Comet Observers blog

Comet Lulin still looking good

2009-03-09T04:14:00.000-07:00

This unexpected bright comet has been a pleasure. I've posted some of my photos of this comet on my blog. But there are some other nice photos by others too.
3/7/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the Spaceweather page lower portion)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090307.html

Iceball falls into the Sun

2009-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 23rd, 2009, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observed a comet plunge into the sun and disintegrate. This one was part of a family of small comets called Kreutz sungrazers which resulted from the breakup of a giant comet s over 2000 years ago. Most are small and faint, but this one was a beauty. Watch the movie of its demise. The comet appears coming up from the left at around 8 oclock. (The black disc is a coronography type instruments that shield the Sun to show the surrounding area).
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/C3_comet_feb09_zm.mov

Green Comet, blue stars and now a comet tail

2009-03-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last night February 28, at Powell Observatory, 20 minutes south of Kansas City, we welcomed w about 200 people who wanted to observe the comet through our 30 inch telescope. The snow had stopped, the clouds disappeared and we had color clear weather. The green comet was glowing at 6th magnitude. It now was up and south of the bright star Regulus. People could see its coma (cloud like area around the comet head called the nucleus , which you can't see in this photo) and nucleus which was near the center but was more difficult to observe. (Photo taken by Eric Flescher through 6 inch telescope,60 seconds- I am workin on the color photo).
Another person in Italy took a picture of the green comet when it was near bluish Spica a few days ago (we had clouds during this close approach). You can see it at
3/1/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the Spaceweather page lower portion)
http://www.spaceweather.com/
On 2/25/2009, I took more photos of the comet. The tail is now easily seen and more pronounced as it has swung around Earth and now away from it, heading toward the outer reaches of the solar system. The tail is out to the side instead of behind the coma so we can now see it. Now the view is more like what we normally think of a comet, with it's nucleus having a streaming tail (boiling off by the Sun's energy), pointing away from the Sun.

Mardi Gras' Fat Tuesday’s Green Smudge Comet Lulin nearest 2/24

2009-02-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

It was my hope to take photograph the Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday’s Green Smudge Comet Lulin. I wanted to show what Comet Lulin might look like with out a big telescopic view, from a city or slightly darker area to simulate what most would see as the comet comes closest to Earth on 2/24. I tried a couple of weeks ago but no success.

Last night 2/21, I tried again at Powell Observatory, Louisburg, KS just south of Kansas City. Some people said that the comet could now be spotted with binoculars and even naked eye! And I saw it had brightened and could see both these views as well as in our 30 inch telescope.

0n 2/21/09 returning back to Powell, I saw the brightening comet. The nucleus was brighter and so was the rest of the comet coma. It is moving away fast from the Sun.
We could see it moving across the the telescope's field. The coma was bigger and one side (left) was brighter. We could see it easily with our binoculars and could see it (naked eye) as a smudge below Saturn.

This time I was successful using my Canon Rebel XT with 55mm lens, ASA 800 at 30 seconds f/6.3.
You can see the smudge comet (6 magnitude) in the photo just under ) the 3.56 star Zanijava which is just below the brighter planet Saturn (mag 0.56) to the left of the bright blue star called Denabola, in the constellation Leo . Since it was 11:00 CT, the comet was still coming up from the East horizon and still drank in some of the lights from the horizon. Still I was glad to image it . If I could see it with naked eye and binoculars and image it without a big lens (my next attempt), you can too!

Additional information

Comet Lulin, discovered at an observatory in China , is now brightening for a date to be nearest Earth on Feb 24. Now at mag 6 we hope it will brighten to 5th. I saw it with our 30 inch telescope a couple of weeks ago using our Powell Observatory’s 39 inch telescope. Its greenish colored and was difficult to see. The nucleus was even more difficult to see.

This photo on APOD is like what I saw of it and sketched from last week. A tenuous circle like cloud like coma with viewable but difficult to see nucleus right in the center.

2/21-22/2009
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
if not 2/21 look at archivescan't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one

Also there are several nice photos on spaceweather.com

Also nice article and more pics at
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/090220-comet-lulin.html

Encounter Comet Lulin and Internationa Space Station 2/18/2009

2009-02-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here are my links to see what the sky looks like on 2/18/2009
http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/2009/02/encounter-comet-lulin-and-internationa.html
Encounter Comet Lulin and Internationa Space Station 2/18/2009
Here is of what the sky will look like in the morning of 2/18/2009 showing the locations of
(1) Comet Lulin (at about mag 6 need small telescope or binoculars) red spot slightly to the left of center)
(2) ISS (Space Station) mag 0.07 middle- left of Saturn (mag 0.61)
(3) Saturn (mag 0.61) near constellation Leo
Taken with Starry Night Pro
Location from : Kansas City, KS (your view may vary a bit)
Time: around 6:18 Central Time

Comet Lulin success

2009-02-07T20:01:00.001-08:00

Thanks for opening up Powell to get a better look see at Comet Lulin.
(I did see it in the morning next to the double star)
That was fun.
Many thanks for meeting me down there . Jay Manifold, Mitch, David Young and I got up early in the balmy weather to meet at Powell. The after full moon did not bother us and the clouds stayed away for good observing.
Comet Lulin was visible in the big scope with its faint green coma and a tiny discernable nucleus. I did not see the small tail even with the filter. We also looked and it with the big binoculars. We could see how much is moved within the 1.5 hours we were there.
We also saw 3 bright satellites too , (not the ISS) .
Also a nice look at Saturn with the rings edge on.
I took some pictures through my canon and though the scope. While I can see some stars on the digital photo I don't see any comet - I am still trying to doctor it.
That's a good ideas for an outreach to see the comet (it will brightest on 24th- we shall see how bright it gets).

Eric Flescher

Comet Lulin is approaching

2009-01-26T05:19:00.000-08:00

The greenish looking Comet Lulin, has a tail and will reach maximum magnitude in February. While I have not seen it yet, others have and photographed it.
Here is one of the latest links to one . (if you have your own on a website please send me a link or send me your photo or sketch and I will publish it on the blog with your permission and citation)
1/26/09
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD Spaceweather page lower portion)
http://www.spaceweather.com/

Comet heading towards the Sun- willl it survive?

2008-06-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-c2.html

Comet disintergrates near Sun

2008-05-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

The orbiting spacecraft saw this comet heading toward the sun and disintergrate.
5/26/08
http://www.spaceweather.com/

if not this date use archives

Comet Boattini (2007 W1)

2008-04-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

Date:4/16/08
Time : 10:36 pm MT
location: Amadoo, AZ
11hr 37.246
-19d 41.1
Conditions: clear but moon nearby
I caught this comet Boatinni at around 9th magnitude even during moonlight.
It has a rather bright nucleus and a roundish coma.
this one below taken at 11:57 shows the movement during that duration

Ten days before this great APOD photo, I photographed Comet McNaught for the last time

2008-01-21T08:12:00.000-08:00

Ten days before the APOD photo of Comet McNaught, I photographed the ice ball for the last time over Shawnee, Kansas (USA) (Left). At that time it was probably -1 magnitude. I also took a video which came out well. Photographed 1/10/2007 over Shawnee, KS. Photographed with kodak digital 290 with 10x zoom at 100 ASA. (1 second).
Wish I had my minolta digital which died a month before or the Canon XT and telephoto I have now!

What a superb photo of the great Comet McNaught on APOD (1/20/2008*)!
Wish I was able to go "down under" to see this even better show.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
* if not that date use archives

While we in the Northern Hemisphere were only able to glimpse it for a few days before it became even more spectacular in the Southern Hemisphere, I still feel fortunate to have seen this great comet with my own eyes, binoculars, telescopes and able to photograph it.

Photographed with kodak digital with 10x zoom at 100 ASA. (1 second)

Very nice animation of comet 8P

2008-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Very nice closeup animation of the comet 8 P (2008 01 04.76570 by R.Ferrando

http://www.pla-de-arguines.com/8P-ANI.gif

Each image is the sum of 5 images of 30 seconds.
The tail measures but of 18 minutes of arc.

Greetings
R.Ferrando
941

Comet 8P/Tuttle

2008-01-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

Comet 8P/Tuttle is heading toward Earth. On Jan. 1st and 2nd it makes its closest approach to our planet--only 24 million miles away. The emerald-colored comet will brighten to a predicted magnitude of 5.8, visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites and a fine target for telescopes.

Latest pics in spaceweather.com archives
Map here too

My canon is in the shop but I will try CCD imaging at observatory I use and Harvard scope if it clears
Meanwhile I was going through my images to discover which comets I did not pick up. Here is comet Faye 2/27/2007

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical League / Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Comet Observers Blog: http://cometobservers.blogspot.com/:Subscribe to Comet Observers newsletter (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : : Eclipse sightings > http://eclipse-sightings.blogspot.com/: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: #2572 IMCA

Star of Bethlehem wasn't a comet -what else could it have been?

2007-12-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I researched the subject of the Star of Bethlehem for a presentation I was doing in Kansas City, KS. I pointed to 10 different possibitilies, omens, events, astronomical phenomenon. My presentation was entitled "The 10 Myths of the Star of Bethlehem".

It wasn't Halley's Comet which appeared in sky 12BC ( was late and nearer to 2 BC) Besides comets were bad omens and mostly associated with dread. .

http://clioaudio.com/2007/12/24/nero-and-the-comets-of-doom/

This nice account tries to explain comet as the "Star" (blog info on 12/23/2007)
http://www.sciencemusings.com/2007/12/star-of-bethlehem.html

another

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/12/25/news0558.htm

Mark Kidger of the European Space Agency (as did I ) that while a Triple Conjuction in 7BC was good (an forthcoming omen), the conjunction of 2 BC was a possibly better or best fit.

Going back in time, with my Imac Macintosh computer and Starry Night Pro software, I simulated this conjunction. There it was in 2BC. I concluded that it was this conjunction after looking at a host of other possibilities.

But lately Kidger and others have surmised that this date may have been too late for the "Star". So that led to something in between.

Now the suggestion turned to a possibility of a nova star in 5 BC. This is in the realm of one of my ten possibilities.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.christmas25dec25,0,822279.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout

Astronomers are still looking for this Nova that the Chinese might have noted and that might have been a good candidate.

Happy holidays!

Comet 8P/Tuttle photo 12/21/2007

2007-12-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Comet 8P/Tuttle photo 12/21/2007
Mike Holloway who has received an AL comet observers Award took a photo of Comet 8P/Tuttle
Comet 8P/Tuttle photographed Dec. 21st by Mike Holloway of Van Buren, Arkansas.
See photo, skymap of location and additional information at 12/22/2007

http://spaceweather.com

if not that date go to archives

2007-12-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

hello,

I want to put this image made from the north of France in a small village (Wormhout)

Shooting:

Audine Kaf 3200 ME
Alaudine NT
Temperature ext: 05.0 °
Cooling: -25 °
Télébjectif Sigma 300 mm F / 4 APO
Time Exposure: 3 x (5 x 50 seconds filters (RGB))
Date and time of the shooting: 29 November 2007 22h20mn (Midfielder Exposure)

I authorize the release of my image to your blog.

Stéphane TAKBOU
Observatoire de l'ancienne abbaye
MPC A11
N 50°52'48"
E 02°28'18"
Altitude 16 m
Wormhout
France
http://napac.free.fr/

Comet Holmes in different filters collage

2007-12-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

I shot Comet Holmes at its peak brightness early November.
Center- clear image
Top left - red filter
Top right - green
Bottom left - blue
Bottom right- infrared

exposure 8 second
where: Amadoo, AZ near Tucson
6 inch telescope and CCD

(c) 2007 Eric Flescher