Over the next few nights comet C/2009 P1 Garradd will pass close by the globular cluster M92, in Hercules, and this will make for an interesting observing opportunity.
Comet 2009 P1 Garrad on 31st January 2012 by Martin Mobberley
Stewart Moore, the BAA Deep Sky Section Director writes:
Although not a spectacular comet with a majestic tail, C/2009 P1 (Garradd) has endeared itself to many observers by visiting bright deep sky objects on its journey through the heavens. In late August 2011 it visited the globular cluster M71 and in early September of the same year it made a close approach to the Coathanger asterism. Now visible in the morning sky, Garradd continues its friendship with deep sky objects by making a close approach to another globular cluster, this time M92 in Hercules.
On February 3/4 it passes within 0.5 degree west of M92, making an ideal photo opportunity. The coordinates of M92 are RA 17h 17m.1 and Dec +43deg 08min. M92 has a visual magnitude of 6.5 and a diameter of 14 arcmin. Details and an ephemeris for the comet, which has a predicted magnitude of 6.5, can be downloaded from the Comet Section web page and are also available in the latest BAA paper circular No. 826 dated 2012 January 18.
With the Moon setting just after 04:00 on Feb. 3, M92 and the comet will be found at an altitude of around 40 degree in the east. Please send all observations to both the Deep Sky Section and the Comet Section.
As part of our near-term strategy to significantly increase the BAA’s online presence, Council has decided to ask for expressions of interest from a suitably qualified person to take up a freelance web designer role. This person would be responsible for a radical overhaul of the Association’s website using open-source tools, the management and maintenance of our online presence and the commissioning and management of content.
Council envisages offering a 3-year contract, reviewed annually for a fee in the region of £12-14K per year. We would expect the necessary commitment to average around 15-20 hours per week although workload will be variable.
The successful applicant will have a large amount of autonomy to work towards the goals set by Council and we would expect this activity to start sometime in the 2nd quarter of 2012. Membership of the BAA is not essential but a good knowledge of amateur astronomy, the Association and its objectives will be expected.
To express an interest in this exciting opportunity and to receive further details please send an e-mail to webdesign@britastro.org before Friday, 10th February.
One of John's images from the M/S Midnatsol on January 24/25
The Sun has been very active this past week and John Mason, who is currently in Norway, reports that spectacular aurorae have been seen over the last few days. The images here were taken on the night of January 24/45. John writes:
I took a total of 508 images that night using a Canon EOS 450D with 10 mm f/2.8 Sigma fish-eye. All images were at 1600 ISO with exposure times ranging from 1s to 15s during the night, depending on the brightness of the auroral structures being imaged and the steadiness of the ship at the time. During the most active part of the display exposures ranged from 1s to 6s. During the auroral display, I was observing from the aft of deck 9 on the Hurtigruten ship M/S Midnatsol, which was sailing roughly northwards from Tromsø to Oksfjord, via Skjervøy at the time.
There are more of John’s spectacular images below and John even made the Washington Post.
Jan 24/25 1824UT.
Jan 24/25 2012UT
- Jan 24/25 2331UT
BAA member Nick James was able to respond to an urgent request for observations of the newly discovered near earth asteroid 2012 BX34.
He was able to image the asteroid last night (January 26th) from Chelmsford, one day before its closest approach at around 15:30UT today.
Image of asteroid 2012 BX34 by Nick James
Nick writes:
Following an alert from ARPS director Richard Miles I observed this very small Near Earth Asteroid last night from Chelmsford. The asteroid had only been discovered the night before and is due to come within 0.2 lunar distance of the centre of the Earth at around 15:30 UTC today. It is probably only 4-5m across.
Observations using the Goldstone Solar System Radar were scheduled for this morning and so an urgent request went out for astrometry of this object to help refine the orbit. The attached image shows one of my observations. The asteroid was moving so fast (around 30 arcsec/min) that I had to take short exposures but it was relatively faint (around mag 17) so they needed to be stacked. This stack consists of 36 frames offset at the expected rate of the object. It is visible as a dot and the background stars are the trails. The gap was caused by a short break to take a couple of dark frames.
You can also read more about this asteroid on the BBC News website.
Comet Lovejoy survived it’s encounter with the Sun, and is now putting on fine display in the southern hemisphere. This video was made by Australian amateur astronomer Colin Legg.
Comet Lovejoy (2011 W3) rising over Western Australia from Colin Legg on Vimeo.
The BAA’s Denis Buczynski writes:
The ground based discovery of this Kreutz group sungrazer by Australian amateur Terry Lovejoy on 2011 November 27 has been followed closely by comet enthusiasts around the world as it headed towards perihelion passage on December 16. The spectacular views of the comet arrived at our computer screens via a medley of solar monitoring spacecraft. The comet survived its perihelion passage and has now begun its retreat from the Sun. There were some predictions, by comet experts, that the comet would disintegrate, as had been the case with many other sungrazers. Astonishing images were received showing the comet being disrupted during its close approach to the solar surface, losing it tail in the process. However the comet then appeared to brighten and another tail emerged from the brilliant cometary head. The link below will allow the reader to follow the development of the comet via the space imagery.
http://remanzacco.blogspot.com
As the solar elongation grew the possibility of seeing a daylight comet increased. A comparison with the brilliant sungrazer C/1965 S1 Ikeya-Seki seen in daylight in 1965 is being made. The following link shows that daylight imaging has been achieved (extreme care must be taken during this type of imaging) with remarkably simple equipment and techniques:
http://www.astrosurf.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/032557.html
Observers in the southern hemisphere are now beginning to see the comet rising in the early morning dawn sky. What the future developments are for this remarkable comet will be seen in images and observations made during the next few weeks. The link below shows a video of the comet and moon rising from a dark sky site in Western Australia made by Colin Legg .
Sky & Telescope illustration
The Geminid meteor shower is now underway, with peak activity expected during Wednesday, 14th December. Unfortunately, weather forecasts indicate very variable observing conditions across the British Isles and Northern Europe, so it is important to have a good geographical spread of observers to ensure adequate coverage. The waning gibbous Moon will also be rather obtrusive, so observers are advised to direct their gaze away from the Moon, or to hide the Moon behind an obstruction such as the wall of a house.
The Geminids are currently the most active of the regular annual showers, with rates outstripping those of the Perseids for a 24-hour interval centred on their 14-15 December maximum – a real treat for observers prepared to brave the cold, damp and windy weather.
This year, Geminid activity is expected to peak at about 14h on Wednesday, December 14th, when the peak Geminid Zenithal Hourly Rate may reach 140 m/h – sadly during daylight hours for observers across Europe. The maximum is broad, however, and it is important to have a spread of observers making observations throughout the nights of 13th/14th December and on 14th/15th December to ensure adequate coverage of the shower maximum. In addition, observations by BAA members in North America and the Far East will be welcomed by the Meteor Section to improve coverage of the period of peak shower activity.
The Geminid radiant (at RA 07h 32m Dec +33o, just north of Castor) rises early on and reaches a respectable altitude well before midnight, so observers who are unable to stay up late can still contribute very useful watches. On the evening of Wednesday 14th December there is the added bonus of an increased proportional abundance of bright events after maximum; past observations show that bright Geminids become more numerous some hours after the rates have peaked, a consequence of particle-sorting in the meteor stream.
Geminid meteors enter the atmosphere at a relatively slow 35 km/sec, and thanks to their robust (presumably rocky/asteroidal as opposed to dusty/cometary) nature tend to last longer than most in luminous flight. Unlike swift Perseid or Orionid meteors, which last only a couple of tenths of a second, Geminids may be visible for a second or longer, sometimes appearing to fragment into a train of ‘blobs’. Their relatively low speed and the abundance of bright events makes the Geminids a prime target for imaging.
For further information, or copies of report forms, observing notes, and details of how to carry out group meteor watches, please visit the BAA Meteor Section website at http://britastro.org/meteor
A good number of people were successful in witnessing the final phases of the total lunar eclipse from the UK. Here are a few taken by members of the BAA.
This Saturday afternoon, on 10 December, there will be a total eclipse of the Moon. Eclipses of the Moon occur when the Full Moon passes through the cone of shadow cast by the Earth into space. The eclipse first becomes total at 14:06 UT, reaches maximum at 14:32 UT, and ends at 14:57 UT. The partial eclipse ends at 16:18 UT.
Eclipsed Moon on 21st February 2008 by Ian Halsey
Unfortunately, from the UK, the Moon will already have started leaving the umbra (the central, dark part of the Moon’s shadow) well before moonrise, and the observable part of the partial phase will last from moonrise until 16:18 UT.
From London, Moonrise is at 15:51 UT, from Norwich it is at 15:39 UT and from Sheffield at 15:46 UT. Accordingly observers in Eastern parts of the UK will be able to see just the last 30-40 minutes of the partial phase, provided they have a clear, unobstructed north-eastern horizon.
Sadly, from locations further north and west, with moonrise occurring later in the afternoon, most of the partial phase will be over before the Moon rises. Observers should go out at about the time of local Moonrise when, if the sky is clear, the partially-eclipsed Moon may be glimpsed very low down, close to the horizon, in the north-eastern sky.
One never quite knows how dark or how bright a lunar eclipse will be. Everything depends on the conditions in the Earth’s upper atmosphere through which all light falling onto the shadowed Moon has to pass. There have been eclipses when the Moon has been difficult to find even with a telescope, while at other eclipses it has remained bright red or vividly coloured.
This total lunar eclipse takes place at the Moon’s descending node in eastern Taurus, four days after apogee. The Moon’s orbital trajectory takes it through the southern half of Earth’s umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 51 minutes. Eastern Asia, Indonesia, Australia and Japan are best placed for viewing this eclipse, near midnight and with the Moon at a good altitude above the horizon.
Further information on this eclipse may be found at:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2011.html#LE2011Dec10T
Comet P/2011w2 Rinner was discovered on 28th November by Claudine Rinner using a 0.5m telescope in Morocco, showing that amateur astronomers can make comet discoveries and that searching/blinking
ccd frames is still worthwhile.
Currently it is rather faint though, at 17th magnitude.
BAA member Denis Buczynski was able to image it in the morning of November 30th using a Celestron C14 and FLI Maxcam, from his home observatory at Tarbatness, Scotland.
UK observers were unable to witness for themselves the close-pass of near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 on the night of 2011 November 8/9 owing to the country being entirely covered by impenetrable cloud as can be seen in the weather satellite images taken at the time.
UK Cloud on November 8-9
‘YU55′ is especially noteworthy in that it is the largest known NEO to have passed so close to the Earth (0.85 lunar-distances away) that has been predicted in advance of the event. Detailed radar images including animations showing the object rotating will be released by NASA during the next few days, news of which can be found at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/index.cfm
Given the poor weather in the UK, BAA member Martin Mobberley used a remotely-operated 0.5-m telescope at the GRAS facilities in New Mexico to secure a 1-minute exposure of the 11th magnitude object taken some 7 hours after closest approach. The very fast moving object is clearly visible as a bright streak in the centre of Martin’s image taken whilst it was at a distance of about 450,000 km from the Earth, just beyond the orbit of the Moon.
2005 YU55 on 2011 November 9th at 06:38 UT - Martin Mobberley
Richard Miles
Director, Asteroids and Remote Planets Section
@britastro