Tom

Jupiter (04 Sep 2023)

 Jupiter, Planet, Solar System  No Responses »
Sep 042023
 

The PTO is still set up for planetary imaging. I was able to wait out the clouds and got some shots of Jupiter early this morning. The planet is currently in the constellation Ares and transits around 0445 CDT which puts it high overhead at dawn. At 1600 CDT today, the planet will halt its forward motion and appear to start backing up in the sky. This retrograde motion is an illusion due to the Earth’s and Jupiter’s locations in the solar system and their relative motions.

Jupiter
[(V) L:1684×1.2ms; R:1411×2.04ms; G:1391×1.7ms; B:1388×2.5ms]

The image is, as indicated, a full LRGB image. The jet stream forecast was for good upper level conditions and the fine detail in the cloud tops show that to be the case.

 Posted by at 22:37

Space debris reentry? (10 Aug 2023)

 General Commentary  No Responses »
Aug 112023
 

The meteor camera captured this last night (10 Aug). Several local observers reported hearing a sonic boom after watching the object streak across the sky. As can be seen, it ultimately broke into pieces. Speculation is the object was launch debris from SpaceX’s recent Starlink launch.

 Posted by at 10:32

Sun (02 Aug 2023)

 Solar System, Sun  No Responses »
Aug 072023
 

I am testing a new scope/camera/reducer combination in anticipation of live streaming the upcoming partial solar eclipse in October. The camera used for this image is very low resolution (640×480) so the image will not hold up to any zooming but, I think, it will be fine for streaming. Since this was just a test, I was not too concerned about centering the Sun in the FOV, hence the offset to the upper left.

Sun (Ha:1800×2.06ms)

This was taken on the 2nd of Aug using my H-alpha scope, so we are observing the Sun’s chromosphere. Visible in that layer are a couple of dark filaments as well as several bright plages. There are also a couple of small prominences standing out from the left limb and several obvious sunspots.

 Posted by at 12:55

2023 MU2 – Here it comes. (24 Jun 2023)

 Minor Planet, Solar System  No Responses »
Jun 252023
 

Many of you will have no doubt heard of the “HOUSE SIZED ASTEROID HEADING TOWARDS EARTH !!!”.

Well, there is one that will pass by the Earth this afternoon (25 Jun 2023) at 1819 CDT. JPL estimates the size, on average, to be 5 meters in diameter (16.4 feet). My van is 20′ feet long so it must be a really small house. However, it will get no closer than 134,788 miles away. That is a about 60% the distance to the Moon. It is traveling at a speed of 10,107 mph. That speed, and its proximity to the Earth, is evident in the animation below.

 

The asteroid orbits the Sun in 490.9 days. As you can see in the orbit diagram, it spends most of its time in between Earth and Mars but crosses inside Earth’s orbit for about 2 months.

2023 MU2’s orbit.
(Graphic courtesy of the JPL Small-Body Database Browser)

At the time, from our point of view, the asteroid was traversing the constellation Scutum (The Shield). This location puts it crossing into some of the denser star clouds of the Milky Way. This is why there are so many stars in the background.

The animation is composed of forty-five cropped 120 second exposures. They were taken on the evening of the 24th.

 Posted by at 14:22

Sun (18 Apr 2023)

 Solar System, Sun  No Responses »
Apr 202023
 

I am starting to prepare for next year’s total solar eclipse. This means refreshing my memory on the procedures and set up of my mobile telescopes, mounts and cameras.

I took this image using one of my very first webcams: a TIS DMK21AU04. The camera is long out of production but as you can see, this one still works. It has a very low resolution of 640×480 and that is very obvious in this picture. I have much higher resolution cameras, but I think this will be fine to live stream the eclipse given the chance. It is also much easier to set up and configure. The telescope is my Hydrogen-Alpha telescope which allows us to view the thin layer of the Sun’s atmosphere known as the chromosphere.

Sun (HA:225×0.2ms)

You can see several dark thin thread-like filaments in the image. This is solar material being held off the surface by magnetic fields and because it is above the surface it is cooler and thus darker. The patchy bright areas are locations of increased magnetic strength known as plage.

 Posted by at 15:08
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