Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) is an Oort cloud comet with an inbound hyperbolic orbit, discovered in May 2017 at a distance beyond the orbit of Saturn when it was 16 AU (2.4 billion km) from the Sun. It had been in the constellation of Draco from July 2007 until August 2020. As of June 2022, the estimated distance of the comet from the Sun is ±5000 km. The comet is record breaking because it is already becoming active at such a distance. Only comet Hale–Bopp produced such a show from that distance with a similar nucleus. However, this comet will not be as visible as Hale–Bopp was in 1997 in part because it does not come nearly as close to the Sun.

Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)
June 25, 2022
GT102 - ASI533MC - 50x180 sec exposures

On its way to perihelion, C/2017 K2 is currently shining at about mag 7. Missing is the typical greenish glow of a comet's halo that comes from diatomic carbon (C2), a simple yet unstable form of elementary carbon. C/2017 K2 is too far from the sun for the reaction to occur.

M20 - The Trifid Nebula

With the pier maintenance completed it was time to start imaging again.

The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius in a star-forming region in the Milky Way's Scutum-Centaurus Arm. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. Its name means 'three-lobe'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula (the relatively dense, reddish-pink portion), a reflection nebula (the mainly NNE blue portion), and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' in the former that cause the trifurcated appearance, also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers. (wiki)

Trifid Nebula (M20) - June 27, 2022
William Optics GT102 and ASI533MC Camera
146x60 sec at f/5.5

My image of the Trifid is part of a study I am conducting on the benefits of taking lots of short exposure subs vs a moderate amount of longer exposure subs. Longer subs are prone to satellite and aircraft crossings, clouds, and other image corrupting events, and inaccurate guiding (although my AP1100 mount produces almost perfect guiding). So, it would be really good if you could, say for example, take a hundred 30 second subs and make it produce as good a final image as ten 300 second subs - the total integration time is the same; 50 minutes. 

Preliminary results are encouraging as demonstrated by the image above which was processed as 146 single 60 second broadband subs. Narrowband imaging requires substantially longer subs to collect sufficient light through the special filters and so would not benefit from this technique. But OSC (one shot color) and LRGB filtered mono cameras would benefit.

Check back later when I post the complete study results.

Pier Maintenance Completed

The new pier pads have been completed and the telescope mount re-assembled. I was able to spend a few hours recalibrating and realigning the scope this past Monday. First new photos will be attempted this weekend.

New Pier Pads Installed

As reported in my previous blog, I have been having problems with moles digging in under my telescope pier. I finally found the time to make the repairs.

I decided to do the construction in the same location as the original mount to keep from having to redo the Lat/Lon data used in all my software. Each footing was dug in about a foot into the ground at each tripod leg location. 

Once the holes were dug, I removed the layer of grass completely around the pads. 

Then, paver base was poured into each hole and tamped down. I ended up using sufficient base to go to a depth of 10"-12"; a bit overkill, but I had the material.

Next, paver sand was placed at a depth of 1".

The plan was to use 12"x12"x1.5" paver stone to support the tripod pier. I needed three at the southern point and two at the other locations to handle the ground grade. I was concerned that the stones would slide on each other, so I cemented them together with stone mortar. Paver sand was tamped in around each set of stones.

Finally, ground cover to prevent grass and weeds from growing and ornamental marble gravel was spread around the entire area.

The pier was placed on the pads and adjusted to line up true north. The first section of the telescope mount was attached and alignment was double-checked. I needed to move the legs slightly, so they are not perfectly centered on the stone pads, but this is not a problem. 

Next, the wiring needs to be installed and the second section of the mount connected. But that is for another day.

One more galaxy before telescope maintenance

With the moles digging in under my telescope mount, it has finally got to the point where I need to dismantle my telescope setup and construct a new foundation. With the ground softened up with the rain and the full moon coming up this is an ideal time to do the work. So this is the last image for awhile. 

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A member of the M81 Group, it is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and has a center one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity (deep red structures blowing up to either side) is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type (wiki).

M82 (Cigar Galaxy) - May 10, June 4,5,6, 2022
EdgeHD11; ASI2600mm at f/10
4 hours Ha; 4 hrs RGB color
https://astrob.in/mhkrsd/0/

Imaging this galactic wonder was rather easy as M82 is fairly bright. Getting the starburst regions to show was a challenge in post-processing. The main galaxy was imaged in RGB. The starburst regions were captured in Ha. But the Ha was also fairly prominent in the galaxy's central core and extremes. Normal HaRGB combination techniques gave the whole image a pinkish cast. So I had to crop out and adjust the saturation levels of the Ha master prior to combination with the RGB color master. Took a bit of time, but the result was  pleasing.

Hopefully the maintenance on the mount and scope wont take too long and I'll be imaging again come next new moon in a couple of weeks.

No meteor storm, but a good galaxy image!

Well the potential meteor storm didn't pan out - not that I was surprised.  But I did have the telescope out imaging that night so I was able to capture the Needle Galaxy with my new ASI533MC camera. 

Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565)
May 29-30, 2022
EdgeHD 11; ASI533MC (73x180sec subs)

NGC 4565 (also known as the Needle Galaxy or Caldwell 38) is an edge-on spiral galaxy about 30 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It lies close to the North Galactic Pole and has a visual magnitude of approximately 10. It is known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile. First recorded in 1785 by William Herschel, it is a prominent example of an edge-on spiral galaxy. (wiki)

This image run was to be another test of my ASI533MC camera, and the results have really panned out to be above my expectations. This camera, unlike my ASI2600 and ASI1600, is a OSC (one shot color) sensor (similar to a standard digital camera). This makes capturing and processing the astro-images much easier and less time consuming at the expense of not being able to image through NB filters, or take advantage of the higher sensitivity of the monochrome sensors in the 1600 and 2600. It also sports a square image sensor, which takes a bit getting used to. 

The ASI533MC was actually purchased for a number of reasons. First of all, for cometary imaging you don't have to deal with the three RGB filters and can spend the time capturing lots of single color subs. And since comets move noticeably in their orbits while being imaged, dealing with single color subs makes it a whole lot easier to process the final image. Second, it is planned to be added to my new wide field portable telescope for ease of transporting and operation in the field. And finally, it can used in the Hyperstar setup on my EdgeHD 11 for super fast, f/2 imaging with an 11" aperture telescope.

Hopefully in the coming months I'll be able to try out all three of these uses to see how well the ASI533MC performs.

A New Meteor shower? Maybe

On the night of May 30-31 there may be a new meteor shower - and it might be a big one! Meteor showers occur when the earth passes through the dust of comets when it intersects the orbit of a comet. There are a number of well known annual showers, the Perseids in August being the most recognized.

Back in 1995 comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3) fractured into several large pieces and left a trail of smaller fragments behind. It turns out that the special conditions needed for these particles to produce a shower may have come to fruition. If that is true, and there is a lot of uncertainty, then we may be gifted with an amazing event. For the specific details of this potential major shower, see the article in Sky&Telescope.

If you want to stay up and see what happens, here are the details.

The meteors will appear to come from a point, called the radiant, very near the brilliant orange star Arcturus with the peak occurring at 1:00AM EDT on the 31st. This point will be in the W-SW, about 50 degrees above the horizon. The altitude is high, there is no moon, and right now the weather folks are forecasting clear skies with cool temperatures - the three top ingredients for any meteor shower observer!

S&T Diagram / Gregg Dinderman

But don't be late, or too early. This shower, if it occurs, will only last a few hours at best. I would suggest starting at midnight.

How good could it be? Good question - hard to answer. If all goes well we may be in for up to 600 bright meteors per hour! Or, maybe nothing at all. We'll see.

Don't miss the May Lunar Eclipse

Late Sunday evening, May 15, 2022, the Moon will slip into the earth's shadow for one of the best total lunar eclipses in a long time.  Conditions are favorable for a dark, ruddy red moon, as the path takes our satellite deep within the umbra of the earth's shadow.

Details below are from Sky and Telescope

On Sunday night–Monday morning May 15–16, the Moon will undergo a total eclipse widely visible across the Americas, Europe, and Africa as seen in the diagram below:

As the moon moves through the earth's shadow, it first encounters the penumbra or outer shadow. Here the globe of the Earth partially blocks the solar disk, resulting in a faint shading visible across half the Moon about half an hour before the start of partial eclipse. The first dark "bite" occurs as the Moon enters the umbra, where the Earth completely blocks the Sun's glaring disk — save for reddened sunlight that filters through the atmosphere and into the umbra to color the Moon red.

Starry Night with additions by Bob King

The following diagram shows the key phases of the May 15–16 eclipse as the Moon passes through Earth's shadow. Times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). 

Gregg Dinderman / Sky & Telescope; Source: USNO

You need nothing but your own eyes to see this wonderful event, but binoculars will enhance the view.

Comet C/2021 O3 has disintegrated - too bad :(

Back in March I posted about a new comet discovered on 26 July 2021 by the Pan-STARRS sky survey that looked likely to be a naked-eye object in early May. Unfortunately, C/2021 O3 did not survive it's close pass to the sun. The Astronomer’s Telegram reported on Monday: “Twilight observations conducted with the Lowell Discovery Telescope on April 29 indicate [the comet] has disintegrated. Read more.

Solar Eclipse on Mars

It's amazing how the relative size of our sun and our moon are almost exactly the same, and because of that eclipses of the sun are very exciting - rare, but exciting. No where else in out solar system do moons of planets produce the same awesome site. But, nonetheless, eclipses of the sun do occur on other planets. However, no one (that we know of) is there to witness them. 

Well, not exactly ...

Earlier this month operators of NASA's Perseverance rover turned its powerful Mastcam-Z camera toward the sky to capture Mars' potato-shaped moon Phobos transiting across the surface of the Sun. And the result was amazing. 

Mars' moon Phobos transiting across the surface of the Sun
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Check out the video at ARS Technica.

What's with the W Boson?

The Collider Detector at Fermilab

Something is just not right with the mass of the W boson - it's just a bit heavier than expected. How much? Well, in terms of atomic measurements, it was expected to be 80,357 mega electron volts, or MeV, plus or minus 6 MeV. But the value as measured by the Collider Detector at Fermilab, or CDF, during the period between 1985 and 2011, is 80,433 MeV, plus or minus 9 MeV. That's significant and is a problem. It's critical to know the precise weight of the W boson because that value is factored into the finely tuned equations that are woven into the Standard Model of subatomic physics, one of the most successful theories in science. For the complete story head on over to UniverseToday.