Monday, November 25, 2013
Readers Images of comets ISON and Lovejoy
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| S1 ISON: EOD 5D MK III, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm f/2.8, ISO 2000, 13 x 0.6s light frames (RAW), 13 darks and 13 bias stacked in deep sky stacker. Levels and curves in photoshop, create master flat frame and subtract from original image to eliminate light pollution and lens vignetting. Then another levels and curves adjustment, denoise to remove colour noise and adjust contrast slightly. The bright star is Spica. Time was between 3.31am and 3.34am on November 19. Click to embiggen. | R1 Lovejoy: EOD 5D MK III, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 @ 120mm f/2.8, ISO 2000, 8 x 2.5s light frames (RAW), 10 darks and 10 bias stacked in deep sky stacker. Levels and curves in photoshop, create master flat frame and subtract from original image to eliminate light pollution and lens vignetting. Then another levels and curves adjustment, denoise to remove colour noise and adjust contrast slightly. Time was between 3.33am and 3.35am on November 19. Click to embiggen. |
Reader Krishan Kara sent me these marvellous shots of comet C/2012 S1 ISON and C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, taken on November 19 in Brisbane (note that he holds the copyright on these images, so please ask if you want to copy or use them). The most amazing thing about these shots is that they are unguided! Great work Krishan..
Labels: astrophotography, C/2012 S1 ISON, C/2013 R1
Monday, November 18, 2013
STEREO catches Comet C/2012 S1 ISON firing up.
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| Comet C/2012 S1 ISON imaged in the STEREO satellites H2A instrument from 13 November to 14 November. 3 comets, Mercury and a variable star are labelled so you know where to look in the animation.Click to embiggen | 19 Images stacked in ImageJ and assembled into an animation. You will need to click on the image to embiggen it, so that you can see ISON, Lovejoy and 2P/Enke clearly. |
My Earth based ISON campaign is over, ISON is too deep in the twilight for me to see from Adelaide (despite trying very hard), and it is now below the lower limit of travel of the iTelescopes.
But STEREO still delivers. ISON is currently visible in the H2A instrument of STEREO, along with C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, 2P/Enke and 2013 V3 Nevski (there's also a variable star winking on and off).
An enlarged, inverted version of the above animation is to the left. Comet Al does a much better version where you can see the tail clearly.
Labels: 2P Encke, C/2012 S1 ISON, C/2013 R1, Comet Al, Stereo Satellite
Friday, November 15, 2013
Comets in Outburst C/2012 S1 ISON, C/2013 R1 Lovejoy and C/2013 V3 Nevski
Comet C/2012 S1 ISON is confirmed to be in outburst. The most recent magnitude estimates put it around magnitude 5.5, just above unaided eye visibility in dark sky sites. For most of Australia though the comet is so low to the horizon that you will still need at least binoculars to see it.
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is still bright and is currently around magnitude 5.6. It is higher above the horizon than ISON, but will only really be an unaided eye object in the norther part of Australia under dark skies. It is a nice fuzzy ball in 10x50 binoculars just under the sickle of Leo.
Comet C/2013 V3 Nevski should be magnitude 15, but has been reported as being magnitude 9, up from magnitude 10 of a few days ago. This makes it a telescope target, but it is reasonably high in the sky entering Leo.
All three are morning objects. Lovejoy and Nevin are best seen an hour and a half before sunrise, ISON, for all those south of around Cairns, is best seen an hour before sunrise (at the lattitude of Cairns and higher you can still see it an hour and a half before sunrise.
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is still bright and is currently around magnitude 5.6. It is higher above the horizon than ISON, but will only really be an unaided eye object in the norther part of Australia under dark skies. It is a nice fuzzy ball in 10x50 binoculars just under the sickle of Leo.
Comet C/2013 V3 Nevski should be magnitude 15, but has been reported as being magnitude 9, up from magnitude 10 of a few days ago. This makes it a telescope target, but it is reasonably high in the sky entering Leo.
All three are morning objects. Lovejoy and Nevin are best seen an hour and a half before sunrise, ISON, for all those south of around Cairns, is best seen an hour before sunrise (at the lattitude of Cairns and higher you can still see it an hour and a half before sunrise.
Labels: C/2012 S1 ISON, C/2013 R1, comet, comets
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Comet Lovejoy and the Beehive, 6 November 2013
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| Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy captured on 6 November with iTelescope T14 at around 4:00 am local time in New Mexico, USA. The image is a stack of 3 x 60 second Luminance exposures. Images stacked then SUMMED using ImageJ, then contrast enhancement applied. click to embiggen. | Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy captured on 6 November with iTelescope T14 at around 4:00 am local time in New Mexico, USA. The image is a stack of 10 x 60 second Luminance exposures. Images stacked then MEDIAN stacked using ImageJ, then contrast enhancement applied. The faint tail comes out nicely, and the Beehive cluster is preserved. click to embiggen. |
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is quite the unexpected delight of the year. Already reported as 6th magnitude, it may get as bright as magnitude 5 before it is lost from southern skies, and brighter in the northern hemisphere. Currently near the iconic Beehive cluster in Cancer, it is putting on a very good show, easily making up for ISON. With careful stacking a very nice, narrow tail can be seen.You really need to embiggen the images to see them at their best
T14 is a 0.10-m f/5.0 astrograph with SBIG STL-11000M and 3.5 arc-secs/pixel
Animation made from all 10 images. Contrast enhanced to see the comet tail better. Image orientation: north is to the right, east to the top.
Labels: C/2013 R1, cluster, comet, iTelescope
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy in the Beehive (7-8 November 2013)
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| Morning sky on Thursday November 7 looking north north-east as seen from Adelaide at 4:30 am ACST (an hour and a half before Sunrise) in South Australia. Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is to the right of Jupiter, just above the Beehive cluster (Paresepe). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen). | Simulated binocular view showing the location of C/2013 R1 Lovejoy on the 7th and 8th. The chart us in the same orientation as the spotters chart at the same time (click to embiggen). |
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is easily visible in binoculars in the constellation of Cancer. On the 7th and 8th of November it is very close to the beautiful Beehive cluster.
You will need to get up before Astronomical twilight, an hour and a half before local sunrise, to see it before twilight makes them too hard to see, best around 2 hours before sunrise.
A printable PDF chart is here.
Labels: C/2013 R1, cluster, comet
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is Visible in Binoculars (3 November - 8 November 2013)
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| Morning sky on Sunday November 3 looking north north-east as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACST in South Australia. Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is to the right of Jupiter, just above the Beehive cluster. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen). | Binocular chart showing the location of C/2013 R1 Lovejoy over the next few days. The chart us in the same orientation as the spotters chart at the same time. The circle is the approximate field of view of 10x50 binoculars (click to embiggen). |
While all eyes have been on comet C/2012 S1 ISON, another comet has been quietly brightening. C/2013 R1 Lovejoy is Australian Terry Lovejoy's 4th comet (you may remember C/2011 W3 Lovejoy). It has been over performing, and is currently magnitude 7 and easily visible in binoculars. It is a good target if you are up early looking for ISON.
The comet should brighten more over the coming week, and will be very close to the iconic Beehive cluster on the 7th and 8th of November. This should be a great photo opportunity. The comet has a distinct coma, and a very thin tail which is really only visible on long exposure images with telescopes. In binoculars it will look like a fuzzy blob.
This week the comet is to the right of Jupiter between two of the main stars of the constellation Cancer, Beta and Delta Canceri, so sweeping with binoculars or a telescope between these stars should net you the comet. The best time to see it is in the early monring, before Astronomical twilight (90 minutes before local sunrise). As I mentioned above it will be very close to the iconic Beehive cluster on the 7th and 8th of November.
A printable PDF chart is here.
The comet is closest to Earth on 19 November, but it will be too deep in the twilight to see from Australia. We should see it brighten to unaided eye visibility (magnitude 6) by the middle of November.
Labels: binocular, C/2013 R1, comet, telescope
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