2005 YU55 passes inside 1 lunar-distance - Nov 8th 2011

UPDATE 8/11/2011

The process outlined below works a treat!

Here it is folks, first photos.

And of course the video of four stills in progression.

As you have no doubt heard, Asteroid 2005 YU55 will pass inside the orbit of the moon at about 85% of the distance to the moon.

Will it go close to the Moon? Not really, as it will cross earth’s orbit at a distance almost as far above the orbital plane as it is distant from us along the plane.

Still, that is very close in Astronomical terms and no (known) object of this size will pass this close again for another 17 years - 2001 WN5, which is a whopper at about 1 Klm wide, will come through at bout 0.7 LD (Lunar Distance) in June 2028. Then in 2029, Apophis makes its really close pass on April 13th, which I really hope isn’t a Friday, but the path is well known with very low uncertainty and it too will pass safely by. So this is a very exciting event and will receive lots of coverage, with great opportunities to grab great photos and create videos.

On the evening of Nov 8, 2005 YU55 will approach from the daylight and will whiz across into the night sky travelling at a cracking pace up to 540 Arc secs per minute. So on the evening of the 8th it presents a challenging target. If you have a field of view of 4008 x 2675 Pixels at say 1 arc sec per pixel, you’ll need about 4 “spot on” 20-30 sec frames to grab it……or you can wait for a few days until it slows down.

So some coaching might be in order here.

There are two ways to attack this:

1)  Goto the position it will be “at an EXACT time” and camp on that position, and wait for it to fly through your photos.

2)  Use the one line element to track on the actual asteroid as per the “Track Comet/NEO” approach on GRAS telescope interface.

The one line element will look like this:

K05Y55U 21.9   0.15 K118R 348.84963  268.77407   39.31601    0.51346  0.4289481  0.80685648   1.1427166  0 MPO196642   767   2 2005-2010 0.44 M-v 3Eh MPC        0000         2005 YU55           20100421

NOTE: DO NOT copy the above as even though the Asteroid is not visible until the 8th, the Arecibo and Goldstone Radar Radio Telescopes are already tracking it and have updated the orbit elements already. ALSO the above code is specific to H06 (New Mexico) observatory code, so it is only usable at that location. You should go to the MPC and the latest elements for your session. Note: some astronomy planetarium programs may not give you the best position, as unless they have the latest elements for the correct Epoch then you may run into some problems, this is less likely to be a problem, due to the high certainty of the orbit. [This was a problem for 2011 MD as it was inside the Hillsphere and was changing direction on an hourly basis]. As a rule I always get the latest data from the MPC.

If you go to the MPC

http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html

Click on “Minor planet epheremis” enter object “2005 YU55”, click on “hourly” or “minutes” (not daily), and the enter observatory code of the telescope (NMS H06, Nerpio I89…  etc or your own LAT/Long if you are doing this from your own scope at a different location).

If you want the exact co-ordinates hit enter, if you want the one line element then also select “MPC one line element” at the bottom.

You will have all you need.

So for Step 1) [Above] you enter the exact co-ordinates into the  “Plan Generator” on the GRAS telescope interface, select your image duration etc. Save your plan. Then set up a “Launch a plan” reservation with a target of your co-ordinates and set up the start time to be 15 minutes before your target position, to allow the telescope to get through its focus run and shoot a couple of frames before it arrives. Note: the reservation tool works in local time whereas your Ephemeris generated by MPC will be in UTC. So you will need to account for this. If you get it right the Asteroid should fly on through your image right on queue. (Later in the week after the 10th this won’t be quite so critical and you can revert to hourly positions, as it will then only be going <10 arc sec per minute) which means it will take some hours to cross your image field of view.

In the MPC Ephemeris printout the most cool feature is that it will tell you how far above the horizon the Asteroid is for your location……so you should target something reasonable Target ALT= >+35 degrees. It the ALT is minus its below the horizion, the the Sun ALT is + its day time ;-).

For Step 2) [Above] Once you have the One line element, making sure the Asteroid is above the horizon, on the GRAS Observation Plan, select “NEO/Comet” and you can paste the One line element straight into the Target box, select any other parameters like platesolving, etc. Once you start the run the Telscope will slew to the position and track the asteroid. (in this instance the asteroid will appear as a dot and the background stars will trail)

From Nov 8-9 it will be mag 11-13 so a 30 sec image will be fine, after the 10^th about mag 14+ you would best go with a 60-120 sec image. (you might want to go a little longer on the smaller scopes)

If you are competent in Photometry you can participate in an observing campaign (Brian Warner is leading it) but that doesn’t start till after the 10^th when 2005 YU55 slows to a reasonable pace. (relatively…….it just keeps going but relative to earth its moving across the sky slower)

The MPC (Minor Planet Center) also has an observation guide page on it

http://www.minorplanet.info/ObsGuides/YU55/

This is a great opportunity, and you can amaze your friends with your telescope skills, this is a very exciting event and everyone will be talking about it by Friday/Saturday.

Enjoy, I hope you find the above helpful. 

Bright Transient Type Fe II Nova in Scorpius

There was a bit of excitement this week when John Seach set up his camera gear and identified a Transient at magnitude of 9.8 on September 6.37 UT at 16:36:43 -41:32:46 and the AAVSO fired out an Alert. The notification was posted on the CBAT (Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams) Transient Confirmation Page.

However, it quickly became apparent that the Japanese researchers Nakamura, Kameyama, Mie also posted a Transient event at 16 36 44.40 -41 32 34.0 (about ~8-12 pixels away) and noted that the accuracy residuals were within 30” (arcsecs).

Southern observers starved of attention with all the excitement around, “northern hemisphere only” SN 2011fe, were quickly on the job. With Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Giovanni Sostero on the Faulkes Telescope and Seiichiro Kiyota on Global-Rent-a-scope’s G9 telescope between them they confirmed the “halfway mark” at 16:36:44 -41:32:37. By about 10pm (local)Sept 07 there was quite a flurry of telescope activity, and I grabbed some photos and data as well and recorded the object at 10.4 in the V johnson filter.

Seiichiro’s confirmation photo is on his website.

All subsequent data has been tied to Nakamura, Kameyama, Mie’s CBAT telegram and a formal announcement is being constructed. UPDATED - [Formal Release Sun 11 Sept 09:07 UTC - is a detailed document, the object is to be reported as Nova Sco 2011 NO. 2 or N Sco 2011 NO.2 in all observations to AAVSO.]

(Note: not all of the above are southern observers ;-) but they visit so frequently we give them honorary southern hemisphere citizenship).

So we have a bright transient in the Southern Hemisphere for all those who are missing out on SN 2011fe action in the north.

The weather itself has been a bit transient so I was unable to get additional data on the 8th. The AAVSO are collating reports and working with CBAT and will post some details shortly. Preliminary analysis suggests that it is a typical Fe II type Nova.

Its important to note that Fe here refers to the presence of strong Fe Lines in the spectra and has nothing to do with the naming convention of the recent Supernova 2011fe.

Still its nice to have our own “Fe” to chase in the southern hemisphere. Type Fe II Nova’s are associated with sudden interstellar reddening.

The AAVSO are working on it and will be asking for observations and will issue a bulletin with the naming convention for the Transient.

Its a really super Nova!

UPDATE 3/9/2011 02:30 UTC

Now at its very best!!!! Tweet

Supernova 2011fe has peaked at Mag 10.5 in the V (Johnson) Filter range. In the past two days the rate of brightening has started slowing and now appears to have levelled off at 10.5, it may yet edge a little higher to 10.3ish, but for now it seems to be at its best. It is now so bright its giving the center of M101 galaxy “a run for its money”, its a fantastic target for amateurs and teachers who are on the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram this week ;-)

According to a couple of articles I have read 2011fe has the spectral characteristics of a slow decliner, so over the next month it should slowly fade back into obscurity, secure in the knowledge there has been more research and spectroscopic and visual observational analysis on this SN than any who have gone before, due to the early detection by the Palomar Transient Factory.

UPDATE 31/8/2011 03:30 UTC

Here’s where we hold our breath! 2011fe has reached the predicted level of brightness and closed out the calendar day (30st August) at 11.2 in Johnson V filter.

It continues to brighten….how much has it got left in the tank?

UPDATE 28/08/2011 04:30 UTC

2011fe continues to brighten, over 174 observations from 23 different observers have all ready been logged with the AAVSO with the latest observation in the V channel at Mag 12.3.

I also noticed in a couple of the early postings from professional astronomers that more red light is now coming through into the spectrum. A.W Shafter and Nelemans have reviewed Shafter’s previous work on M101-1997-02, a 1997 nova in close proximity, and determined that it cannot be the progenitor of 2011fe.

2011fe is now the brightest star in M101 Galaxy. Seen here in the B (Johnson) Filter at 180 secs binned 2x2 on G11, you can see 1) its  brighter today and very strong in the blue channel compared to other surrounding stars and 2) I measured it at 12.54 in Johnson B filter.

Sadly I missed the V,R,I tonight as I had a couple of problems and ran into someone else’s reservation time.

Tomorrow we’ll have another go.

UPDATE 27/8/2011 03:00 UTC

PTL11kly now carries the designation 2011 fe!

Today the observations have been pouring into the AAVSO and currently the Magnitude of the Supernova is now at 12.9 in V & R colors and 13.5 in B and is still climbing. It has brightened from Mag 17.7 in 3 days. Last night it was a bit misty and the seeing was poor, but tonight is a beautiful clear night and I managed to grab some color shots. (I’ll get off iT-20 now and give some others a go) ;-)

I have just run my data and it looks around 12.5, on a pretty rough calculation. I was using a color camera, so the photometry should not be considered overly accurate. 

A really super Nova!

You may not know this, but just about every other day there is a Type 1a Supernova. Thats right a star blows up every other day. Astronomers around the world now detect, about 280-400 Type 1a supernovae every year.

 

Image Credit: Aussie Pete - taken late on 25th August

This one you are going to hear about!

Why haven’t I heard about the other 300 odd? Thats because they are very faint, and are only found at all, because our techniques for detecting them have improved so much.

On the evening of the 24th August, the Palomar Transient Factory, a transient survey, detected the start of a supernova in M101, only 21 million light years away. A supernova usually takes a week to build to maximum brightness, this one was detected at mag 17 and because its in a Galaxy so close it is expected to make at least Magnitude 11 or perhaps better. We’ll know next week.

BUT …for our poor hapless Australian’s, sadly there will be no back yard observing as the Pin Wheel galaxy, (M101), sits at DEC +54 deep into the northern hemisphere. However on GRAS’s one click color images M101 is a regular feature and with a 300 sec image you can have your own piece of history.

If the predictions pan out this could well be the brightest supernova in 30 years.

The Type 1a is called, for now, PTL11kly and will get a “real” designation a little later, [2011fe - Edit] usually the Year and instance number for that year.

There is a great write up here on this new transient event. 

If you want to logon to GRAS and take your own photo, you will need to do it in the early part of the evening from either Spain or New Mexico. Just login and select “one click” image from the menu and select M101. For new members try G3 on the introductory special. For other users enter M101 and select a 300 sec exposure on G-3 or G-20 in New Mexico for a nice color image.

FS Aur observing campaign

It is with great excitment and sense of satisfaction that I share this poster paper from Vitaly Neustroev. Vitaly lead an energetic campaign during the past northern hemisphere winter/spring campaign which concluded in April 2011.

In true AAVSO form a number of observers rallied to the cause to assist Vitaly and George Scoberg collect the data on this most bizzare and interesting object.

Long-term variability and outburst activity of FS Aurigae: Further evidence for a third body in the system was presented at the IAU 282 symposium in Slovakia on modelling tools for interacting binaries and exoplanets.

As you might have guessed from the name of the paper, the campaign added to the body of evidence supporting a third body in circumbinary orbit around a magneticly active cataclysmic variable star.

Click on the image above to read the paper on the Slovenskej Akademie website. A phase curve of the average of the 5 best outbursts showed the shape of the outburst and additional data further confirmed the presence of three different periods in the longer term light curve.

The effort to study this unique object by the community of amateur and professional astronomers was amazing, obtaining almost continuous coverage of the Variable star for the full, three months of the campaign, involving tens of thousands of data points from 42 different observers.

I’ll leave Vitaly to comment further at the appropriate time on his findings, but all in all this was a great campaign and a fine example of the power of collaboration between research scientists and members of the AAVSO.

So there you go…..my first co-authorship as an “et al”. I would like to personally thank Vitaly for his leadership, the professional way he conducted the study, and engaged with and encouraged the participating observers.

This is all part of the great science that can be, and is being done, here at iTelescope.net.

Peter

Gorgeous Garradd!!!

Update 29/8/2011

Now we are talking Garradd is now starting to lengthen that tail!    Looking great!

This image took longer to process than it took to take, as the stars and comet are treated seperately here to get the stars close to the right colors and account for movement of the comet over 20 mins……it come up well.

Comet Garradd C/2009 P1 is making nice progress towards its perihelion (closest approach to the sun) on Dec 23rd. Its a lovely comet and should brighten further of the coming months and has the best chance of becoming our next “naked eye” comet. I hope to have some better images soon. 

It had a nice little double tail going about a week ago, but that seems to have swung away from us a little.

Comet Garrad: P.Lake G17 40mins RGB - Imaged processed in Maxim DL and Photoshop (comet and stars treated separately)