C/2009 R1 (McNaught)

Created the Stellarium elements for C/2009 R1 - hoping to see it soon..

Here they are - just add to your Stellarium ssystem.ini file.


[C2009R1]
name = C/2009R1 (McNaught)
parent = Sun
coord_func = comet_orbit
radius = 1000
oblateness = 0
albedo = 0.8
lighting = TRUE
halo = TRUE
color = 1.0,1.0,1.0
tex_halo = star16x16.png
tex_map = deimos.png
orbit_TimeAtPericenter = 2455380.177
orbit_PericenterDistance = 0.405028736
orbit_Eccentricity = 1.000360164
orbit_ArgOfPericenter = 130.6996389
orbit_AscendingNode = 322.6221957
orbit_Inclination = 77.0330084
orbit_visualization_period = 600

Mercury & Venus

A nice clear and transparent night last night, for a change.

Just after sunset Venus was brilliant in the west, and Mercury was visible in the binoculars, as it got darker, it popped into view, naked eye.

Apparently its only a small proportion of astronomers (1% ?) that have ever viewed Mercury, which is surprising as its really not difficult.

Mercury is getting fainter over the next few days, but still not too hard to find.

On the 15th there will be a nice alignment of Venus, Mercury and the cresent Moon, but it will be low and a good horizon needed. A nice photo op, though, but may be tricky to get a good exposure to show the three well at the same time.

Also possible on the 16th, though the Moon is not so nicely placed that day.

Comet

Have seen a couple of nice images of Comet 2007/Q3, so thought it would be interesting to see where it is using Stellarium. Ran the elements from JPL Horizons, made a spreadsheet to convert the format, and then copy/paste into the Stellarium ssystem.ini file.
Here is the section to add, for anyone interested...

[C2007Q3]
name = Siding Spring (C/2007 Q3)
parent = Sun
coord_func = comet_orbit
radius = 1000
oblateness = 0
albedo = 0.8
lighting = TRUE
halo = TRUE
color = 1.0,1.0,1.0
tex_halo = star16x16.png
tex_map = deimos.png
orbit_TimeAtPericenter = 2455111.745
orbit_PericenterDistance = 2.251607298
orbit_Eccentricity = 1.000146688
orbit_ArgOfPericenter = 2.082881084
orbit_AscendingNode = 149.4121666
orbit_Inclination = 65.64986316

Cloudy, but the kids enjoyed it

Was really pretty cloudy out for last nights observing evening. Was joined by staff & students from Tewkesbury School's Space Club and GCSE Astronomy class. Although we barely saw Mars, and Capella, and a pass of the IIS was just about visible through the cloud.

Next week is the last evening of this season, so fingers crossed, it may be a good one...

Clear night at WWT

Had a nice evening on Saturday at the WWT Slimbridge, with a substantially clear evening for viewing.

Kicked off with a short talk about the Messier objects, and then Martin Sinton filled a slot on cosmic scales.

Then went out and had some nice views of the Moon, Mars, the Pleiades, M42, M31. Was struggling to find M79, which was low in the mirk, and the scope was dewed up. Hopefull will get another chance before its too late this winter.

Thanks to Martin and Rob Davis from Cotswold AS for helping out on the evening.

Clouded out for the Geminids

Grrr....

More Outreach Activities

Its been a while since i last posted, but there have been a fair few successful outreach activities in the past few weeks.

September 29 saw an evening down in Chipping Sodbury, just north of Bristol. Although the weather was not looking optimistic, the clouds cleared and reasonable views of the Moon, Jupiter and M31 were had.

We had our open evenings at Bredon Cricket Club on the 13th and 20th of October. The 13th was again an evening of dodging round the clouds, but a few sights were seen. Ocotber 20th was clouded out completely, though - however we had Australian astronomer Bob Evans with us, so we were able to open up the clubhouse and Bob gave us a talk about Supernovae - did i mention that Bob has the world record for visual discoveries of supernovae (42). Photo shows, Bob, me (center), and Kevin Taylor (with his Light Bridge).

Last Saturday (24th Oct) - we had an astronomy evening at the WWT Slimbridge - again the weather did not look optimistic, but after the talk, the skies cleared a bit, and it was quite nice between the clouds - as the evening went on the cloud cover reduced. Again mostly the 'chocolate box' sights - the Moon, Jupiter, M31, M13, Albireo, and Mizar - could probably have found a few more things, but getting to grips with the EQ mount over the Dob takes a bit of getting used to.

So, will be nice to have a rest for a couple of weeks - though no doubt there are more things to do - BAA Journal Sky Notes and things for the Cotswold AS newsletter.