- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by
David Swan.
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16 April 2018 at 8:43 pm #574000
Trevor Clifton
ParticipantWe tried out our new esprit150 refractor on M51 on Saturday evening. We had a few issues but when we processed the image we spotted something that does not appear on internet “stock” pictures.
when enlarged it still looks like a star but would welcome comments (we cannot be that lucky surely!)
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16 April 2018 at 11:08 pm #579337
Tim HaymesParticipantAssuming the date was April 14.95 and searching within 5′ arc:
No known minor planets, brighter than V = 20, were found in the 5.0-arcminute region around R.A. = 13 30 00, Decl. = +47 10 00 (J2000.0) on 2018 04 14.95 UT. using https://minorplanetcenter.net/cgi-bin/mpcheck.cgi
Nothing here either: http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/
Did you take more than one image ?
– Tim
17 April 2018 at 8:20 am #579338
Eliot HallParticipantI did a quick search of the Transient Name Server and there appears to be no reported events events since the 1st March within 5 degrees of M51. Here are the search criteria I used.
17 April 2018 at 10:57 am #579339Trevor Clifton
ParticipantWe took 2 x 300 seconds in luminance, RGB. 20 flats and used library darks
Update….I am travelling up to Thirsk tomorrow evening and will take a look at all the images we took. Will post update.
17 April 2018 at 8:38 pm #579343
David SwanParticipantI’ve scrutinised my 10th March image of M51 and indeed there’s no evidence of this transient. I’ll try to get some images this evening. It’s clear skies in Tynemouth at the moment, but of course this is unlikely to remain the case as the sky darkens! David
17 April 2018 at 10:11 pm #579345
David SwanParticipant
50 x 10s frames, median stack, midpoint of imaging run: 20:40 GMT. Unfortunately no bright signal at the same position.
17 April 2018 at 11:06 pm #579346
Tim HaymesParticipantPerhaps the transient was in only 1 frame? Does the colour brightness differ in the 3 filters (out of interest)?
18 April 2018 at 7:30 pm #579350Trevor Clifton
Participant
It only appears in the first luminance sub, But its trailed and is clearly not a hot pixelEnlarged image attached
18 April 2018 at 8:25 pm #579351
David SwanParticipantYes, of course it could indeed be real. I just posted my image up in case it turned out to be a longer-lived phenomenon. Point meteor may be a good candidate. Transparency last night was excellent.
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