The Comet's Tale
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The Comet's Tale, and Therefore the Object As a Whole Would the Section Director Nick James Highlighted Have a Low Surface Brightness
1 Diebold Schilling, Disaster in connection with two comets sighted in 1456, Lucerne Chronicle, 1513 (Wikimedia Commons) THE COMET’S TALE Comet Section – British Astronomical Association Journal – Number 38 2019 June britastro.org/comet Evolution of the comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) along a total of ten days on January 2018. Composition of pictures taken with a zoom lens from Teide Observatory in Canary Islands. J.J Chambó Bris 2 Table of Contents Contents Author Page 1 Director’s Welcome Nick James 3 Section Director 2 Melvyn Taylor’s Alex Pratt 6 Observations of Comet C/1995 01 (Hale-Bopp) 3 The Enigma of Neil Norman 9 Comet Encke 4 Setting up the David Swan 14 C*Hyperstar for Imaging Comets 5 Comet Software Owen Brazell 19 6 Pro-Am José Joaquín Chambó Bris 25 Astrophotography of Comets 7 Elizabeth Roemer: A Denis Buczynski 28 Consummate Comet Section Secretary Observer 8 Historical Cometary Amar A Sharma 37 Observations in India: Part 2 – Mughal Empire 16th and 17th Century 9 Dr Reginald Denis Buczynski 42 Waterfield and His Section Secretary Medals 10 Contacts 45 Picture Gallery Please note that copyright 46 of all images belongs with the Observer 3 1 From the Director – Nick James I hope you enjoy reading this issue of the We have had a couple of relatively bright Comet’s Tale. Many thanks to Janice but diffuse comets through the winter and McClean for editing this issue and to Denis there are plenty of images of Buczynski for soliciting contributions. 46P/Wirtanen and C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) Thanks also to the section committee for in our archive. -
The Professor Comet's Report Early Spring – April 2012
The Professor Comet’s Report 1 Mr. Justin J McCollum (BS, MS Physics) Lab Physics Coordinator Dept. of Physics Lamar University Welcome to the comet report which is a monthly article on the observations of comets by the amateur astronomy community and comet hunters from around the world! This C/2009 P1 Garradd with article is dedicated to the latest reports of available comets for Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 4236 observations, current state of those comets, future 14 March 2011! predictions, & projections for observations in comet astronomy! Early Spring – April 2012 The Professor Comet’s Report 2 The Current Status of the Predominant Comets for Apr 2012! Comets Designation Orbital Magnitude Trend Observation Constellations Visibility (IAU – MPC) Status Visual (Range in (Night Sky Location) Period Lat.) Garradd 2009 P1 C 7.0* - 7.5 Fading 90°N – 30°S SW region of Ursa Major moving All Night SSW towards the SE region of Lynx. Giacobini - 21P P 9 – 10 Fading Poor N/A Zinner Elongation Lost in the daytime Glare! LINEAR 2011 F1 C 11 .7* Brightening 90°N – 20°S Undergoing retrograde motion All Night between Boötes and Draco thru the late Spring. Gehrels 2 78P P 12.2* Fading 60˚N - 20˚S Moving eastwards across Taurus Early Evening and progressing along the N edge of the Hyades Star Cluster! McNaught 2011 Q2 C 12.5 Fading 70˚N – Eqn. Currently in the S central region Early Morning of Andromeda moving NE between the boundary between Andromeda & Pisces. NEAT 246P/2010 V2 P 12.3* - 13 Possible 65˚N - 60˚S Undergoing retrograde motion All Night Steadiness in the E half of the N central region of Virgo until late June. -
The Comet's Tale
THE COMET’S TALE Newsletter of the Comet Section of the British Astronomical Association Volume 5, No 1 (Issue 9), 1998 May A May Day in February! Comet Section Meeting, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, 1998 February 14 The day started early for me, or attention and there were displays to correct Guide Star magnitudes perhaps I should say the previous of the latest comet light curves in the same field. If you haven’t day finished late as I was up till and photographs of comet Hale- got access to this catalogue then nearly 3am. This wasn’t because Bopp taken by Michael Hendrie you can always give a field sketch the sky was clear or a Valentine’s and Glynn Marsh. showing the stars you have used Ball, but because I’d been reffing in the magnitude estimate and I an ice hockey match at The formal session started after will make the reduction. From Peterborough! Despite this I was lunch, and I opened the talks with these magnitude estimates I can at the IOA to welcome the first some comments on visual build up a light curve which arrivals and to get things set up observation. Detailed instructions shows the variation in activity for the day, which was more are given in the Section guide, so between different comets. Hale- reminiscent of May than here I concentrated on what is Bopp has demonstrated that February. The University now done with the observations and comets can stray up to a offers an undergraduate why it is important to be accurate magnitude from the mean curve, astronomy course and lectures are and objective when making them. -
Ice& Stone 2020
Ice & Stone 2020 WEEK 51: DECEMBER 13-19 Presented by The Earthrise Institute # 51 Authored by Alan Hale COMET OF THE WEEK: The Great Comet of 1680 Perihelion: 1680 December 18.49, q = 0.006 AU The Great Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam in The Netherlands, during late December 1680 as painted by the Dutch artist Lieve Verschuier. This particular comet was undoubtedly one of the brightest comets of the 17th Century, but it is also one of the most important comets in history from a scientific perspective, and perhaps even from the perspective of overall human history. While there were certainly plenty of superstitions attached to the comet’s appearance, the scientific investigations made of it were among the beginnings of the era in European history we now call The Enlightenment, and indeed, in a sense the Great Comet of 1680 can perhaps be considered as one of the sparks of that era. The significance began with the comet’s discovery, which was made on the morning of November 14, 1680, by a German astronomer residing in Coburg, Gottfried Kirch – the first comet ever to be discovered by means of a telescope. It was already around 4th magnitude at that time, and located near the star Regulus in the constellation Leo; from that point it traveled eastward and brightened rapidly, being closest to Earth (0.42 AU) on November 30. By that time it was a conspicuous naked-eye object with a tail 20 to 30 degrees long, and it remained visible for another week before disappearing into morning twilight. -
ALPO COMET NEWS for APRIL 2020 a Publication of the Comet Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers by Carl Hergenrother - 2020-April-1
ALPO COMET NEWS FOR APRIL 2020 A Publication of the Comet Section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers By Carl Hergenrother - 2020-April-1 The monthly ALPO Comet News PDF can be found on the ALPO Comet Section website (http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/cometblog/). A shorter version of this report is posted on a dedicated Cloudy Nights forum (https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/700215-alpo-comet-news- for-april-2020/). All are encourageD to join the discussion over at Cloudy Nights. The ALPO Comet Section welcomes all comet related observations, whether textual descriptions, images, drawings, magnitude estimates, or spectra. You do not have to be a member of ALPO to submit material, though membership is encouraged. To learn more about the ALPO, please visit us @ http://www.alpo-astronomy.org. A lot has changed since over the past month, not only with the state of the world, but with comets. C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) has asserted itself as the comet of the moment. Currently between 7th and 8th magnitude as April begins, the comet may become a borderline naked eye object under dark skies by the end of the month. It will be interesting to watch how it develops. C/2019 Y4 isn’t the only object of interest. Both C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) and C/2019 Y1 (ATLAS) are brighter than 10th magnitude and CCD and large aperture visual observers are encouraged to watch fainter comets 88P/Howell, 210P/Christensen, 249P/LINEAR, and C/2019 U6 (Lemmon). Bright Comets (magnitude < 10.0) C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) – The Great Comet of 2020, a Great Disappointment, or something in between? For the first time since 2013, a comet has the potential to become something special. -
Secular Light Curves of Comets, II: 133P
1 C:\Atlas2\133Pv9.doc\060704 / Version 9.0 Icarus MS Number I09469 Accepted for publication in Icarus, 2006 07 21 “Secular Light Curves of Comets, II: 133P/Elst-Pizarro, an Asteroidal Belt Comet” Ignacio Ferrín, Center for Fundamental Physics, University of the Andes, Mérida, VENEZUELA. [email protected] Received October11th, 2005 , Accepted July 21st, 2006 No. Of Pages 44 No. Of Figures 10 No. Of Tables 5 No. Of References 163 - The observations described in this work were carried out at the National Observatory of Venezuela (ONV), managed by the Center for Research in Astronomy (CIDA), for the Ministry of Science and Technology. 2 Proposed Running Head: “ Secular Light Curve of Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro “ Name and address for Editorial Correspondence: Dr. Ignacio Ferrín, Apartado 700, Mérida 5101-A, VENEZUELA South America Email address: [email protected] 3 Abstract We present the secular light curve (SLC) of 133P/Elst-Pizarro, and show ample and sufficient evidence to conclude that it is evolving into a dormant phase. The SLC provides a great deal of information to characterize the object, the most important being that it exhibits outburst-like activity without a corresponding detectable coma. 133P will return to perihelion in July of 2007 when some of our findings may be corroborated. The most significant findings of this investigation are: (1) We have compiled from 127 literature references, extensive databases of visual colors (37 comets), rotational periods and peak-to-valley amplitudes (64 comets). 2-Dimensional plots are created from these databases, which show that comets do not lie on a linear trend but in well defined areas of these phase spaces. -
Ice & Stone 2020
Ice & Stone 2020 WEEK 21: MAY 17-23 Presented by The Earthrise Institute # 21 Authored by Alan Hale This week in history MAY 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 MAY 17, 1882: Observers in the path of a total solar eclipse that crossed central Egypt see and photograph a bright comet during totality. Comet Tewfik X/1882 K1, which was never seen again, was an apparent Kreutz sungrazer, and is this week’s “Comet of the Week.” Solar eclipse comets, in general, are the subject of this week’s “Special Topics” presentation. MAY 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 MAY 18, 44 B.C.: Astronomers in China first record seeing a bright comet, which was also later seen from Europe. The comet’s appearance shortly after the assassination of Julius Caesar has caused it to become generally known as “Caesar’s Comet” and it is next week’s “Comet of the Week.” MAY 18, 1970: Australian amateur astronomer Graeme White discovers a bright comet deep in evening twilight. Over the next several nights several other independent discoveries of this comet were made, including by Air France pilot Emilio Ortiz and by Carlos Bolelli at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Comet White-Ortiz-Bolelli 1970f was the last bright Kreutz sungrazer to be observed from the ground until 2011. Kreutz sungrazers are the subject of a future “Special Topics” presentation. MAY 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 MAY 20, 1910: Comet 1P/Halley passes 0.151 AU from Earth, transiting the sun in the process (which was not detected) and briefly creating the longest apparent cometary tail ever observed. -
Ice & Stone 2020
Ice & Stone 2020 WEEK 17: APRIL 19-25, 2020 Presented by The Earthrise Institute # 17 Authored by Alan Hale This week in history APRIL 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 APRIL 20, 1910: Comet 1P/Halley passes through perihelion at a heliocentric distance of 0.587 AU. Halley’s 1910 return, which is described in a previous “Special Topics” presentation, was quite favorable, with a close approach to Earth (0.15 AU) and the exhibiting of the longest cometary tail ever recorded. APRIL 20, 2025: NASA’s Lucy mission is scheduled to pass by the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson. Lucy is discussed in a previous “Special Topics” presentation. APRIL 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 APRIL 21, 2024: Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is predicted to pass through perihelion at a heliocentric distance of 0.781 AU. This comet, with a discussion of its viewing prospects for 2024, is a previous “Comet of the Week.” APRIL 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 APRIL 22, 2020: The annual Lyrid meteor shower should be at its peak. Normally this shower is fairly weak, with a peak rate of not much more than 10 meteors per hour, but has been known to exhibit significantly stronger activity on occasion. The moon is at its “new” phase on April 23 this year and thus the viewing circumstances are very good. COVER IMAGE CREDIT: Front and back cover: This artist’s conception shows how families of asteroids are created. Over the history of our solar system, catastrophic collisions between asteroids located in the belt between Mars and Jupiter have formed families of objects on similar orbits around the sun. -
Spectroscopy and Thermal Modelling of the First Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 'Oumuamua
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Queen's University Research Portal Spectroscopy and thermal modelling of the first interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 'Oumuamua Fitzsimmons, A., Snodgrass, C., Rozitis, B., Yang, B., Hyland, M., Seccull, T., ... Lacerda, P. (2018). Spectroscopy and thermal modelling of the first interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 'Oumuamua. DOI: 10.1038/s41550-017-0361-4 Published in: Nature Astronomy Document Version: Peer reviewed version Queen's University Belfast - Research Portal: Link to publication record in Queen's University Belfast Research Portal Publisher rights © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Queen's University Belfast Research Portal is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The Research Portal is Queen's institutional repository that provides access to Queen's research output. Every effort has been made to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content in the Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact [email protected]. Download date:09. Sep. 2018 Spectroscopy and thermal modelling of the first interstel- lar object 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua Alan Fitzsimmons1, Colin Snodgrass2, Ben Rozitis2, Bin Yang3, Meabh´ Hyland1, Tom Seccull1, Michele T. -
Automated Trajectory Design for Impulsive and Low Thrust Interplanetary Mission Analysis Samuel Arthur Wagner Iowa State University
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2014 Automated trajectory design for impulsive and low thrust interplanetary mission analysis Samuel Arthur Wagner Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Aerospace Engineering Commons, and the Applied Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Wagner, Samuel Arthur, "Automated trajectory design for impulsive and low thrust interplanetary mission analysis" (2014). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 14238. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/14238 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Automated trajectory design for impulsive and low thrust interplanetary mission analysis by Samuel Arthur Wagner A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Aerospace Engineering Program of Study Committee: Bong Wie, Major Professor John Basart Ran Dai Ping Lu Ambar Mitra Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2014 Copyright © Samuel Arthur Wagner, 2014. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I would like to thank my parents and all my family and friends who have helped me through- out my time as a student. Without their support I wouldn't have been able to make it. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION . ii LIST OF TABLES . vii LIST OF FIGURES . x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . xiii CHAPTER 1. -
On the Consequences of the Detection of an Interstellar Asteroid
On the Consequences of the Detection of an Interstellar Asteroid Gregory Laughlin1 and Konstantin Batygin2 1Department of Astronomy, Yale University New Haven, CT 06511, USA 2Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Keywords: asteroids: individual (A/2017 U1) | planet-disk interactions Corresponding author: Gregory Laughlin [email protected], [email protected] 2 The arrival of the robustly hyperbolic asteroid A/2017 U1 (MPEC 2017a) seems fortuitously timed to coincide with the revival of the AAS Research Notes (Vishniac 2017). Both the sparse facts surrounding A/2017 U1's properties and trajectory, as well as its apparently startling ramifications for the planet-formation process, are readily summarized in less than a thousand words. 1 With an eccentricity, e = 1:2, A/2017 U1 had a pre-encounter velocity, v = 26 km s− relative to the solar motion, 1 and its direction of arrival from near the solar apex is entirely consistent with Population I disk kinematics (Mamajek 2017). At periastron, A/2017 U1 passed q = 0:25 AU from the Sun, momentarily reaching a heliocentric velocity of 1 2 88 km s− . Despite briefly achieving solar irradiation levels I > 20 kW m− , deep images produced no sign of a coma (MPEC 2017b), suggesting that the object has a non-volatile near-surface composition. Its spectrum, moreover, shows no significant absorption features and is considerably skewed to the red (Masiero 2017). The object's H = 22 absolute magnitude, coupled with albedo assumed to be of order A 0:1 implies that it has a diameter d 160 meters. -
Oumuamua Encounter: How Modern Cosmology Handled Its First Black Swan
S S symmetry Article The ‘Oumuamua Encounter: How Modern Cosmology Handled Its First Black Swan Les Coleman Department of Finance, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; [email protected]; Tel.: +61-38-344-3696 Abstract: The first macroscopic object observed to have come from outside the solar system slipped back out of sight in early 2018. 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua offered a unique opportunity to test under- standing of gravity, planetary formation and galactic structure against a true outlier, and astronomical teams from around the globe rushed to study it. Observations lasted several months and generated a tsunami of scientific (and popular) literature. The brief window available to study ‘Oumuamua created crisis-like conditions, and this paper makes a comparative study of techniques used by cosmologists against those used by financial economists in qualitatively similar situations where data conflict with the current paradigm. Analyses of ‘Oumuamua were marked by adherence to existing paradigms and techniques and by confidence in results from self and others. Some, though, over-reached by turning uncertain findings into graphic, detailed depictions of ‘Oumuamua and making unsubstantiated suggestions, including that it was an alien investigator. Using a specific instance to test cosmology’s research strategy against approaches used by economics researchers in comparable circumstances is an example of reverse econophysics that highlights the benefits of an extra-disciplinary lens. Keywords: ‘Oumuamua; interstellar objects; black swan event; non-gravitational acceleration; inter- Citation: Coleman, L. The disciplinary research; reverse econophysics ‘Oumuamua Encounter: How Modern Cosmology Handled Its First Black Swan. Symmetry 2021, 13, 510.