Comet 284P / McNaught an Asteroid and 3 galaxies

[cometcatcher]

It's a Zoo up there! Comet 284P / McNaught an Asteroid, possibly 213 Lilea? And 3 galaxies.

Other than C2A, what's the best way to identify this asteroid?

[mithrandir]

http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/cgi-bin/checkmp.cgi

You need a fairly accurate position (23 39 51 -11 54 25) and time (something near 2014 09 14.44UT I guess).

The output doesn't paste well here so you can run it yourself. There are six objects close to that position at that time.

[cometcatcher]

Thanks Andrew. I also found this page at the BAA. http://britastro.org/computing/ch/213_Lilaea_2014Aug13Oct13.html

That confirms it. The only Asteroid bright enough is as I thought, 213 Lilaea.

[cometcatcher]

Found another asteroid in the field. (21015) 1988 UF 23 40 24.3 -12 53 26 mag 16.5

I'm finding this strangely fun lol. Uploaded an updated photo with labels.

[mithrandir]

Kevin, I think I have to disagree. CdC says the asteroid to the left of NGC7724 is (21788) 1999 SZ5.
(21015) 1988 UF looks to be correct.
On a CdC chart (213) Lilaea is moving in the wrong direction and is out of frame. This is approximately your FOV with a few hours of motion for the minors shown.

[cometcatcher]

You're right, (21788) 1999 SZ5 is the closest one to that position. I'll have to update the labels a bit later after I shoot a galaxy I'm after. And Figure out how to use CdC.

[malau]

Hi Kevin,

Is me again. I also notice McNaught in Stellarium but it said the mag is around 15(?). Just wonder whats your telescope ap? I tried it but couldnt make it (maybe bcoz I tried at home instead of outbank)

[mithrandir]

If you're new to CdC it's a bit of work to set up but I reckon worth the effort. I've been using it long enough to be able to answer most questions you might have.

The release version is OK. The beta has a few fixes, and more bells and whistles.

To get these asteroids you can't use the list it downloads by default as that only has the first 5000 objects. You need to get the MPCORB.DAT file and restrict it to using the first say 50000 "numbered" objects. (There are over 600000 rows at present and it takes ages to load.)

One thing you can do is add your images to those it can overlay. You have to get them into FITS format with the correct WCS information. You can do that with astrometry.net - another "fun" to set up program.

[cometcatcher]

Hi David, the latest from COBS puts it at mag 13.9. You would need a 16" for it visually.



Asteroids, the next steep learning curve. I think I'm getting too old for this... :(

Image updated.