Tag: observing

Naked Eye 100 Challenge

Amateur astronomers love lists… The Messier observing list, the Hershel 400, the Hershel II, and on. Some lists can be complete on a night or two, some lists may take years, or even a lifetime to accomplish. Amateur astronomy is not the only avocation to use lists like this. Birders attempt to see all of the birds known to occur in their home country. Aircraft spotters love to see each model of aircraft in the air. Divers keep lists of species seen underwater.

Rainbow Wheel
A rainbow and cloud shadows produce a rainbow wheel

Lists like these are not only fun, but allow the list chaser to sample the wonders our universe has to offer. The challenge of finding and observing each of the items is worthwhile. Each object is a lesson into the science, hunting each object allows skills to be practiced.

Most of the astronomy observing lists require a small telescope to accomplish, or at least a pair of binoculars. One list is a bit different, it does not require any optical aid at all… The Naked Eye 100.

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Observing Comet ISON after Perihelion

When will we again see comet C/2012 S1 ISON in the morning sky?

Much depends on how bright the comet has become, thus how far it must be from the Sun’s glare before we can see it well. If the comet has become truly spectacular we may see the tail rising before the comet quite early. If it has disintegrated, we may see nearly nothing.

It is probably on the morning of Dec 3rd that we can start looking for the comet to be above the horizon at dawn. On this morning the comet will be 14° away from the Sun, rising at 05:58 HST as seen from the island of Hawai’i. On the 4th this will be 05:51 and 16°, on the 5th the angular separation will be 19° while rising at 05:43HST.

When planning your comet viewing keep in mind that the comet will rise nearly 25° north along the horizon when compared to where it was rising before perihelion. This is closer to due east, at about azimuth 100°.

Unlike some comets, the comet will not emerge into the evening sky after perihelion. It remains in the morning sky for earthbound observers. It will eventually be visible in the evening sky, but not for some time, a few weeks or more depending on the observer’s latitude. The high inclination of the comet’s orbit will take the comet through the northern constellations, into the circumpolar sky at the end of the year.

What morning will you first see the comet?

ISON After Perihelion
Comet C/2012 S1 ISON rising after perihelion at 6am on the morning of December 3rd, 2013

ISON Webcast

We put it together in very short notice. Fortunately a webcast is pretty easy to put together.

Keck is hosting a sizable team of folks who are here to observe comet ISON. Astronomers from several institutions are participating in the NASA Comet ISON Observing Campaign. They have a total of 6½ nights, but only the last few hours of each night as the comet rises in the dawn. Comet C/2012 S1 ISON is starting to encounter significant publicity, we may as well take advantage of this.

It was a lot of fun. I particularly like the spot (41:00) where I made the mistake of saying spectra were not very pretty to look at in a room full of spectroscopists. These folks love spectra and quickly corrected me, leading to a nice discussion on why spectra are so valuable to astronomy, often more valuable than photos.

The video is embedded below. A lot of good information about comet ISON, indeed about comets in general. Nothing like having a room full of comet experts…

Oregon Star Party 2013 Photo Album

Oregon Star Party 2013

The plan is simple, a vacation combining a visit to my family and a run to Oregon Star Party. I miss doing the larger regional star parties, six telescopes is a big star party on the island. OSP would feature hundreds of telescopes, speakers, and hopefully dark skies. I also volunteered as a speaker, may as well bring and share little Keck experience.

Andrew and the Galaxy
The author taking astrophotos under the Milky Way Galaxy
Heading to a major star party takes some planning. Worse, I would be doing this with what could be packed for airline travel. The answer would be to implement my usual star party plan… Set up for astrophotography, this would allow vising other telescopes while my camera ran under computer control. Good astrophotography can also be done with relatively small equipment.

The site is quite remote, no nearby hardware store to replace a missing bolt, no internet connection to allow download of a missing driver. The setup would have to work with what was packed to start with. Several iterations of packing showed that two cases would be required to carry the setup. An ancient hard suitcase I have had since my Air Force days, and a hard equipment case purchased years ago for a portable telescope I have yet to build. At least both had wheels and could be hauled by one person through an airport terminal.

After a few very nice days visiting with my parents I steal away in the camper for the drive to OSP. Four hours sees me over the Cascades, into the Ochoco Mountains east of Prineville. It is a very pleasant drive, a beautiful day, open roads, Mt. Hood soaring over the trees that line the highway. The sort of driving you just can not do on the island, the sort of vacation I grew up with.

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Southern Delta Aquariids

The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower will peak this weekend. This reliable shower usually produces 10-20 meteors per hour. The peak will occur on July 27th this year. As the shower has a broad peak there should still be a good showing a few days either side of peak.

As we are past new Moon there is some dark sky available in the evening, best viewing for this shower is in the morning, when a bright 60% Moon will rise. Moonrise will occur around 22:00HST on the 27th and 22:43 on the 28th. The radiant for this shower will rise at 09:22HST. This provides a slim window of darkness to attempt meteor viewing. After rising, the moonlight will dim the prospects for viewing the shower.