Observation by Mazin Younis: Asteroid in Leo Triplet
Uploaded by
Mazin Younis
Observer
Mazin Younis
Observed
2021 Jan 15 - 02:30
Uploaded
2021 Jan 18 - 14:38
Objects
M66
888 Parysatis
Planetarium overlay
Constellation
Leo
Field centre
RA: 11h20m
Dec: +13°04'
Position angle: -105°48'
Field size
0°21' × 0°12'
Equipment
- Skywatcher 200P Newtonian f/4
- ZWO ASI294MC
- Skywatcher EQ-5 Pro Mount
- ZWO ASI120MM guide camera
Exposure
2 Hours
Location
Hale Barnes, Manchester
Target name
Leo Triplet Asteroid
Title
Asteroid in Leo Triplet
About this image
When I was image-processing my total 2hrs. exposures for the beautiful Leo Triplet I noticed a short line which I initially assumed was "noise", upon closer inspection they were regular dots of the same brightness that appeared in all the frames, surely something is moving.
I converted the FIT files to TIFF then processed them in Lightroom and imported the images into Premier to make a video clip. It was amazing to see a moving Asteroid that you never intended to observe in your photos. I estimate its brightness to be of magnitude 10.
I checked all the Asteroids that were close to Leo at the time: Vesta, Amphitrite, Friggs.. but none of them had passed this path, hence I assumed it was a new Asteroid which may not have been reported earlier.
Unfortunately, reporting new asteroids to IAU is very complicated especially that we in the UK aren't very lucky with many clear skies. Hence, I decided to publish it here, you never know it may be announced in the next few days as a new Asteroid :)
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Comments
Hi Mazin,
I've been checking the position of your 'new' asteroid using a tool available on the Minor Planet Center website (https://minorplanetcenter.net//iau/mpc.html and https://minorplanetcenter.net/cgi-bin/checkmp.cgi). Using an approximate position of your asteroid from your image, the date/time you give and your approximate location, it appears your asteroid is actually asteroid (888) Parysatis at magnitude 13.7. So unfortunately, not a new asteroid but your image does show it well (and M66).
In more detail, for the MPC tool I used position of R.A. = 11 19 41, Decl. = +13 10 45, date/time 2021 01 15.10 UT and observatory code 980 which is at Lancaster Observatory (close enough to Manchester) for checking. For the position I used another tool Aladin (https://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/), which needs to be downloaded, and then selecting M66 and clicking on the approximate location of your asteroid.
Hi Peter
Many thanks for your valuable input into this matter. Richard from the minor planets center at BAA also confirmed that it was indeed (888) Parysatis. For some reason I couldn't find this asteroid on other websites, clearly I wasn't using the right site/tools.
Your guidance regarding tools used is of great value to me, most appreciated. Well, at least ever-rainy Manchester managed to see a 13.7mag. asteroid with a small telescope :)
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