2023 DZ2 – will pass a less than half the distance to the Moon Sat 25/03/2023

[Dennis]

Here we have the trail of NEO 2023 DZ2 as recorded on 23rd March 2023 from our back garden in Brisbane (Bortle 6-7). The Sky X Pro marked this NEO at Mag 16.4 at the time.

2023 DZ2 is an asteroid roughly 70 meters in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group.

It was first observed on 27 February 2023, when it was 0.11 AU (16 million km) from Earth, with the Isaac Newton Telescope by Dr. Ovidiu Vaduvescu, Freya Barwell, and Kiran Jhass (ING and University of Sheffield student support astronomers) within the EURONEAR project.

It will pass 174,639 ± 27 km (108,516 ± 17 mi) of Earth on March 25, 2023. This is a little less than half the distance to the Moon.

Tak Mewlon 210 F11.5
Tak x0.8 Reducer
Focal Length 2170mm at F10.3 (from plate solve).
QHY268M Pro
68 x 30 secs

Brisbane, QLD.
UTC: 2023-03-23T09:46 to 2023-03-23T10:28
Local: 2023-03-23 19:46 to 20:28 AEST (UT+10)

Cloudy skies prevented the imaging of this object last night (Fri) at mag 15.4 and it looks like cloudy conditions will prevent me from tracking this NEO tonight (Sat) when it will make its closest pass at around mag 11.

If you have clear skies it would be worth getting out and observing this close pass.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[Averton]

Impressive capture Dennis. Pity about the clouds spoiling further views, it seems to be par for the course at the moment.
We really don't need anything coming closer than this :)

[Dave882]

That’s fantastic Dennis well caught!!!
Just clouds here for the last week and foreseeable future at them moment

[Dennis]

Thank you Clare & Peter, and David, I appreciate your comments.:)

It was an enjoyable session even though I had to set up in a hurry as the weather suddenly cleared, skipping my usual alignment procedures (T-Point and PA). I just plonked the tripod on the locating marks on the 3 small concrete pavers sunk into the grass in our back garden and hoped for the best.

I have since discovered that PixInsight can identify and label Asteroids via a Script, although the source database files will not list any very recent discoveries until those database files are updated.

If the FITs header has the necessary data, you can run a Script to Image Solve the photo, and then run another Script to Annotate the photo based on that solution.

Cheers

Dennis

[Merlin66]

Dennis,
Congratulations on your excellent image!!
A once in a lifetime experience.
That's a keeper.

[TES]

That was an excellent piece of work, you clearly take on a challenge and get results

[Dennis]

Thanks folks, I do appreciate all your comments.:)

It was a busy night and I had to make sure that I downloaded a “fresh” set of orbital elements in The Sky X Pro to make sure that I could slew to the right object.

I have to tear down and set up each night and as I had to set up quickly, I didn’t perform a T-Point and Polar Alignment, so the mount wasn’t accurately dialled in, especially for unguided imaging at 2170mm FL.

Here is an image after 2023 DZ3 crossed the Meridian and I “Tracked” on the NEO using The Sky X Pro. This is where you can “Select” the “Object” and then “Set Custom Tracking Rate” and the mount will track on the selected object rather than at the Sidereal Rate.

Despite the lack of proper set-up alignment, I did manage to grab a few 60 sec exposures, Bin 2x2, then align on the (trailed) stars to show 2023 DZ2 more as a dotted trail. The stars are a bit rough due to the trailing.:)

I used PixInsight to annotate the image using the Scripts.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Some time ago I had a play around with an App called "Tycho Tracker" which can detect faint and fast-moving asteroids.

Tycho Tracker implements a technique called Synthetic Tracking to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

Here is a link to the website:

https://www.tycho-tracker.com/

After upgrading from my old Version 8 to the latest Version 10 (USD $50), I loaded 47x60 sec Bin 2x2 images into Tycho Tracker and after following the "monkey see - monkey do" User Manual, I was able to align the 47 frames centred on NEO 2023 DZ which then displayed the field stars as dotted trails.

I have included a few screen captures from Tycho Tracker showing some of the steps involved. Tycho Tracker identified and labelled a total of 46 Asteroids in the final image, although at mag 20 and fainter, I did not manage to record them.

My brain now hurts from the crash courses in PixInsight and Tycho Tracker. :)

Cheers

Dennis