C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) (06 Mar 2024)

 Comet, Solar System  No Responses »
Mar 112024
 

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) AKA CK23A030 is a long period Oort cloud comet. It was first discovered on the 9th of January by the Purple Mountain Observatory near Nanjing, China and then again, independently, by the ATLAS system in South Africa on the 22nd of Feb. The comet’s perihelion will occur on the 27th of September 2024 and then pass closest to the Earth less than a month later on the 12th of October. CK23A030 is in a retrograde orbit and is currently above the ecliptic. It will dip below it in the middle of June and back above it the beginning of October.

This image is a stack of 11 images centered on the comet taken on the 6th of March. On that date, the comet’s magnitude was 12.6 but since it is still on its inbound leg and considerably outside the orbit of Mars, it should get much brighter by the end of the year. It has the potential to get bright enough for naked eye visibility, but it is a comet, and comets pay no attention to astronomer’s predictions.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) [CV:11x300s]

C/2023 A3’s orbit.
(Graphic courtesy of the JPL Small-Body Database Browser)

The length of its orbit around the Sun, prior to this close pass, was in the millions of years but getting this close may modify the orbit to hyperbolic and eject the comet from the solar system. The orbit chart is current as of 11 March.

 Posted by at 03:41

Jupiter (30 Dec 23 – 01 Jan 24)

 Jupiter, Planet, Solar System  No Responses »
Jan 042024
 

The jet stream forecast was favorable over the year end break, so I reconfigured the PTO to planetary mode and got a few series of LRGB imagery while the sky was clear. All the images were analyzed for impacts and reports were submitted.

Jupiter [(V) L:1658×1.06ms; R:1661×1.71ms; G:1618×1.56ms; B:1840×2.25ms]

Jupiter [(V) L:3477×1.2ms; R:2280×1.96ms; G:3281×1.75ms; B:3475×2.9ms]

The image on the left showing the Great Red Spot was taken on the 30th and the right image was taken on the 1st. As usual south is at the top.

 Posted by at 14:24

SA-200 Diffraction Grating (31 Oct 2023)

 Solar System, Spectrum, Uranus  No Responses »
Nov 032023
 

I was lucky enough to get permission to assist a local STEMM student with a science fair project. The project involved spectroscopy and I was able to put my filter wheel mounted Star Analyzer 200 to good use. I was able to get images of stars in each major spectroscopic class. I was also able to get the spectrum of Uranus as a system capability test. I use the RSpec software program to process the spectra. Although I use a monochrome camera, the package is capable of synthesizing a color spectrum once it is calibrated. That is what is displayed under the spectrum profile chart.

A class A star has very prominent hydrogen absorption features in its spectrum. This makes it a good target for calibrating a spectrographic system. Elements in a star’s atmosphere absorb specific frequencies of light which are unique to the element. This is why we see a dip in the light’s intensity at that point. The dips in this spectrum, indicated by the blue lines, are due to hydrogen absorbing the light. This set of frequencies are known as the hydrogen Balmer series.

Menkalinan – Class A star

I also took an image of Uranus just to see what the SA-200 was capable of. The blue lines in this instance identify the frequencies of light that methane would absorb. As you can see there are significant dips in the spectrum at those frequencies.

Uranus

This is the image of Uranus that was processed by RSpec to produce the profile chart. The brightest spot is Uranus and the brightest streak to the right of Uranus is its spectrum. The other 4 obvious spots are magnitude 10 background stars.

Uranus [D2:1x5s]

 Posted by at 15:21

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

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
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