Re: [Utah-astronomy] LCROSS: South Pole LCROSS target zone imaging 2009-08-09 11_23UT
Kurt, can you confirm that the impact itself will not be visible, and only the ejecta cloud can possibly be imaged?
I do not believe the impact flash will be visible. The experiment design and list of remaining candidates are such that the impact should occur below the rim of a crater and will be obscured from Earth view. Only the rising ejecta curtain that reflects sunlight will be visible. However, the final selected target crater will not be announced until around September 9 - 30 days before impact. At the same time, the Moon will be aligned and illuminated in a manner similar to that which will be seen on the date of impact. There is a theoretical possibility that NASA will announce a previously unlisted final target and that that crater's bottom is both permanetly shadowed and is visible from Earth. However, the likelihood of that is extremely small. About that same date, the LCROSS team will launch it's impact image website to collect images generated by amateurs on the morning of the event.
I would value your opinion as to whether I should continue with my plan to image this with the 32" and my hard-drive camcorder.
Yes, the Grimm scope will be an ideal place to be, assuming that the SPOC committee also has the internet connection up and running and has an internet connected PC hooked to SPOC big screen TV. Although the LCROSS team has not stated so in writing, in two public webcasts they have stated that they will stream images live from the visual camera of the shepherding satellite as it does its final experiment-kamikaze run. So, even if it clouds over at the last second or even if NASA slips the impact moment forward such that the impact ejecta cloud is lost in the advancing astronomical twilight, you'll still have something interesting to look at. E.g. a la Ranger 9 TV broadcast. Conversely, the LCROSS team's webcast of the gravity assist lunar flyby in June had a pretty underwhelming production quality. I am presently working on the lunar glare problem (whether glare from the bright side of the Moon will wash out the impact ejecta curtain) and hope to have a final answer on that by September 12. Kurt P.S. - I recommend polling the club is see if someone bought one of the new DMK21AF04 firewire cameras. That would be the camera "axe" of choice. http://www.astronomycamerasblog.com/wp-content/uploads-extra/200709_sky_and_...
Thanks. Based on your reply, I'm bailing out on the project and letting SLAS do something as a club project, if desired. I had wanted to remain low-key, it doesn't look like that will be possible at SPOC.
Chuck, Personally, I don't see any reason you couldn't head up such a project. -- Joe --- On Wed, 8/19/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote: From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] LCROSS: South Pole LCROSS target zone imaging 2009-08-09 11_23UT To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 9:21 PM Thanks. Based on your reply, I'm bailing out on the project and letting SLAS do something as a club project, if desired. I had wanted to remain low-key, it doesn't look like that will be possible at SPOC. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Thanks, Joe, but things are up in the air right now. Patrick has stated that he is under the impression that the LCROSS event at SPOC would be imaging only with a portable Celestron, and the 3 observatory scopes would be used visually only. Will there be a lottery to determine who gets to be at the eyepiece of each at the moment of impact? I can't really get enthused about using the 32" visually for this, since only one lucky person will benefit, but minds immeasurably superior to mine are kicking it around as we speak. I'm just a bottom-feeder in this pond, lol. We'll see what happens. Some tests have to be conducted next week, in any event, before much more can be decided by club officers. On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 9:26 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
Chuck, Personally, I don't see any reason you couldn't head up such a project. -- Joe
participants (3)
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Canopus56 -
Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman