DOCSLIB.ORG

The Journal of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers C::Lte Strolling Astronomer

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Journal of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers C::Lte Strolling Astronomer The Journal Of The Association Of Lunar And Planetary Observers C::lte Strolling Astronomer 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Volume 29, Numbers 3-4 Published December, 1981 Another suggestive Earth-based, pre-Voyager view ofthe curious dusky bands in the rings of Saturn? Drawing by Toshihiko Osawa in Japan on December 26, 1972 at 13 hrs., 45 mins., Universal Time. 8-inch reflector, 286X. Seeing 4 to 7, rather poor to fairly good. Transparency 4.5 (clear). Simply inverted view with south at the top. B (tilt to Earth) = -26.4 degrees. B' (tilt to Sun) = -26.6 degrees. Opposition on December 9, 1972. See text on pages 87 and 88. !1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111=- THE STROLLING ASTRONOMER - Box 3AZ - University Park, New Mexico - 88003 - Res1dence telephone 522·4213 (Area Code 505) - in Las Cruces, New Mexico - Founded In 1947 INTIDSISSUE mE APPARITION OF COMET BRADFIELD 1979 X, by Stephen J. O'Meara and Daniel W. E. Green ......................... pg. 45 WHAT IS NEW ON MARS-MARTIAN 1979-1980 APPARITION REPORT ll (Concluded), by C. F. Capen and D. C. Parker ...................................... pg. 51 mE 1981 A.L.P.O. BUSINESS MEETING, by Phillip W. Budine and Julius L. Benton, Jr. ......................... pg. 60 AMATEURS AMONG THE ASTEROIDS, by J. U. Gunter ......................................•.............. pg. 61 mE MINOR PLANETS: AS INTERESTING AS EVER, by Alain Porter ..................................................... pg. 64 COMET WEST 1976 VI: OBSERVATIONS OF THE GREAT COMET OF 1976, by Derek W allentinsen .............................................. pg. 69 BOOK REVIEWS ........................•.......................... pg. 79 NEW BOOKS RECEIVED, by J. Russell Smith and Charles S. Morris .............................• pg. 83 THE A.L.P.O. AT ASTROCON '81, by Don Parker and Jeff Beish ......................................... pg. 83 ANNOUNCEMENTS ...............................•................ pg. 85 OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS ..............•................... pg. 87 THE APPARITION OF COMET BRADFIELD 1979 ! By: Stephen J. O'Meara and Daniel W. E. Green, A.L.P.O. Comets Section Abstract Visual photometric observations of Comet Bradfield 1979 X (= 1979~) are discussed. The brightness behavior of this comet is fairly well represented by the following magni­ tude formula, found through a least-squares regression analysis of 117 selected observa­ tions: m1 = 8.10 + 5 log 6 + 7.69 log r, where m1 is the aperture-corrected, total visual magnitude of the comet, and 6 and r are the comet's geocentric and heliocentric distances respectively. I. Introduction On 1979, December 24 veteran comet hunter William A. Bradfield of Dernancourt, South Australia, discovered his tenth comet while sweeping only 5 degrees south of Antares; the object was of magnitude 5 with a 1° tail. Comet Bradfield 1979 X (= 1979~) then was already 3 days past perihelion, being strictly a Southern-Hemisphere object until around 1980, January 27. On January 26 the comet passed within 0.2 A.U. of the Earth; and this extremely diffuse object was observed visually to be as much as 20'-25' in diameter during late January and early February, despite the occurrence of Full Moon on February 1. Full Moon also occurred on January 2 and March 1. Marsden (1980) has computed the following elements based on 17 observations from 1979, December 26 to 1980, January 17: T 1979 Dec. 21.609 E.T. 102~5081 q 0.54529 A.U. 257. 597 l- 1950.0 e 0.98801 148.604j Morris (1980a, b) has commented on the apparition of comet 1979 X and on the object's brightness behavior. II. Visual Appearance On January 29, the first author located Comet Bradfield 1979 X with the 23-cm (9-inch) Clark refractor at Harvard College Observatory, finding it difficult near the horizon, with competing moonlight. Sightings rapidly increased as the Moon rose later, and the comet gained altitude, with the passage of a few days. However, the object's rapid daily motion at this time confused some observers who tried to locate it at ephemeris positions (predicted) for oh E.T. on a given date. Table 1A lists the A.L.P.O. observers of Comet Bradfield 1979~, of whom Clyde and Fulle contributed the greatest number of observations. Most of the A.L.P.O. observa­ tions were published in detail in the International Comet Quarterly (ICQ , Vol. 3, No.2, April 1981). -- - Raisanen found the comet on February 1 as having a noticeable tail. Visual reports of this narrow gas tail continued throughout the apparition, while photographs naturally revealed much longer tail lengths. Visual tail length estimates up to 1 degree were reported during the first two weeks of February. Pedroncelli found the comet as a circular, diffuse object on February 2 and 3. Karl and Wanda Simmons found the coma diameter to be as much as 25' in 7x50 binoculars on January 30; and this value was consistent with early February observations, indicating a true diameter of about 275,000 kms. Kronk noted the difficulty in determining the diameter of Comet 1979 X visually during February because the coma boundaries were very ambiguous. Stegmann reported the comet's appearance on February 5 as a "diffuse, nebulous glow." III. Magnitude Analysis The comet's large size and diffuseness also caused magnitude estimates to vary tremendously on a given night. The Sidgwick (In-out) or Morris methods should have been used for this type of comet, and not the Bobrovnikoff method which is most often used (cf. Morris 1980c). In addition to magnitude estimates made by A.L.P.O. observers, brightness data were compiled from those published in 1980 in the ICQ for analysis. Those observers whose ICQ observations were used in this study are presented in Table IB. After approximate estimates were deleted, only one observation per observer per night was retained. Other 45 FULL 0 MOON ++ ::1' + 0 l + FULL MOO I! 0 (0 1 en. + + + + + + ++ 0 (0. (0 (.!)O a:o ::::Ecx:) :::c + + 0 C\1 FULL ...... MOON J, FIGURE 1. COMET 1979 X: + LOGARITHMIC PLOT OF HELIOCENTRIC 0::1' + DISTANCE (R) VERSUS HELIOCENTRIC (0 MAGNITUDE (H MAG), WITH THE LEAST SQUARES FIT: + H0 = 8.10 + 7.69 LOG R. 0 (0 117 OBSERVATIONS REPRESENTED. ++ 1/) + 0 (0 +------r-----,.-----.------.------.-----~~--~~ ::1'-0.32 -0.2Y -0. I6 -0.08 0.00 0.08 0.16 0.2Y LOG R observations had to be deleted because of uncertainty about which instruments were used for certain magnitude estimates. Also, those observations which did not list a source catalog for the comparison stars (needed for a good magnitude estimate) were usually deleted. The remaining 117 observations were used for a least squares regression analysis; and the magnitude estimates were reduced to a standard aperture of 6.78 em, after Morris (1973). The regression analysis used was that described by Green (1980a, b), and produced the following values for absolute magnitude, H0 , and the characteristic brightness para­ meter, n: n 3.08 + 0.13 (p.e.) H0 8.10 ~ 0.03 (p.e.). When these values are placed in the standard cometary magnitude formula, one obtains m1 = 8.10 + 5 log 6 + 7.69 log r, ( 1 ) where m1 is the observed total visual (aperture-corrected) magnitude, and 6·and rare the comet's geocentric and heliocentric distances respectively. Figure 1 graphically indicates the fitted line from the above parameters as drawn through the 117 magnitude data points. Fig. 1 shows well the scatter in magnitude estimates during February (center of graph) caused by the difficulty of making a reliable estimate. While this comet may have previously passed through the inner Solar System, its H0 - and n-parameter values are not unusual for either a "new" or an "old" comet. (Text continued below Table II on page 49) 46 TABLE IA. LIST OF A.L.P.O. OBSERVERS (Listed here are those observers who contributed observations directly to the A.L.P.O. Comets Section. A "10" after the column-1 name code indicates observers who made observations that were contributed by M. Grossmann of West Germany.) CAP CHARLES F. CAPEN, AZ, U.S.A. CLY ROBERT CLYDE, OH, U.S.A. FUL M. FULLE, ITALY JEN 10 GUENTER JENNER, AUSTRIA KR002 GARY W. KRONK, IL, U.S.A. MAT02 LEONARD MATUSZEWSKI, NJ, U.S.A. OME STEPHEN O'MEARA, MA, U.S.A. PED JOSEPH W. PEDRONCELLI, NM, U.S.A. RAI RODNEY J. RAISANEN, OH, U.S.A. REI 10 PETER REINHARD, AUSTRIA SCHOJ 10 MICHAEL SCHMID, AUSTRIA SIM KARL SIMMONS, FL, U.S.A. SIM01 WANDA SIMMONS, FL, U.S.A. STE01 CHRIS STEPHAN, OH, U.S.A. TABLE IB. LIST OF OTHER OBSERVERS (This table lists those observers whose observations have been published in the ICQ, but who did not contribute directly to the A.L.P.O.) BEN JACK C. BENNETT, SOUTH AFRICA BOE LEO BOETHIN, THE PHILIPPINES BOR JOHN E. BORTLE, NY, U.S.A. GLI GUNNAR GLITSCHER, WEST GERMANY GRE DANIEL W. E. GREEN, NC, U.S.A. HAR01 SYOJI HARADA, JAPAN HON KEN HONDA, JAPAN MAY MARVIN J. MAYO, CA, U.S.A. MIZ YOSHIKANE MIZUNO, JAPAN MOR CHARLES S. MORRIS, MA, U.S.A. MOR02 JAMES A. MORGAN, WI, U.S.A. NAKOJ MASATSUGU NAKAMURA, JAPAN SAT MASAAKI SATAKE, JAPAN SHE CLAY SHERROD, AR, U.S.A. suz KENZO SUZUKI, JAPAN TAN TETSUO TANAKA, JAPAN TRE T. B. TREGASKIS, AUSTRALIA TABLE II. MAGNITUDE OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS. No. Date (U. T.) Mag. Corr. In st. H-Mag. Delta r log r Obs. 1 1979 12 26.740 5.40 5.50 5.0B 5.15 1.174 0.555 -.2557 TRE 2 1979 12 29.080 5.60 5.78 3.5B 5.62 1.076 0.571 -.2434 BEN 3 1979 12 31.080 5.50 5.68 3.5B 5.66 1.008 0.586 -.2321 BEN 4 1980 1 1.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Photometric Study of Two Near-Earth Asteroids in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Objects Catalog
    University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2020 Photometric Study Of Two Near-Earth Asteroids In The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Objects Catalog Christopher James Miko Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Miko, Christopher James, "Photometric Study Of Two Near-Earth Asteroids In The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Objects Catalog" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 3287. https://commons.und.edu/theses/3287 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PHOTOMETRIC STUDY OF TWO NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY MOVING OBJECTS CATALOG by Christopher James Miko Bachelor of Science, Valparaiso University, 2013 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Grand Forks, North Dakota August 2020 Copyright 2020 Christopher J. Miko ii Christopher J. Miko Name: Degree: Master of Science This document, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. ____________________________________ Dr. Ronald Fevig ____________________________________ Dr. Michael Gaffey ____________________________________ Dr. Wayne Barkhouse ____________________________________ Dr. Vishnu Reddy ____________________________________ ____________________________________ This document is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved.
    [Show full text]
  • The British Astronomical Association Handbook 2017
    THE HANDBOOK OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION 2017 2016 October ISSN 0068–130–X CONTENTS PREFACE . 2 HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2017 . 3 CALENDAR 2017 . 4 SKY DIARY . .. 5-6 SUN . 7-9 ECLIPSES . 10-15 APPEARANCE OF PLANETS . 16 VISIBILITY OF PLANETS . 17 RISING AND SETTING OF THE PLANETS IN LATITUDES 52°N AND 35°S . 18-19 PLANETS – EXPLANATION OF TABLES . 20 ELEMENTS OF PLANETARY ORBITS . 21 MERCURY . 22-23 VENUS . 24 EARTH . 25 MOON . 25 LUNAR LIBRATION . 26 MOONRISE AND MOONSET . 27-31 SUN’S SELENOGRAPHIC COLONGITUDE . 32 LUNAR OCCULTATIONS . 33-39 GRAZING LUNAR OCCULTATIONS . 40-41 MARS . 42-43 ASTEROIDS . 44 ASTEROID EPHEMERIDES . 45-50 ASTEROID OCCULTATIONS .. ... 51-53 ASTEROIDS: FAVOURABLE OBSERVING OPPORTUNITIES . 54-56 NEO CLOSE APPROACHES TO EARTH . 57 JUPITER . .. 58-62 SATELLITES OF JUPITER . .. 62-66 JUPITER ECLIPSES, OCCULTATIONS AND TRANSITS . 67-76 SATURN . 77-80 SATELLITES OF SATURN . 81-84 URANUS . 85 NEPTUNE . 86 TRANS–NEPTUNIAN & SCATTERED-DISK OBJECTS . 87 DWARF PLANETS . 88-91 COMETS . 92-96 METEOR DIARY . 97-99 VARIABLE STARS (RZ Cassiopeiae; Algol; λ Tauri) . 100-101 MIRA STARS . 102 VARIABLE STAR OF THE YEAR (T Cassiopeiæ) . .. 103-105 EPHEMERIDES OF VISUAL BINARY STARS . 106-107 BRIGHT STARS . 108 ACTIVE GALAXIES . 109 TIME . 110-111 ASTRONOMICAL AND PHYSICAL CONSTANTS . 112-113 INTERNET RESOURCES . 114-115 GREEK ALPHABET . 115 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / ERRATA . 116 Front Cover: Northern Lights - taken from Mount Storsteinen, near Tromsø, on 2007 February 14. A great effort taking a 13 second exposure in a wind chill of -21C (Pete Lawrence) British Astronomical Association HANDBOOK FOR 2017 NINETY–SIXTH YEAR OF PUBLICATION BURLINGTON HOUSE, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W1J 0DU Telephone 020 7734 4145 PREFACE Welcome to the 96th Handbook of the British Astronomical Association.
    [Show full text]
  • Asteroid Regolith Weathering: a Large-Scale Observational Investigation
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2019 Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation Eric Michael MacLennan University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation MacLennan, Eric Michael, "Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5467 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Eric Michael MacLennan entitled "Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geology. Joshua P. Emery, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Jeffrey E. Moersch, Harry Y. McSween Jr., Liem T. Tran Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Asteroid Regolith Weathering: A Large-Scale Observational Investigation A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Eric Michael MacLennan May 2019 © by Eric Michael MacLennan, 2019 All Rights Reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin Issue 29 Spring 2018 New Series by Paul Haley Begins in This Issue: 19Th Century Observatories 2018 Sha Spring Conference
    BULLETIN ISSUE 29 SPRING 2018 NEW SERIES BY PAUL HALEY BEGINS IN THIS ISSUE: 19TH CENTURY OBSERVATORIES 2018 SHA SPRING CONFERENCE The first talk is at 1015 and the Saturday 21st April 2018 The conference registraon is morning session ends at 1215 Instute of Astronomy, between 0930 and 1000 at which for lunch. The lunch break is University of Cambridge me refreshments are available unl 1330. An on-site lunch Madingley Road, Cambridge in the lecture theatre. The will be available (£5.00) BUT CB3 0HA conference starts at 1000 with a MUST BE PRE-ORDERED. There welcome by the SHA Chairman are no nearby eang places. Bob Bower introduces the There is a break for refreshments Aer the break there is the aernoon session at 1330 then from 1530 to 1600 when Tea/ final talk. The aernoon there are two one-hour talks. Coffee and biscuits will be session will end at 5 p.m. and provided. the conference will then close. 10 00 - 1015 10 15 - 1115 1115 - 1215 SHA Chairman Bob Bower Carolyn Kennett and Brian Sheen Kevin Kilburn Welcomes delegates to Ancient Skies and the Megaliths Forgotten Star Atlas the Instute of of Cornwall Astronomy for the SHA 2018 Archeoastronomy in Cornwall The 18th Century unpublished Spring Conference Past and Present Uranographia Britannica by Dr John Bevis 13 30 - 1430 14 30 - 1530 16 00 – 17 00 Nik Szymanek Kenelm England Jonathan Maxwell The Road to Modern Berkshire Astronomers 5000 BC Some lesser known aspects Astrophotography to AD 2018 regarding the evolution of The pioneering days of Some topics on astronomers and refracting telescopes: from early astrophotographers, observations made from Lippershey's spectacle lens to the up to modern times Berkshire since pre-historic Apochromats times until last week An insight into the development of 2 the refracting telescope In this Issue BOOK SALE AT THE 2017 AGM Digital Bulletin The Digital Bulletin provides extra content and links when viewing the 4 Bulletin as a PDF.
    [Show full text]
  • Accurate Positions of Pluto and Asteroids Observed in Bucharest During the Year 1932
    ACCURATE POSITIONS OF PLUTO AND ASTEROIDS OBSERVED IN BUCHAREST DURING THE YEAR 1932 GHEORGHE BOCŞA, PETRE POPESCU, MIHAELA LICULESCU Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy Str. Cuţitul de Argint 5, 040557 Bucharest, Romania E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The paper contains the observations of minor planets performed in Bucharest Astronomical Observatory in the year 1932 with the 380/6000 mm astrograph. Both Turner’s (constants) and Schlesinger’s (dependences) methods were used in the computation of the normal coordinates of the objects. Keywords: photographic astrometry – minor planets. 1. INTRODUCTION The article is a continuation of the complete investigation of Bucharest Wide-Field Plates Archive initiated in 2010; it contains the plates with asteroids observed in 1932. That year 185 plates were exposed and were stored in the archive, but were not reduced. After analysing them, 98 plates were detected to contain measurable minor planets. The first observed positions in this year were of planet Pluto. They were exposed on 1318cm plates, with 52 minutes exposure .The observations were performed by the famous Romanian astronomer Professor Gheorghe Demetrescu. The most difficult problem was the identification of the planet, the three plates obtained in 1932 having dozens of stars with up to 15 magnitudes. As all the observations were performed in the same month and the planet did not have a great proper motion, it was possible to superpose two plates and to identify Pluto. The values (O–C)α and (O–C)δ were calculated by M. Svechnikov from the Institute of Applied Astronomy in Sankt Petersburg on the basis of precise positions obtained in Bucharest, which we integrated in Pluto’s orbit.
    [Show full text]
  • A Spectroscopic Study of Detached Binary Systems Using Precise Radial
    A spectroscopic study of detached binary systems using precise radial velocities ———————————————————— A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Astronomy in the University of Canterbury by David J. Ramm —————————– University of Canterbury 2004 Abstract Spectroscopic orbital elements and/or related parameters have been determined for eight bi- nary systems, using radial-velocity measurements that have a typical precision of about 15 m s−1. The orbital periods of these systems range from about 10 days to 26 years, with a median of about 6 years. Orbital solutions were determined for the seven systems with shorter periods. The measurement of the mass ratio of the longest-period system, HD 217166, demonstrates that this important astrophysical quantity can be estimated in a model-free manner with less than 10% of the orbital cycle observed spectroscopically. Single-lined orbital solutions have been derived for five of the binaries. Two of these systems are astrometric binaries: β Ret and ν Oct. The other SB1 systems were 94 Aqr A, θ Ant, and the 10-day system, HD 159656. The preliminary spectroscopic solution for θ Ant (P 18 years), is ∼ the first one derived for this system. The improvement to the precision achieved for the elements of the other four systems was typically between 1–2 orders of magnitude. The very high pre- cision with which the spectroscopic solution for HD 159656 has been measured should allow an investigation into possible apsidal motion in the near future. In addition to the variable radial velocity owing to its orbital motion, the K-giant, ν Oct, has been found to have an additional long-term irregular periodicity, attributed, for the time being, to the rotation of a large surface feature.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2107.12590V2 [Astro-Ph.EP] 3 Aug 2021
    MNRAS 000,1–13 (2019) Preprint 3 September 2021 Compiled using MNRAS LATEX style file v3.0 The Reflectance Spectra of CV-CK Carbonaceous chondrites from the Near Infrared to the Visible S. Tanbakouei ,1,2¢ Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez ,1,2 J. Llorca,3 C.E. Moyano-Cambero,1,2 I.P. Williams,4 Andrew S. Rivkin 5 1Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC), Meteorites, Minor Bodies and Planetary Sciences Group, Campus UAB, c/Can Magrans s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain 2Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Gran Capità, 2-4, despatx 201, 08034 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 3Institute of Energy Technologies, Department of Chemical Engineering and Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, EEBE, 08019 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 4School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Rd. London E1 4NS, UK. 5John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA. Accepted XXX. Received YYY; in original form ZZZ ABSTRACT Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are so far the only available samples representing carbon-rich asteroids and in order to allow future comparison with samples returned by missions such as Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-Rex, is important to understand their physical properties. Future characterization of asteroid primitive classes, some of them targeted by sample-return missions, requires a better understanding of their mineralogy, the consequences of the exposure to space weathering, and how both affect the reflectance behavior of these objects. In this paper, the reflectance spectra of two chemically-related carbonaceous chondrites groups, precisely the Vigrano (CVs) and Karoonda (CKs), are measured and compared.
    [Show full text]
  • RASNZ Occultation Section Circular CN2009/1 ­ April 2013 NOTICES
    ISSN 1176­5038 (Print) RASNZ ISSN 2324­1853 (Online) OCCULTATION CIRCULAR CN2009/1 April 2013 SECTION Lunar limb Profile produced by Dave Herald's Occult program showing 63 events for the lunar graze of a bright, multiple star ZC2349 (aka Al Niyat, sigma Scorpi) on 31 July 2009 by two teams of observers from Wellington and Christchurch. The lunar profile is drawn using data from the Kaguya lunar surveyor, which became available after this event. The path the star followed across the lunar landscape is shown for one set of observers (Murray Forbes and Frank Andrews) by the trail of white circles. There are several instances where a stepped event was seen, due to the two brightest components disappearing or reappearing. See page 61 for more details. Visit the Occultation Section website at http://www.occultations.org.nz/ Newsletter of the Occultation Section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand Table of Contents From the Director.............................................................................................................................. 2 Notices................................................................................................................................................. 3 Seventh Trans­Tasman Symposium on Occultations............................................................3 Important Notice re Report File Naming...............................................................................4 Observing Occultations using Video: A Beginner's Guide..................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Asteroid Observations at Low Phase Angles. IV. Average Parameters for the New H, G1, G2 Magnitude System Vasilij G
    Planetary and Space Science ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Planetary and Space Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pss Asteroid observations at low phase angles. IV. Average parameters for the new H, G1, G2 magnitude system Vasilij G. Shevchenko a,b,n, Irina N. Belskaya a, Karri Muinonen c,d, Antti Penttilä c, Yurij N. Krugly a, Feodor P. Velichko a, Vasilij G. Chiorny a, Ivan G. Slyusarev a,b, Ninel M. Gaftonyuk e, Igor A. Tereschenko a a Institute of Astronomy of Kharkiv Karazin National University, Sumska str. 35, Kharkiv 61022, Ukraine b Department of Astronomy and Space Informatics of Kharkiv Karazin National University, Svobody sqr. 4, Kharkiv 61022, Ukraine c Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014, Finland d Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, P.O. Box 15, Masala, FI-02431, Finland e Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Crimea, Simeiz 98680, Ukraine article info abstract Article history: We present new observational data for selected main-belt asteroids of different compositional types. The Received 21 January 2015 detailed magnitude–phase dependences including small phase angles (o1°) were obtained for these Received in revised form asteroids, namely: (10) Hygiea (down to the phase angle of 0.3°, C-type), (176) Iduna (0.2°, G-type), (214) 6 September 2015 Aschera (0.2°, E-type), (218) Bianca (0.3°, S-type), (250) Bettina (0.3°, M-type), (419) Aurelia (0.1°, F-type), Accepted 19 November 2015 (596) Scheila (0.2°, D-type), (635) Vundtia (0.2°, B-type), (671) Carnegia (0.2°, P-type), (717) Wisibada (0.1°, T-type), (1021) Flammario (0.6°, B-type), and (1279) Uganda (0.5°, E-type).
    [Show full text]
  • (2000) Forging Asteroid-Meteorite Relationships Through Reflectance
    Forging Asteroid-Meteorite Relationships through Reflectance Spectroscopy by Thomas H. Burbine Jr. B.S. Physics Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1988 M.S. Geology and Planetary Science University of Pittsburgh, 1991 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, AND PLANETARY SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PLANETARY SCIENCES AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY FEBRUARY 2000 © 2000 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Signature of Author: Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences December 30, 1999 Certified by: Richard P. Binzel Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: Ronald G. Prinn MASSACHUSES INSTMUTE Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Department Head JA N 0 1 2000 ARCHIVES LIBRARIES I 3 Forging Asteroid-Meteorite Relationships through Reflectance Spectroscopy by Thomas H. Burbine Jr. Submitted to the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences on December 30, 1999 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Planetary Sciences ABSTRACT Near-infrared spectra (-0.90 to ~1.65 microns) were obtained for 196 main-belt and near-Earth asteroids to determine plausible meteorite parent bodies. These spectra, when coupled with previously obtained visible data, allow for a better determination of asteroid mineralogies. Over half of the observed objects have estimated diameters less than 20 k-m. Many important results were obtained concerning the compositional structure of the asteroid belt. A number of small objects near asteroid 4 Vesta were found to have near-infrared spectra similar to the eucrite and howardite meteorites, which are believed to be derived from Vesta.
    [Show full text]
  • Asteroid Lightcurves
    Methods and Lessons Learned Determining The H-G Parameters Of Asteroid Phase Curves Robert K. Buchheim Altimira Observatory 18 Altimira, Coto de Caza, CA 92679 [email protected] Abstract The phase curve of an asteroid shows how its brightness changes as a function of solar phase angle. The project of determining an asteroid’s phase curve is challenging because it combines four photometric objectives: determination of the asteroid’s rotational lightcurve, monitoring the asteroid over a wide range of solar phase angles, high photometric accuracy, and FOV bridging or “all-sky” photometry to link the asteroid’s brightness from night to night. All of these are important because the different shapes of phase curves (caused by different surface characteristics) have a subtle effect. The typical phase curve project requires photometric accuracy of about ±0.03 mag or better; commits the observatory to a dozen nights, spread over about 2 months; and commits the astronomer to a set of data analyses that is significantly more extensive than is required for a typical “differential photometry rotational lightcurve” project. In this paper I will describe how I have gathered the necessary data, the procedures for data reduction, and some challenges in determining the slope parameter G. 1. Introduction experience. The result for it will be submitted to the Minor Planet Bulletin shortly. An asteroid’s phase curve contains valuable information related to the surface characteristics of 2. Phase Curve Background the asteroid. Amateur efforts to determine asteroid phase curves are a much-needed addition to our The geometry of the observation of an asteroid is knowledge, because not many asteroids have well- illustrated in Figure 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The V-Band Photometry of Asteroids from ASAS-SN
    Astronomy & Astrophysics manuscript no. 40759˙ArXiV © ESO 2021 July 22, 2021 V-band photometry of asteroids from ASAS-SN Finding asteroids with slow spin ? J. Hanusˇ1, O. Pejcha2, B. J. Shappee3, C. S. Kochanek4;5, K. Z. Stanek4;5, and T. W.-S. Holoien6;?? 1 Institute of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, V Holesoviˇ ckˇ ach´ 2, 18000 Prague, Czech Republic 2 Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, V Holesoviˇ ckˇ ach´ 2, 18000 Prague, Czech Republic 3 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 4 Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 5 Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, The Ohio State University, 191 W. Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 6 The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101, USA Received x-x-2021 / Accepted x-x-2021 ABSTRACT We present V-band photometry of the 20,000 brightest asteroids using data from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) between 2012 and 2018. We were able to apply the convex inversion method to more than 5,000 asteroids with more than 60 good measurements in order to derive their sidereal rotation periods, spin axis orientations, and shape models. We derive unique spin state and shape solutions for 760 asteroids, including 163 new determinations. This corresponds to a success rate of about 15%, which is significantly higher than the success rate previously achieved using photometry from surveys.
    [Show full text]