Congrats, Patrick. How do you search for a new asteriod? _______________________________________________ Sent via CSolutions - http://www.csolutions.net
On 07 Nov 2007, at 11:20, Kurt Fisher wrote:
How do you search for a new asteriod?
Easy... Spend more money on equipment than you're willing to admit. Add a lot of time. And then throw in a great deal of luck. :) But seriously, in my case, I shoot pictures of typically 5 to 10 random parts of the sky 10 to 15 minutes apart, load them into the computer and compare them by rapidly flashing one then the other. The stars will have not moved between exposures but any minor planet that happens to be in the field will so it pretty well just jumps out at you as it hops back and forth. Pretty simple and straight forward, actually (albeit a bit boring at times). One just has to be persistent and hope that one of those random fields will contain a previously unknown rock. patrick
Congratulations Patrick, it shows that perseverance still works in the days of automated surveys! (At least until Pan-STARRS comes on-line <g>) I was wondering if you could help me with ephemeris info for it. Its such a new discovery that they don't have it in the MPCORB file yet. How dim are you able to get with the 14" Celestron? I can't seem to do better than magnitude 18.5 with my 10" Meade. Clear skies, Dale. ________________________________ From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com on behalf of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wed 11/7/2007 5:24 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Discovery On 07 Nov 2007, at 11:20, Kurt Fisher wrote:
How do you search for a new asteriod?
Easy... Spend more money on equipment than you're willing to admit. Add a lot of time. And then throw in a great deal of luck. :) But seriously, in my case, I shoot pictures of typically 5 to 10 random parts of the sky 10 to 15 minutes apart, load them into the computer and compare them by rapidly flashing one then the other. The stars will have not moved between exposures but any minor planet that happens to be in the field will so it pretty well just jumps out at you as it hops back and forth. Pretty simple and straight forward, actually (albeit a bit boring at times). One just has to be persistent and hope that one of those random fields will contain a previously unknown rock. patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com <http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/> Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com <http://www.utahastronomy.com/>
Howdy, On 08 Nov 2007, at 12:27, Dale Hooper wrote:
...it shows that perseverance still works in the days of automated surveys! (At least until Pan-STARRS comes on-line <g>)
Yeah, once they start up I'll probably cut back on my search efforts. :(
I was wondering if you could help me with ephemeris info for it. Its such a new discovery that they don't have it in the MPCORB file yet.
I'll append data for tonight below. Until MPCORB is updated you can get ephemerides from: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html Search on either K07V08N or 2007 VN8 and use my Observatory Code 718.
How dim are you able to get with the 14" Celestron?
The faintest I've measured so far with a 2 minute exposure is v20.2. Since my find was in the high 19s it was right on the edge of my being able to reach it. Clear skies! patrick Date UT R.A. (J2000) Decl. h m s 2007 11 09 040000 03 04 25.3 +14 47 31 2007 11 09 050000 03 04 22.5 +14 47 26 2007 11 09 060000 03 04 19.6 +14 47 20 2007 11 09 070000 03 04 16.8 +14 47 14 2007 11 09 080000 03 04 13.9 +14 47 08
And now you've come up with great mosaics -- while I haven't been able to get my act together, quite. Congrats, Patrick, and keep imaging. -- Joe On Nov 7, 2007, at 5:24 PM, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
On 07 Nov 2007, at 11:20, Kurt Fisher wrote:
How do you search for a new asteriod?
Easy... Spend more money on equipment than you're willing to admit. Add a lot of time. And then throw in a great deal of luck. :)
But seriously, in my case, I shoot pictures of typically 5 to 10 random parts of the sky 10 to 15 minutes apart, load them into the computer and compare them by rapidly flashing one then the other. The stars will have not moved between exposures but any minor planet that happens to be in the field will so it pretty well just jumps out at you as it hops back and forth.
Pretty simple and straight forward, actually (albeit a bit boring at times). One just has to be persistent and hope that one of those random fields will contain a previously unknown rock.
patrick
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participants (4)
-
Dale Hooper -
Joe Bauman -
Kurt Fisher -
Patrick Wiggins