Science Communicators Picnic
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy and its Ion Tail
 |  |
Left Image: C/2011 W3 Lovejoy in SOHO C3 (17 December UT). Right Image: C/2011 W3 Lovejoy in STEREO beacon (low resolution) images in H1A (17 December, far right). Click to embiggen. Image credit NASA/SOHO and NASA/SECCHI. (earlier images here and here).
Images show brightness of the comet and the development of the ion tail.
The comet has been telescopically imaged in daylight a few times now, see image from Jakub Cerny here and from Jan here.
SOHO animation 17-12-11
STEREO H1A beacon image animation 17-12-11
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Terry Lovejoy Images his Comet in Broad Daylight
View of Eastern Horizon at 4:45 am ACDST on Christmas morning as seen from Adelaide, showing the location of comets Lovejoy and Garrad. Comet Lovejoy may remain bright enough to see in binoculars. Terry Lovejoy, discoverer of Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy, has imaged his eponymous comet in broad daylight with a Celestron C8 telescope and a Canon 350D camera. See the image at IceinSpace
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?s=31c59a570a89e0b8c315123103eff328&p=798668&postcount=38
He estimates the comet as being magnitude -1.2, that's 5 magnitudes greater than the predicted brightness at this time.
Much depends on how fast the comet fades now. It still might be bright enough to see in the predawn twilight tomorrow, but if not, hopefully it will be a binocular comet in time for Christmas.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Can We See Comet Lovejoy in the Sunday MorningTwilight
Eastern horizon ass seen from Adelaide at 5:40 am ACDST on Sunday Morning December 18. Similar views may be seen from other Austrlaian locations.After the astonishing survival and brightening of comet C/2011 W2 Lovejoy, there is a minute possibility that tomorrow morning (Sunday Dec 18) we might see a tiny tail and possibly the comet poke up above the horizon in the twilight.
The possibility is slight, but it's worth getting up for a look.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy
Comet Lovejoy gets its Tail Back
 |  |
Comet Lovejoy is getting its tail back. If you embiggen the SOHO image you can see the old tail dissipating on the other side of the Sun. Without doing serious astrometery (for which I need the hir res versions of the STEREO images which will come later), my impression is that the comet is brighter.
I'm going to quote Karl Battams in full here because
1700UT: I'm going to hope he doesn't mind me doing this, and steal a quote here from highly-respected astronomer John Bortle: "I trust that most here appreciate that we are witnessing one of the most extraordinary events in cometary history."
Let that sink in a minute, because he is absolutely correct. This is not simply "news-worthy", or even "of great interest"; this is indeed competely extraordinary.
Sungrazing comets, particularly those of the Kreutz-group, have fascinated astronomers for decades, and no doubt terrified civilizations of the past, as their orbits hurled them through the solar atmosphere, resulting in a brilliant daytime illumination of these enormous 'dirty snowballs'. There is arguably no other object in the solar system that goes through such an intense experience as one of these comets. For days now we have been witness to such a beautiful object racing through the STEREO, SOHO and now SDO and PROBA images, blasting through the solar corona, and miraculously re-emerging, albeit with much less of a tail than it started with. And whereas sungrazers of the past have been lost at least temporarily, if not permanently, in the Sun's glare, thanks to an amazing fleet of sun-watching spacecraft we have now been enthralled by this entire passage without a single hour passing by unwitnessed. Purely for the spectacle of the event, and the way it has unfolded before our eyes over the internet, this comet has sealed its place in the history books.
But there is so much more to this than just the spectacle. We have already obtained unprecedented scientific data from five different spacecraft, and I'm very optimistic that over the coming days we will get to add a sixth spacecraft to that list when Hinode analyze their data. The result is an almost overwhelming catalog of visual, narrow-band filtered, extreme ultraviolet, and spectroscopic data of a comet experiencing the most extreme environment the solar system has to offer. We will likely learn about its mass, its physical size, its composition, the size of its dust and dust production rates, and so much more. Objects like this can also provide us with a tremendous amount of information about the solar wind and conditions in the solar corona, which in turn allows us to gain more understanding of the Sun as a driver of "Space Weather" at Earth (it's one of the reasons my group is interested in sungrazing comets).
So I could not agree more with John, and I hope that all of you who are watching these movies are indeed appreciative of just how incredible this has been!
Now head over to Karl's site and see the latest amazing imagery.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
IT LIVES PART 2!!!!!!
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy as it returns from its encounter with the Sun as seen in the STEREO C2 Behind imager (low resolution beacon images). (Comet Lovejoy bright dot just above the bright streak of comet tail bottom left, not the other bright dot top right). COMET LOVEJOY IS COMING BACK WHILE THE TAIL IS STILL GOING IN!!!!Astonishing. You get a better idea of what is going on in the animation below.
Previous posts on the return linked here.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Friday, December 16, 2011
IT LIVES!!!!!!
 |  |
Left Image: C/2011 W3 Lovejoy in SOHO C3 (16 December UT), astonishingly, it has left its tail behind (the comet the is bright object to the right of the occulting disk). Right Image: C/2011 W3 Lovejoy in STEREO beacon (low resolution) images in COR2A (16 December), the disconnected tail can't be seen in this image. Click to embiggen, scroll down for animations. Image credit NASA/SOHO and NASA/SECCHI.
Well, that was amazing! Not only did comet Lovejoy survive its passage over the Sun (captured here is this astonishing SDO animation), but it is still bright, although it has left most of its tail behind. According to Karl Battams, it is the brightest Kreutz comet SOHO has ever seen. And apparently an ion tail has never been seen on a Kreutz comet before.
There is intense discussion on the Comets ML list. Is comet Lovejoy bigger than we thought, are we seeing vaporizing iron? This comet, as well as being spectacular, will certainly add to our current meagre knowledge of Kreutz comets.
Congratulations Terry on an amazing discovery, and once again congratulations to the STEREO, SOHO and SDO teams for capturing this amazing comet.
What a ride! Earlier images and animations, Solar exit, Solar contact, 16 Dec approach, 15 Dec, 13 Dec, 12 Dec.
Animation showing the comet going behind the occulting disk then coming out without its tail.
Lovejoy heads towards the STEREO Ahead C2 occulting disk and comes out the other side sans tail. Low resolution beacon data, drop out of data in the middle so you miss the comet going behind the occulting disk.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Comet Lovejoy Exits the Sun
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy goes behind the COR1 occulting disk in the COR1 low resolution beacon images from the STEREO behind spacecraft.Comet Lovejoy exits the sun in these SDO images (video)
http://t.co/I4TiZ1xq See also here and here for amazing videos.
But the comet has not re-emerged in the COR1 images yet, looking at the SDO images, it might just be an organized debris cloud that will evaporate by the time the it passes into the COR1 field of view.
Video showing comet Lovejoy entering the STEREO COR1B imager and not coming out (yet). Low resolution Beacon images.
Congratulations to the STEREO and SDO team for some fantastic images and science! See Karl Battams page here for updates.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Comet Lovejoy Skims the Sun
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy in the STEREO COR2 Behind imager, as the comet disappears behind the occulting disk.Couldn't see it by eye, too much glare around Sun from thing cloud.
Scroll down for animation of it as it skims above the Sun in the SDO imager.
Animation of comet Lovejoy as it skims near the Sun in the SDO imager (image Credit, NASA/SDO). Look carefully at centre as comet blinks in and out.
Link to larger SDO animation.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Stereo Satellite
Comet Lovejoy Plunges Towards the Sun (part 2)
 |  |
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy continues to plunge towards the Sun. Around 2.5hours from perihelion, it is still bright (magnitude -6 maybe), and as yet undisintegrated. See Karl Battams site for mre images and details.
Earlier images and animations, 15 Dec 13 Dec, 12 Dec.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Comet Lovejoy Plunges Towards the Sun
 |  |
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy continues to plunge towards the Sun. Around 12 hours from perihelion, it is still bright (Karl Battams estimates around magnitude -2), and as yet undisintegrated.
Earlier images and animations, 13 Dec, 12 Dec.
Comet Lovejoy enters the COR1 ahead instrument, low resolution beacon images.
Labels: comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Kreutz, Soho, Stereo Satellite, sungrazer
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy Brightens!
 |  |
Karl has more information and animations (including the son of lovejoy), here. For previous images, animations and orbit descriptions see this post. Rob McNaught suspects it may not get above magnitude -6 (brighter than Venus but hard to see in daylight). It looks like it may survive to at least perihelion (but then, it will probably spectacularly disintegrate now).
 |  |
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy as seen in STEREO H1 Behind 13 December 2011, tail disconnection seen . Raw data courtesy Karl Battams
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy as seen in STEREO H1 Ahead spacecraft 12-13 December 2011, tail movement in solar wind seen. False colour image. Raw data courtesy Karl Battams
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy as seen in SOHO spacecraft C3 imager 14-15 December 2011. Raw data courtesy NASA/SOHO
Labels: animation, comet, comet lovejoy, comets, Stereo Satellite
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) in STEREO
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy (also known as the great "Birthday" comet of 2011) on the 12th of December as seen from the STEREO Behind spacecraft. Video is below (scroll down).Comet Lovejoy is now so bright you can easily see it in the low resolution STEREO beacon images (see here to search the beacon images for the latest pictures, and see below for an example image). It has also entered the LASCO C3 imager field of view, this animation (10 mb) shows it entering as a bright streak to the bottom of the image.
Comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy, discovered by Australian amateur Terry Lovejoy, is the first Kreutz comet found from Earth since 1970. It was found with a modest 8" telescope too! Terry's account of his discovery is here. Here's an image from Rob Kaufmann and one from Michael Mattiazzo shortly after discovery.
Comet Lovejoy is the bright diagonal streak bottom left) on 14 December in the low res STEREO H1B beacon imagesTerry is now the first person to discover a Sungrazing comet from both ground and space-based telescopes.
The big question on everyone's minds is "how bright will it get, and will it survive?" Kretuz comets have a tendency to evaporate as the approach, or pass close to the sun. Comet Al has a nice series of images showing this evaporation.
There's lots of discussion on the Comets ML list about this issue, the comet is probably 200 meters across, and there is an odds on chance it will just break up.
How bright will it get?
 |  |
Again, there are lots of unknowns, a current magnitude plot is here, and should Comet Lovejoy survive it's journey inward, it might just get bright enough to see in the daylight. Might, as you can see from the images above (SkyMap image to the left, Stellarium image to the right, click to embiggen) the comet comes pretty close to the Sun, so it may not be possible to see it, even if the comet gets as bright as Venus.
The comet is probably (given all the unknowns and the very good possibility that it will disintegrate well before reaching the Sun) be reaching it's brightest at 11 am ACDST (around 11:30 AEDST) on the 16th of December in Australia. Do NOT attempt to locate the comet near the Sun unless you are an experienced solar observer, and have a decent solid building to block out the Sun.
Karl Battrams has a comprehensive page on the comet with nice GIF animations here.
Animation of comet Lovejoy from STEREO H1 Behind images on 12 December provided by Karl Battrams.
Labels: comet, comets, Stereo Satellite
Geminid Meteor Shower December 14-15, 2011
The radiant of the Geminid meteor shower above the northern horizon as seen from Adelaide on the morning of December 15 at 3:00 pm ACDST, similar views will be seen from other sites at equivalent local times.The Geminid Meteor shower is at its peak from the point of view of Australian's on the mornings of Wednesday 14 December (13 December UT) and Thursday 15 December. The best time to observe is between 1 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 12-3 am non-daylight saving time), with the highest rates between 2-3 am daylight saving time.
The Moon will unfortunately be just above the Geminid radiant, so only low meteor rates will be seen. In Australia we should see roughly a meteor every 6 minutes.
You can check predictions for you local site with the NASA meteor flux estimator (scroll down to 4 Geminids in the SHOWER box, make sure you have your location and date correct as well)..
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: Meteors
The Sky This Week - Thursday December 15 to Thursday December 22
The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday December 18. Venus is easily visible in the western evening sky. Jupiter dominates the evening sky to the north once Venus has set. Mars is visible in the morning sky and is close to the star Regulus. Saturn is now visible in the morning sky near the star Spica. On the 17th and 18th the Waning Moon is near Mars and on the 20th it is near Saturn. Geminid Meteor Shower on the morning of the 15th.
Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am local daylight saving time on Tuesday December 20 showing Mars near Regulus and Saturn near Spica and the waning Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.
The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday December 18.
Mars is in the north-eastern morning sky, in the constellation of Leo. On the 17th and 18th the waning Moon is close to Mars.
Saturn is above the north- eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. On the 20th the Moon forms an attractive triangle with Spica and Saturn.
Mercury appears low in the morning twilight. You will need a flt, clear eastern horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Venus in Sagittarius. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)
Bright white Venus is readily visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for somewhat over an hour. Venus leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricornius by the end of the week, but does not pass any bright stars.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on Saturday the 29th of October. However, Jupiter will be a great binocular and telescope object for many weeks to come. Jupiter is visible for most of the night, setting in the early morning.
Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 10:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Jupiter. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. INSET: Jupiter and its Moons as seen at this time, Europa infront of Jupiter from around 22:00 ACDST (click to embiggen)
In the evening Jupiter is readily visible in the north-eastern sky, from about twilight.
Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars. For good telescopic observation Jupiter is best from 9 pm - 1 am.
There are some good Jupiter Moon events, as on the evening of December 17. .
Although Jupiter is the most prominent now, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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 radiant of the Geminid meteor shower above the northern horizon as seen from Adelaide on the morning of December 15 at 3:00 pm ACDST, similar views will be seen from other sites at equivalent local times.
The Geminid Meteor shower is at its peak from the point of view of Australian's on the mornings of Wednesday 14 December (13 December UT) and Thursday 15 December. The best time to observe is between 1 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 12-3 am non-daylight saving time), with the highest rates between 2-3 am daylight saving time.
The Moon will unfortunately be just above the Geminid radiant, so only low meteor rates will be seen. In Australia we should see roughly a meteor every 6 minutes.
You can check predictions for you local site with the NASA meteor flux estimator (scroll down to 4 Geminids in the SHOWER box, make sure you have your location and date correct as well)..
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 5:00 am local daylight saving time on Tuesday December 20 showing Mars near Regulus and Saturn near Spica and the waning Moon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday December 18.
Mars is in the north-eastern morning sky, in the constellation of Leo. On the 17th and 18th the waning Moon is close to Mars.
Saturn is above the north- eastern horizon, not far from the bright star Spica. On the 20th the Moon forms an attractive triangle with Spica and Saturn.
Mercury appears low in the morning twilight. You will need a flt, clear eastern horizon to see it.
Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Venus in Sagittarius. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen)Bright white Venus is readily visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for somewhat over an hour. Venus leaves Sagittarius and enters Capricornius by the end of the week, but does not pass any bright stars.
Jupiter was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on Saturday the 29th of October. However, Jupiter will be a great binocular and telescope object for many weeks to come. Jupiter is visible for most of the night, setting in the early morning.
Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 10:00 pm local daylight saving time in South Australia showing Jupiter. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. INSET: Jupiter and its Moons as seen at this time, Europa infront of Jupiter from around 22:00 ACDST (click to embiggen)In the evening Jupiter is readily visible in the north-eastern sky, from about twilight.
Now is a good time to begin telescopic observation of this massive world, or follow its moons in binoculars. For good telescopic observation Jupiter is best from 9 pm - 1 am.
There are some good Jupiter Moon events, as on the evening of December 17. .
Although Jupiter is the most prominent now, there are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. 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 radiant of the Geminid meteor shower above the northern horizon as seen from Adelaide on the morning of December 15 at 3:00 pm ACDST, similar views will be seen from other sites at equivalent local times.The Geminid Meteor shower is at its peak from the point of view of Australian's on the mornings of Wednesday 14 December (13 December UT) and Thursday 15 December. The best time to observe is between 1 and 4 am (daylight saving time, 12-3 am non-daylight saving time), with the highest rates between 2-3 am daylight saving time.
The Moon will unfortunately be just above the Geminid radiant, so only low meteor rates will be seen. In Australia we should see roughly a meteor every 6 minutes.
You can check predictions for you local site with the NASA meteor flux estimator (scroll down to 4 Geminids in the SHOWER box, make sure you have your location and date correct as well)..
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
I'm on Today Tonight, umm Thursday Night Tonight
UPDATE to UPDATE: The video should be on the website http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/ the day after, and will be up for about a week.
those of you who are in South Australia, I will be on a Today Tonight segment (Channel 7) tonight (Wednesday December 14), briefly looking silly while peering at tins.
This will be eventually repeated on the East coast. And I'll be on again in one to two weeks time in a different story.
Labels: miscelaneous, science communicators, science matters
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Supernova 2011iv in NGC 1404 on Dec 11
Supernova 2011iv in NGC 1404 taken with GRAS-12 on December 11 2011, 5x60 second luminance exposures stacked and summed using ImageJ. Compare with images here and here. I'll have do do some astrometry, but it looks brighter than in Leonids images (click to embiggen).Labels: Global Rent-a-Scope, supernova
Monday, December 12, 2011
Carnival of Space #227 is here.
Carnival of Space #227 is now up at The Next Big Future. There's the old Mercury capsules, finding the brightest star in the sky (aside form the Sun), the "habitable Zone" exoplanet Kepler 22b, the upcoming Geminids and much much more. Zoom on over and have a look.
Oh, and due to busyness and conferences and stuff, I missed out on carnivals 226 and 225. They're still good, go visit.
Oh, and due to busyness and conferences and stuff, I missed out on carnivals 226 and 225. They're still good, go visit.
Labels: carnival of space
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Quick Shot of the Eclipse
A hole in the cloud allowed me to take this quick image of the eclipse. Telescope set up, but maybe that was the only hole.Dragged out EldestOne to see it, he was impressed.
Labels: astrophotography, eclipse, Moon
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Of Course the Eclipse is Clouded out
..so I'm going to watch a webcast.
Just a Reminder of Tonights Total Lunar Eclipse (10 December 2011)
Just a reminder of the Total Lunar Eclipse that starts tonight, Saturday 10 December 2011, Starting 23:15 ACDST, 23:46 AEDST and 20:46 AWST.
For more details, charts and hints on Astrophotography see here
For links to webcams if you are clouded out see here
For the All Sky Cam from the Global Rent-a-Scope site in officer Australia, see here.
For more details, charts and hints on Astrophotography see here
For links to webcams if you are clouded out see here
For the All Sky Cam from the Global Rent-a-Scope site in officer Australia, see here.
Labels: eclipse, Global Rent-a-Scope, Moon, webcam
Friday, December 09, 2011
Bright New Supernova in NGC 1404
Live Webcasts of this Saturdays Total Lunar Eclipse (10 December 2011)
In case you are clouded out of this Saturday's Total Lunar Eclipse, here is a list of live webcam events that I know of (I'll post more as I find them). Some of these may be over subscribed, so try a couple.Slooh Events
Amateur Astronomers Association Delhi
Astronomers Without Borders
Live webcast of 10th Dec Lunar Eclipse
Night Skies Networks
Live webcast of 10th Dec Lunar Eclipse From Dedicated Domain
SEMS University of North Dakota SEMS project 3 minutes of totality from Grand Forks.
SWAN from India.
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
