DOCSLIB.ORG

VOLUME XXVI Number 5-6 May-June 2001

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

The Meteor Journal of the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association VOLUME XXXIX Numbers 5-8 May-August 2014 ********************************************************************************************* President – Jon Ellard (251) 228-6042 Vice President -- Ed Magowan – (850) 458-0577 Secretary – Richard Walker (850) 477-7136 Treasurer Jim Larduskey (850) 434-3638 Librarian: Jacque Falzone (850) 261-9745 Education Chair – Dewey Barker (850) 458-1591 NWFAA Contact: Dennis Hausch (850)428-9467 Deep Sky Committee: Dave Haluposki (850) 678-4052 PSC Student Chapter officers for 2014: Dave Cochran—President 850-293-2021, Sara Ingersoll-Sec.-Treas. Editor and ALCOR: Dr. J. Wayne Wooten, Physical Sciences, Room 1751, Pensacola State College, Pensacola FL 32504-8998 Phone (850) 484-1152 (voicemail) (E-mail) wwooten @ pensacolastate.edu Please mail all dues to EAAA Treasurer, 4660 Shannon Circle, Pensacola, FL 32504 Annual Conference of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) I joined SARA a few years ago after I found out that Karl Jansky discovered a strong radio emissions coming from the center of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. This discovery was by accident when he was working for Bell Lab in 1932. Later on in 1937 Grote Reber learned of Jansky’s discovery and built a 10 m radio telescope (see Figure 1) in his backyard and produced the first radio emission map of the Milky Way. These two individual brought the dawn of radio astronomy to us as a science. I finally made up my mind to travel to the SARA Annual Conference at Green Bank WV the past spring. This conference was held the 29th of Jun to 3rd of Jul. Green Bank is best known for the huge 300 ft radio telescope at its facility (see Figure 2) The Annual Conference consisted of the SARA Conference and the Radio JOVE Conference. The SARA Conference was over all amateur related radio astronomy while the Radio JOVE Conference was dedicated to the Jupiter-Io magnetic storms and radio emissions. After I arrived in Green Bank on the 29th , a group of us attended a presentation on the operation of the 40-ft radio telescope. This telescope can be used by anyone with the proper training. Next we went down to the telescope and pointed it to a section of the Milky Way in which we would find neutral hydrogen and try to measure the rest frequency of 1420.41 MHz. We did not observe this particular frequency, but a lower frequency. We calculated that this hydrogen was moving away from us at 160 km/sec or 576,000 km/hr, giving all respect to the Doppler Effect. Later on that evening a group of us saw a flux density increase showing that we were looking at a known Quasar. This experience was very interesting. The next two days were filled with elementary radio astronomy to software and hardware design for the amateur. Yes, there were a presentation on SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and what several members of SARA are trying to introduce in creating and uploading a message on the New Horizon spacecraft. Finally I do not want to forget that we had two Nobel Prize Laureates that spoke to the group, John Mather and Joe Taylor. John Mather spoke to us on the James Webb Space Telescope, an infrared telescope, which will be launched into space in the next several years. Joe Taylor spoke to us on his discovery of binary pulsars system in which he won the Noble Prize in 1993. This discovery was made on Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico. The following two days were dedicated to the Radio JOVE program which focused on the Jupiter-Io radio noise storms that amateur like you and I can detect at a frequency of ~20 MHz. These two days were also filled with elementary Jupiter-Io education as well as software and hardware design. In the evenings several attendees setup their personal amateur radio astronomy equipment for everybody to see. -- Dean Covey, KV4RL The Meteor Volume XXXIX Numbers 5-8 May-August 2014 Page 2 Figure 1: Grote Reber’s historic first radio telescope Figure 2. Byrd 300’ radio scope is largest fully steerable disk in world. The Meteor Volume XXXIX Numbers 5-8 May-August 2014 Page 3 Virginia College Gaze on June 9th The downtown gaze at Virginia College on Monday night (June 9) turned out great in spite of light pollution and intermittent clouds. This event was for the students and also for the surrounding community. We had many come as they left work in the banks and other offices. The school had free food for all and also had a number of prizes for the students. The top prize was an Orion equatorial reflector, and it was won by a Pharmacy Tech student who said she had always wanted a good telescope. Thanks to Dewey Barker and Harold Breyde who arrived early and set up scopes. Dewey had his 4 inch F/6 Astroview refractor and Harold had his 8 inch dob. He also had 20x80 binoculars on his awesome parallelogram mount. Dewey had the club PST which was a hit since we had folks coming by at 5:30 while the sun was still up. I brought my Celestron 4 inch f/10 refractor. Lots of flyers and skymaps were given out since Dewey set up the table with handouts. Linda Hoover, a new EAAA member who teaches at VC, helped answer questions which were many. Everyone wanted to see the moon, and we all complied. Even with a fairly bright sky, folks were able to see some of the detail. Later, as the sky darkened, there were oohs and ahhs as folks got great views of lunar detail. We were able to view Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars although it was through a patchy sky with openings here and there. We had lots of little kids who really enjoyed the views. A number of folks were able to get cell phone photos through scopes. Our campus president, Dr. Kim Coolidge, enjoys astronomy and made a moon photo with Dewey's help. She was responsible for the prizes and encouraging the students to take part. By 9:00 folks were still milling around. I had to leave, but Dewey and Harold stayed a while longer. Looks like a downtown gaze can be done even with awful light pollution. Everyone at school has been talking about their experiences, and they definitely want to do it again. --Ray Hayes Fort Pickens Gaze and Camelopardalid Meteor Reports on May 23rd A lot of EAAA folks turned out to Battery Worth on Friday evening, May 23, 2014 for a great Sky Interpretation sessions with Ranger Becky Mims-Breeding. We had about 200+ students, campers, and public join us for observing four planets, several nice satellites, many deep sky objects, but NO Camelopardalid meteors, alas. Representing the club were Rick Hogue, Andy Walker, Clay Mostad, Tom Reiderer, Malone Calvert, Adam Licko, Ron Fairbanks, Lyen McAbee, Harold Breyde, Dewey Barker, Jon Ellard, Don Meyer, David Cochran, Rich and Carol Sigler, and Wayne Wooten. Rick Hogue did reports spotting an early Camelopardalid at 1:30 AM Friday, which made us hope Saturday morning would indeed give us a fine shower. We caught Jupiter shortly after sunset, but never did spot Sirius in the SW, so I guess Dog Days are here now. Mercury was glimpsed through the low clouds in west, but Mars and Saturn were well placed for viewing all evening. We saw a transit of Europa across Jupiter start about 9 PM, with the black shadow notable. Omega Centauri was above the tree line by 9 PM and well resolved in our bigger scopes. I had work on Saturday, and left early with my car pool buddies Clay and Andy. Thanks to them for making the outing possible for me. After I left, others stayed out to all hours, hoping for the meteor storm that did not come. I personally was up from 1-1:30 and had broken clouds in my yard, but it was by then obvious that the peak was at most a few per hour, as was confirmed by all later reports. Adam Licko reported, “So we were skunked last night for our meteor "storm". Dewey and I stayed out till 2 and the only meteors I saw were coming from the opposite direction.!” Manny Galindo reported, “ I was almost skunked. Got to see one bright meteor all night. At about 2:30, it was slightly cloudy and could just make out Vega through the haze. A small spec of light started showing through the clouds going N to S overhead and got very bright just W of Vega then winked out. So, I am guessing that was it for Linear? For 3hrs of watching, got only one! Maybe next time? (Editor: Does sound like this was indeed a Camelopardilid, Manny). Martin Fanning reported only one sporadic, no Camelopardalids in clouds over Daphne. Ed Magowan observed from first Portofino, seeing one bright meteor, but then drove back to Beulah, but saw no more. The Meteor Volume XXXIX Numbers 5-8 May-August 2014 Page 4 Tommy Van Pelt went to much darker Munson, and did report seeing about a dozen. The consensus was that most of the debris was smaller than expected, and there were many faint meteors, according to Spaceweather.com, which is why most of us did not do as well. Pensacola State student Alexander Gallup reported observing perhaps the best one of the new shower meteors. He was observing facing north atop dunes at the National Seashore Park east of Gulf Breeze.
Recommended publications
  • Naming the Extrasolar Planets

    Naming the Extrasolar Planets

    Naming the extrasolar planets W. Lyra Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, K¨onigstuhl 17, 69177, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Abstract and OGLE-TR-182 b, which does not help educators convey the message that these planets are quite similar to Jupiter. Extrasolar planets are not named and are referred to only In stark contrast, the sentence“planet Apollo is a gas giant by their assigned scientific designation. The reason given like Jupiter” is heavily - yet invisibly - coated with Coper- by the IAU to not name the planets is that it is consid- nicanism. ered impractical as planets are expected to be common. I One reason given by the IAU for not considering naming advance some reasons as to why this logic is flawed, and sug- the extrasolar planets is that it is a task deemed impractical. gest names for the 403 extrasolar planet candidates known One source is quoted as having said “if planets are found to as of Oct 2009. The names follow a scheme of association occur very frequently in the Universe, a system of individual with the constellation that the host star pertains to, and names for planets might well rapidly be found equally im- therefore are mostly drawn from Roman-Greek mythology. practicable as it is for stars, as planet discoveries progress.” Other mythologies may also be used given that a suitable 1. This leads to a second argument. It is indeed impractical association is established. to name all stars. But some stars are named nonetheless. In fact, all other classes of astronomical bodies are named.
  • Vente De 2 Ans Montés Samedi 14 Mai Breeze Le 13 Mai

    Vente De 2 Ans Montés Samedi 14 Mai Breeze Le 13 Mai

    11saint-cloud Vente de 2 ans montés Samedi 14 mai Breeze le 13 mai en association avec Index_Alpha_14_05 24/03/11 19:09 Page 71 Index alphabétique Alphabetical index NomsNOM des yearlings . .SUF . .Nos LOT NOM LOT ALKATARA . .0142 N(FAB'S MELODY 2009) . .0030 AMESBURY . .0148 N(FACTICE 2009) . .0031 FORCE MAJEUR . .0003 N(FAR DISTANCE 2009) . .0032 JOHN TUCKER . .0103 N(FIN 2009) . .0034 LIBERTY CAT . .0116 N(FLAMES 2009) . .0035 LUCAYAN . .0051 N(FOLLE LADY 2009) . .0036 MARCILHAC . .0074 N(FRANCAIS 2009) . .0037 MOST WANTED . .0123 N(GENDER DANCE 2009) . .0038 N(ABBEYLEIX LADY 2009) . .0139 N(GERMANCE 2009) . .0039 N(ABINGTON ANGEL 2009) . .0140 N(GILT LINKED 2009) . .0040 N(AIR BISCUIT 2009) . .0141 N(GREAT LADY SLEW 2009) . .0041 N(ALL EMBRACING 2009) . .0143 N(GRIN AND DARE IT 2009) . .0042 N(AMANDIAN 2009) . .0144 N(HARIYA 2009) . .0043 N(AMAZON BEAUTY 2009) . .0145 N(HOH MY DARLING 2009) . .0044 N(AMY G 2009) . .0146 N(INFINITY 2009) . .0045 N(ANSWER DO 2009) . .0147 N(INKLING 2009) . .0046 N(ARES VALLIS 2009) . .0149 N(JUST WOOD 2009) . .0048 N(AUCTION ROOM 2009) . .0150 N(KACSA 2009) . .0049 N(AVEZIA 2009) . .0151 N(KASSARIYA 2009) . .0050 N(BARCONEY 2009) . .0152 N(LALINA 2009) . .0052 N(BASHFUL 2009) . .0153 N(LANDELA 2009) . .0053 N(BAYOURIDA 2009) . .0154 N(LES ALIZES 2009) . .0054 N(BEE EATER 2009) . .0155 N(LIBRE 2009) . .0055 N(BELLA FIORELLA 2009) . .0156 N(LOUELLA 2009) . .0056 N(BERKELEY LODGE 2009) . .0157 N(LUANDA 2009) . .0057 N(BLACK PENNY 2009) . .0158 N(LUNA NEGRA 2009) .
  • Popular Names of Deep Sky (Galaxies,Nebulae and Clusters) Viciana’S List

    Popular Names of Deep Sky (Galaxies,Nebulae and Clusters) Viciana’S List

    POPULAR NAMES OF DEEP SKY (GALAXIES,NEBULAE AND CLUSTERS) VICIANA’S LIST 2ª version August 2014 There isn’t any astronomical guide or star chart without a list of popular names of deep sky objects. Given the huge amount of celestial bodies labeled only with a number, the popular names given to them serve as a friendly anchor in a broad and complicated science such as Astronomy The origin of these names is varied. Some of them come from mythology (Pleiades); others from their discoverer; some describe their shape or singularities; (for instance, a rotten egg, because of its odor); and others belong to a constellation (Great Orion Nebula); etc. The real popular names of celestial bodies are those that for some special characteristic, have been inspired by the imagination of astronomers and amateurs. The most complete list is proposed by SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space). Other sources that have been used to produce this illustrated dictionary are AstroSurf, Wikipedia, Astronomy Picture of the Day, Skymap computer program, Cartes du ciel and a large bibliography of THE NAMES OF THE UNIVERSE. If you know other name of popular deep sky objects and you think it is important to include them in the popular names’ list, please send it to [email protected] with at least three references from different websites. If you have a good photo of some of the deep sky objects, please send it with standard technical specifications and an optional comment. It will be published in the names of the Universe blog. It could also be included in the ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES OF DEEP SKY.
  • Meteor.Mcse.Hu

    Meteor.Mcse.Hu

    MCSE 2016/3 meteor.mcse.hu A Mars négy arca SZJA 1%! Az MCSE adószáma: 19009162-2-43 A Tharsis-régió három pajzsvulkánja és az Olympus Mons a Mars Express 2014. június 29-én készült felvételén (ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / Justin Cowart). TARTALOM Áttörés a fizikában......................... 3 GW150914: elõször hallottuk az Univerzum zenéjét....................... 4 A csillagászat ............................ 8 meteorA Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület lapja Journal of the Hungarian Astronomical Association Csillagászati hírek ........................ 10 H–1300 Budapest, Pf. 148., Hungary 1037 Budapest, Laborc u. 2/C. A távcsövek világa TELEFON/FAX: (1) 240-7708, +36-70-548-9124 Egy „klasszikus” naptávcsõ születése ........ 18 E-MAIL: [email protected], Honlap: meteor.mcse.hu HU ISSN 0133-249X Szabadszemes jelenségek Kiadó: Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület Gyöngyházfényû felhõk – történelmi észlelés! .. 22 FÔSZERKESZTÔ: Mizser Attila A hónap asztrofotója: hajnali együttállás ....... 27 SZERKESZTÔBIZOTTSÁG: Dr. Fûrész Gábor, Dr. Kiss László, Dr. Kereszturi Ákos, Dr. Kolláth Zoltán, Bolygók Mizser Attila, Dr. Sánta Gábor, Sárneczky Krisztián, Mars-oppozíció 2014 .................... 28 Dr. Szabados László és Dr. Szalai Tamás SZÍNES ELÕKÉSZÍTÉS: KÁRMÁN STÚDIÓ Nap FELELÔS KIADÓ: AZ MCSE ELNÖKE Téli változékony Napok .................38 A Meteor elôfizetési díja 2016-ra: (nem tagok számára) 7200 Ft Hold Egy szám ára: 600 Ft Januári Hold .........................42 Az egyesületi tagság formái (2016) • rendes tagsági díj (jogi személyek számára is) Meteorok
  • Observing List

    Observing List

    day month year Epoch 2000 local clock time: 22.00 Observing List for 18 5 2019 RA DEC alt az Constellation object mag A mag B Separation description hr min deg min 10 305 Auriga M37 January Salt and Pepper Cluster rich, open cluster of 150 stars, very fine 5 52.4 32 33 20 315 Auriga IC2149 planetary nebula, stellar to small disk, slightly elongated 5 56.5 46 6.3 15 319 Auriga Capella 0.1 alignment star 5 16.6 46 0 21 303 Auriga UU Aurigae Magnitude 5.1-7.0 carbon star (AL# 36) 6 36.5 38 27 15 307 Auriga 37 Theta Aurigae 2.6 7.1 3.6 white & bluish stars 5 59.7 37 13 74 45 Bootes 17, Kappa Bootis 4.6 6.6 13.4 bright white primary & bluish secondary 14 13.5 51 47 73 47 Bootes 21, Iota Bootis 4.9 7.5 38.5 wide yellow & blue pair 14 16.2 51 22 57 131 Bootes 29, Pi Bootis 4.9 5.8 5.6 fine bright white pair 14 40.7 16 25 64 115 Bootes 36, Epsilon Bootis (Izar) (*311) (HIP72105) 2.9 4.9 2.8 golden & greenish-blue 14 45 27 4 57 124 Bootes 37, Xi Bootis 4.7 7 6.6 beautiful yellow & reddish orange pair 14 51.4 19 6 62 86 Bootes 51, Mu Bootis 4.3 7 108.3 primary of yellow & close orange BC pair 15 24.5 37 23 62 96 Bootes Delta Bootis 3.5 8.7 105 wide yellow & blue pair 15 15.5 33 19 62 138 Bootes Arcturus -0.11 alignment star 14 15.6 19 10.4 56 162 Bootes NGC5248 galaxy with bright stellar nucleus and oval halo 13 37.5 8 53 72 56 Bootes NGC5676 elongated galaxy with slightly brighter center 14 32.8 49 28 72 59 Bootes NGC5689 galaxy, elongated streak with prominent oval core 14 35.5 48 45 16 330 Camelopardalis 1 Camelopardalis 5.7 6.8 10.3 white &
  • Prospective Imaging Objects – February 11, 2021

    Prospective Imaging Objects – February 11, 2021

    Prospective Imaging Objects – February 11, 2021 7Astronomical Data Sunrise Sunset Astronomical Dusk Astronomical Dawn New Moon 07:14am 06:09 pm 07:32 pm 05:51 am Feb 11 Hardware Info Configuration FL FOV FOV° Image Scale (1 – 1.5) ideal C11HD | QHY 128C 2800mm 45’x 30’ 0.75° x 0.5° 0.444°/pix (Undersampled) C11HD | 0.7xReducer | QHY128c 1960mm 60’ x 45’ 1.0° x 0.75° |C11HD|HS-v4|QHY128c| 540mm 228’ x 150’ 3.8° x 2.5° How to use this document 02 03 04 01 05 06 07 08 01: Background Fill Color - Items that I have previously images will have a fill color of grey, Images not yet imaged will have a white background color. 02: Object Name and catalog number – Common name long with one of the reference catalog numbers associated with this object. 03: Config – The optimal configuration to image this object, and the configuration the provided image is based on based on what hardware I own. Configuration will either be the Celestron C-11 Primary focus (with focal reducer) or C-11 with HyperStar. 04: Object Image – If this is an object I have already imaged, the thumbnail is my photo. It is hyperlinked to my website, so selecting the image should open a larger image in your browser. If the object has not yet been imaged by me the image displayed is for the identified configuration as obtained from http://www.telescopious.com. 05: Close Star – A fairly bright star close to the target that can be used to check focus and sync the telescope before the imaging session begins.
  • 100 Brightest Planetary Nebulae

    100 Brightest Planetary Nebulae

    100 BRIGHTEST PLANETARY NEBULAE 100 BRIGHTEST PLANETARY NEBULAE 1 100 BRIGHTEST PLANETARY NEBULAE Visual Magnitude (brightest to least bright) Name Common Name Visual Magnitude Stellar Magnitude Angular Size Constellation NGC 7293 Helix Nebula 7 13.5 900 Aquarius NGC 6853 Dumbbell Nebula (M27) 7.5 13.9 330 Vulpecula NGC 3918 Blue Planetary 8 ? 16 Centaurus NGC 7009 Saturn Nebula 8 12.8 28 Aquarius NGC 3132 Eight‐Burst Planetary 8.5 10.1 45 Vela NGC 6543 Cat's Eye Nebula 8.5 11.1 20 Draco NGC 246 Skull Nebula 8.5 12 225 Cetus NGC 6572 Blue Raquetball Nebula 8.5 13.6 14 Ophiuchus NGC 6210 Turtle Nebula 9 12.7 16 Hercules NGC 6720 Ring Nebula (M57) 9 15.3 70 Lyra NGC 7027 Magic Carpet Nebula 9 16.3 14 Cygnus NGC 7662 Blue Snowball Nebula 9 13.2 20 Andromeda NGC 1360 Robin's Egg Nebula 9.5 11.4 380 Fornax NGC 1535 Cleopatra's Eye Nebula 9.5 12.2 18 Eridanus NGC 2392 Eskimo/Clown Face Nebula 9.5 10.5 45 Gemini NGC 2867 Royal Aqua Nebula 9.5 16.6 15 Carina NGC 3242 Ghost of Jupiter Nebula 9.5 12.3 40 Hydra NGC 6826 Blinking Planetary Nebula 9.5 10.4 25 Cygnus IC 418 Spirograph Nebula 10 10.2 12 Lepus NGC 5189 Spiral Planetary Nebula 10 14.9 140 Musca NGC 5882 Green Snowball Nebula 10 13.4 14 Lupus NGC 6818 Little Gem Nebula 10 16.9 18 Sagittarius NGC 40 Bow Tie Nebula 10.5 11.6 36 Cepheus NGC 1514 Crystal Ball Nebula 10.5 9.4 120 Taurus NGC 2346 Butterfly Nebula 10.5 11.5 55 Monoceros NGC 2438 Smoke Ring in M46 10.5 17.7 70 Puppis NGC 2440 Peanut Nebula 10.5 17.7 30 Puppis NGC 4361 Raven's Eye Nebula 10.5 13.2 100 Corvus IC 4406 Retina Nebula
  • Astronomie Pentru Şcolari

    Astronomie Pentru Şcolari

    NICU GOGA CARTE DE ASTRONOMIE Editura REVERS CRAIOVA, 2010 Referent ştiinţific: Prof. univ.dr. Radu Constantinescu Editura Revers ISBN: 978-606-92381-6-5 2 În contextul actual al restructurării învăţământului obligatoriu, precum şi al unei manifeste lipse de interes din partea tinerei generaţii pentru studiul disciplinelor din aria curiculară Ştiinţe, se impune o intensificare a activităţilor de promovare a diferitelor discipline ştiinţifice. Dintre aceste discipline Astronomia ocupă un rol prioritar, având în vedere că ea intermediază tinerilor posibilitatea de a învăţa despre lumea în care trăiesc, de a afla tainele şi legile care guvernează Universul. În plus, anul 2009 a căpătat o co-notaţie specială prin declararea lui de către UNESCO drept „Anul Internaţional al Astronomiei”. În acest context, domnul profesor Nicu Goga ne propune acum o a doua carte cu tematică de Astronomie. După apariţia lucrării Geneza, evoluţia şi sfârşitul Universului, un volum care s+a bucurat de un real succes, apariţia lucrării „Carte de Astronomie” reprezintă un adevărat eveniment editorial, cu atât mai mult cu cât ea constitue în acelaşi timp un material monografic şi un material cu caracter didactic. Cartea este structurată în 13 capitole, trecând în revistă problematica generală a Astronomiei cu puţine elemente de Cosmologie. Cartea îşi propune şi reuşeşte pe deplin să ofere răspunsuri la câteva întrebări fundamentale şi tulburătoare legate de existenţa fiinţei umane şi a dimensiunii cosmice a acestei existenţe, incită la dialog şi la dorinţa de cunoaştere. Consider că, în ansamblul său, cartea poate contribui la îmbunătăţirea educaţiei ştiinţifice a tinerilor elevi şi este deosebit de utilă pentru toţi „actorii” implicaţi în procesul de predare-învăţare: elevi, părinţi, profesori.
  • XO-3B: a Massive Planet in an Eccentric Orbit Transiting an F5V Star

    XO-3B: a Massive Planet in an Eccentric Orbit Transiting an F5V Star

    XO-3b: A Massive Planet in an Eccentric Orbit Transiting an F5V Star Christopher M. Johns–Krull1,2, Peter R. McCullough3, Christopher J. Burke3, Jeff A. Valenti3, K. A. Janes4, J. N. Heasley5, L. Prato6, R. Bissinger7, M. Fleenor8, C. N. Foote9, E. Garcia–Melendo10, B. L. Gary11, P. J. Howell4, F. Mallia12, G. Masi13, T. Vanmunster14 [email protected] ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a massive (Mpsini= 13.02 0.64 MJ; total mass 13.25 0.64 MJ), ± ± th large (1.95 0.16 RJ) planet in a transiting, eccentric orbit (e = 0.260 0.017) around a 10 magnitude F5V± star in the constellation Camelopardalis. We designate the± planet XO-3b, and the star XO-3, also known as GSC 03727-01064. The orbital period of XO-3b is 3.1915426 0.00014 days. XO-3 lacks a trigonometric distance; we estimate its distance to be 260 23 pc. The± radius ± −1 of XO-3 is 2.13 0.21 R⊙, its mass is 1.41 0.08 M⊙, its vsini = 18.54 0.17 km s , and its metallicity is [Fe/H]± = 0.177 0.027. This± system is unusual for a number± of reasons. XO-3b is one of the most massive− planets± discovered around any star for which the orbital period is less than 10 days. The mass is near the deuterium burning limit of 13 MJ, which is a proposed boundary between planets and brown dwarfs. Although Burrows et al. (2001) propose that formation in a disk or formation in the interstellar medium in a manner similar to stars is a more logical way to differentiate planets and brown dwarfs, our current observations are not adequate to address this distinction.
  • Observing List for Niabi

    Observing List for Niabi

    day month year Epoch 2000 local clock time: 23.98 Observing List for Niabi 16 3 2019 RA DEC alt az Constellation object mag A mag B Separation description hr min deg min 30 291 Auriga M36 open cluster of a dozen or so young stars (30million years old) 5 36.1 34 8 32 287 Auriga M37 rich, open cluster of 150 stars, very fine 5 52.4 32 33 30 293 Auriga M38 large open cluster 220 million years old 5 28.7 35 50 39 301 Auriga IC2149 planetary nebula, stellar to small disk, slightly elongated 5 56.5 46 6.3 33 305 Auriga Capella 0.1 alignment star 5 16.6 46 0 43 288 Auriga UU Aurigae Magnitude 5.1-7.0 carbon star (AL# 36) 6 36.5 38 27 36 291 Auriga 37 Theta Aurigae 2.6 7.1 3.6 white & bluish stars 5 59.7 37 13 25 292 Auriga 14 Aurigae 5.1 7.4 14.6 pale yellow and blue 5 15.4 32 31 54 56 Bootes 17, Kappa Bootis 4.6 6.6 13.4 bright white primary & bluish secondary 14 13.5 51 47 54 56 Bootes 21, Iota Bootis 4.9 7.5 38.5 wide yellow & blue pair 14 16.2 51 22 35 99 Bootes 29, Pi Bootis 4.9 5.8 5.6 fine bright white pair 14 40.7 16 25 40 87 Bootes 36, Epsilon Bootis (Izar) (*311) (HIP72105) 2.9 4.9 2.8 golden & greenish-blue 14 45 27 4 34 94 Bootes 37, Xi Bootis 4.7 7 6.6 beautiful yellow & reddish orange pair 14 51.4 19 6 38 70 Bootes 51, Mu Bootis 4.3 7 108.3 primary of yellow & close orange BC pair 15 24.5 37 23 38 76 Bootes Delta Bootis 3.5 8.7 105 wide yellow & blue pair 15 15.5 33 19 41 101 Bootes Arcturus -0.11 alignment star 14 15.6 19 10.4 41 119 Bootes NGC5248 galaxy with bright stellar nucleus and oval halo 13 37.5 8 53 51 59 Bootes NGC5676
  • The Planetary Nebula Club Objects by Month (As Posted by Ted Forte On

    The Planetary Nebula Club Objects by Month (As Posted by Ted Forte On

    The Planetary Nebula Club objects by month (As posted by Ted Forte on “backbayastro”) August Planetaries As most of you know, I am the coordinator of the Astronomical League’s Planetary Nebula Club. Several members of the BBAA helped me create the Planetary Nebula Club by serving on the object selection committee, serving on the rules committee, providing images, or by authoring parts of the observing manual. The Planetary Nebula Club creation was truly a BBAA effort. I think it’s a shame, therefore, that more BBAA’ers haven’t completed the program and earned the pin. So if you are looking for an observing program to complete, why not our very own? There was never a better time to start. More than half the list is visible right now and no less than 31 of our 110 PNe are optimally placed in August. Hence the title of this epistle. It is my intention to spark an interest in the program and suggest the objects that might be bagged in the coming weeks. Many of you have no doubt observed these objects already, so please chime in and share your impressions of them. As is true of the entire list, our August selection contains both well-known showpieces and some seldom mentioned objects that you might not consider tracking down if not for this program. There are no less than 17 of the 31 August objects that I would describe as “stellar”. I must confess that I am not the biggest fan of these tiny objects and had I been the sole arbiter of the list it would have contained far fewer of these.

  • Planetary Nebula

    v 2016-06-07 <<< The 110 Best Planetary Nebula >>> Page 1 of 2 ^NGC Common Name Type Mag Size RA DEC 12AM Constellation 40 Red Bow-Tie Nebula PN 10.5 60" x 40" 00:13.0 +72° 31' Oct 09 Cepheus 246 Skull Nebula PN 8.5 4' 00:47.1 -11° 52' Oct 17 Cetus 650 Little Dumbbell - M76 PN 10.1 3' x 2' 01:42.3 +51° 35' Nov 01 Perseus 651 Little Dumbbell - M76 PN 10.1 3' x 2' 01:42.3 +51° 35' Nov 01 Perseus ic 1747 PN 12.0 20" 01:57.6 +63° 19' Nov 03 Cassiopeia ic 289 PN 13.0 40" 03:10.3 +61° 19' Nov 06 Cassiopeia 1360 Robin's Egg Nebula PN 9.5 6" 03:33.2 -25° 52' Nov 12 Fornax ic 351 PN 12.0 7" 03:47.5 +35° 03' Nov 17 Perseus ic 2003 PN 12.0 8" 03:56.4 +33° 53' Nov 19 Perseus 1501 Blue Oyster Nebula PN 12.5 1' 04:07.0 +60° 55 Nov 22 Camelopardalis 1514 Crystal Ball Nebula PN 10.5 2' 04:09.3 +30° 47' Nov 22 Taurus 1535 Cleopatra's Eye Nebula PN 9.5 18" 04:14.3 -12° 44' Nov 24 Eridanus ic 418 Spirograph Nebula PN 10.0 12" 05:27.5 -12° 42' Dec 13 Lepus 2022 White Snowball PN 11.5 20" 05:42.1 +09° 05' Dec 16 Orion ic 2149 Eye of the Charioteer PN 11.0 9" 05:56.4 +46° 06' Dec 20 Auriga ic 2165 PN 12.0 8" 06:21.7 -12° 59' Dec 25 Canis Major 2242 PN 14.5 22" 06:34.1 +44° 46' Dec 29 Auriga 2346 Butterfly Nebula PN 10.5 1' 07:09.4 -00° 48' Jan 06 Monoceros 2371 Candy Wrapper PN 13.0 55" x 30" 07:25.6 +29° 29' Jan 11 Gemini 2372 Candy Wrapper PN 13.0 55" x 30" 07:25.6 +29° 29' Jan 11 Gemini 2392 Eskimo Nebula PN 9.5 45" 07:29.1 +20° 55' Jan 12 Gemini 2438 Smoke Ring Nebula PN 10.5 1' 07:41.8 -14° 44' Jan 15 Puppis 2440 Peanut Nebula PN 10.5 30" 07:41.9 -18°