comets

[suma126]

I is there any sites to report comets sightings thanks.

[dannat]

Examine the object carefully. Is it symmetrical? If it is, chances are it’s a galaxy. Does it have a mottled, circular appearance? Maybe it’s a globular cluster. Switch to higher magnifications to try and see if you can resolve the individual stars. Does the "comet" shift in position when you move the telescope around? It could be just a "ghost image" (internal reflection) in your telescope optics. Even if the object shows an obvious tail, make sure it isn’t something like Hubble’s variable nebula. According to the International Astronomical Union’s Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT), the world’s clearinghouse for astronomical discoveries, more than 90 percent of all first-time comet reports turn out to be spurious.

Check its position (in right ascension and declination) on a suitable star atlas or sky-charting program. Make sure there are no known galaxies, star clusters, or nebulae plotted in that location. (If you’re using a sky program, don’t forget to have its limiting magnitude set faint enough.)

Note the object’s position relative to the background stars. If the suspect doesn’t show any movement within an hour, it’s probably not a comet.

Get a friend or a trusted member of your local astronomy club privately to confirm your find visually, photographically, or with a CCD camera. Multiple observations within a single night or on a second night are highly recommended.

Check Web sites, http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/coms06.htm for lists of newly discovered comets or returning periodic ones to see whether you have picked up a known comet.

If you’re certain you have indeed discovered a new comet send an e-mail to CBAT at cbat@cfa.harvard.edu, or go to its Web site. CBAT needs to know the following:
the exact date and time of your observation in Universal Time
your observing site and telescope used
the object’s precise coordinates (in equinox 2000.0)
its rate and direction of motion
its estimated magnitude
its physical description
Don’t forget to include your name, postal address, phone/fax, and e-mail.
Good luck, and happy hunting!

[astroron]

Hi Shane Type into Google CBAT and follow the instructions.
Just a word of warning, it is advisable to get someone to confirm you observations before you go reporting comets or any other phenomenon:)
Best of luck :thumbsup:

[astroron]

Daniel,you put it much better than I did :thumbsup:

[suma126]

hi thanks for your replies since i dont no much about astromey and dont know what im doing here is a photo . 4min exp

[astroron]

That pic looks like it is M83:)
Please tell us where you are looking
info Required is aprox RA and Dec, Constellation ect:thumbsup:

[suma126]

Hi im guessing it is around cirinus ra 14.52 .771 dec 16.32.54.61

[ngcles]

Hi Astroron, suma 126 & All,

Don't think it is M83. The star pattern does not look right to me.

Daniel's advice is a winner.:thumbsup:

I can certainly understand you being cagey about it -- I'd be the same way, but you will need a confirming observation from someone who knows what they are doing, can take a really good image and can weed-out a furphy quickly.

I hope you've got a good position for where the camera was pointed.

I'd suggest perhaps you get in contact with Steve Quirk at Frog Rock Observatory who does a bit of this sort of stuff:

http://my.hwy.com.au/~sjquirk/index.html

P.M me if you want the phone number.


Best,

Les D

[astroron]

Find the object again, have a good look at it ,get it's co-ordinates, then ask someone to confirm it if you think it is a comet.
As I said your image looks like M83.
I will look in the 16" at the position you gave tonight and let you know:thumbsup:.
Your co-ords do not put you in Circinus, circinus is minus 61degs south not 16degs,Typo?

[kinetic]

found your guy.....good estimate of part of your co ordinates

No hang on...an open cluster, just spotted it....called Lynga 3

Edit: Here's the weird thing though...when properly resized and
rotated, then overlaid on your image.....Lynga 3 is not your object.
So.....lens flare possibly from a nearby bright star?

A few open clusters nearby.

Approximate field shown, a few stars identified in each image for
comparison. Courtesy Cartes Du Ciel with Tycho 2 catalogue stars.

Finally, as Ron, Les and Daniel say, a follow up/image is needed, possibly with a slight
camera rotation to show up a lens flare/ reflection as the culprit?

Steve

[ngcles]

Hi Steve, Ron & suma 126,



Well done Steve on identifying the field -- I think you are spot on.

After a bit of a SIMBAD search on the co-ordinates, I'm pretty certain the object in the photo is a poor image of the HII region RCW 91B

The SIMBAD page is here:

http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=%403411114&Name=RCW%20%2091B&submit=submit

The position is a very close match (good enough given that it is a diffuse extended object).

A wider image using Sky-Map.org is here:

http://www.sky-map.org/?ra=15.302206444829913&de=-58.486235770411&zoom=6&show_grid=1&show_constellation_lines=1&show_constellation_boundaries=1&show_const_names=0&show_galaxies=1&show_box=1&box_ra=15.073334&box_de=-54.4&box_width=170.666752&box_height=170.666752&box_var_size=1&img_source=DSS2

Hope the looooong links don't break!

The two brighter stars nr bottom are Gamma and Beta Circini, the nebula is a little above centre, directly N of Beta Circini.

A nice little puzzle for a Friday night!

Comments??


Best,

Les D

[Robh]

Steve, great work with the maps and overlay. I used them to help locate what I think might be the object in SIMBAD's database, the planetary nebula G321.3-00.3 at coordinates 15 17 31, -57 51 10.
Using a program I have, the distance from beta to gamma Cir is 55' and from beta to PN is 57' (almost the same), the three form a spherical angle of 125 degrees. This compares fairly well with the distances and angle between the three on your photo Shane. Also, the PN is 29 minutes from Lynga 3, which is 30' from beta Cir.
Unfortunately I can't find anything much about the PN itself. One source gives its dimensions as 112"x97" but it looks bigger than that in your photo. Maybe someone else knows more about it e.g. visual magnitude.

Regards, Rob.

[Robh]

Les,
Your last post must have just popped in before I finished my last one.
We are both in the same general region.
I think RCW 91B is too close to beta Cir. If you look at Shane's photo, the object is slightly further from beta than beta is from gamma.
Regards, Rob.

[ngcles]

Hi Rob & All,



In hindsight, the PNe is probably a better fit for position, but I don't think it otherwise fits. We are talking about a very faint PNe but the faintest stars in the image seem about 13th magnitude. Most importantly, the size seems wrong. From the image it seems this "mystery" thing is about 12-odd arc-mins diameter which fits better with the nebula. The PNe in question is about 2-odd arc-mins diameter.

From the original photo and the surrounding star pattern I'd say the position for the "mystery object" is about RA 15 17 20.7 and Dec -57 43 59.

Probably the best bet of all is an internal reflection from either Alpha or Beta Centauri.

Has someone been back and imaged the field??

Intrigued!


Best,

Les D

[Robh]

Les,

I agree with you on this point and initially had this reservation about the PN. The HII region is about the right size but not exactly in the right location. The PN is in about the right location but not the right size.
The internal reflection might be the go.

Curious! If it still shows in a follow up image, it will be interesting.
:shrug:

Regards, Rob

[CometGuy]

Its a pity I didn't see this post yesterday as I was up imaging no far from that area last night. Anyway my first impressions of the photo are that the colour looks about right but the structure isn't like what I would expect from a comet. So at this stage a reflection of some sort might be the most likely suspect. I would be happy to do some followup, however.

Not much I can add to what other people have already said. But I wouldn't send an email to cbat until you get confirmation from other observers. Cbat don't have the resources to deal and followup every possible sighting as many end up being false alarms.

Shane, if you got more than one photo can you post them with the time? The more information you can provide the more chance of followup. A sequence of photos (even 2) would allow some sort of estimate of motion.

Terry

[suma126]

I'm sorry guys but it might be reflections in the lens because i try ed with a deferent lens and it was gone.

[Robh]

Shane, if this is the case, don't worry. It could well have been an important find. In any case, it was good fun trying to track down what it was.
Congrats to the thread team on the detective work!
Anyone got a new one for us?

:thumbsup:
Regards, Rob.

[suma126]

IT WAS VERY EXCITING FOR A MINUTE THERE MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL FIND SOME THING NEW .:shrug:

[gary]

Hi Shane,

At the South Pacific Star Party last year, Rob Greaves "post discovered"
C/2007 W1 (Boattini). :)

However, initially we did not know whether it was a new comet or not.

Using a variety of planetarium programs and other resources at hand,
we had a good fix of the RA/Dec and were reasonably confident it was
not a known DSO. After some time, we confirmed it was moving
plus we had an independent observation.

Fortunately we had at hand Rob McNaught, comet discoverer extraordinaire.
I believe Rob McNaught has now discovered more comets than any other person
in all of history. Rob is the first to modestly admit he has an advantage
because he is paid to do it for a living. :)

The first thing Rob McNaught suggested we do was to check using the
online MPChecker at http://scully.cfa.harvard.edu/~cgi/CheckMP

When we initially checked, we came up with no hits. However, once the
experienced hands of Rob McNaught took control of the console, he did
two things. The first was to extend the default search radius of 15 arc minutes
to something significantly larger, like a couple of degrees.
The second was to enter an observatory code for Sidings Springs (which he knew
off the top of his head and was close enough for an initial check).
See http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/info/ObservatoryCodes.html
and http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/lists/ObsCodesF.html
The observatory code is useful if the object is very close to Earth
and a topcentric position is required in the calculation.

Lo and behold the system told us we had simply found Comet Boattini.
Boattini the man professionally is apparently Rob's northern hemisphere counterpart.

The next morning, Rob McNaught passed on these words of wisdom to me.
He said, "You are unlikely to discover a new comet unless you have already
discovered one". :thumbsup:

This circular reasoning would suggest that it is nearly impossible to ever
discover a comet for the very first time and the statistics probably bear this
out to be true. Experienced comet hunters spend years looking for that
elusive first one, but that experience makes it easier for them to make
subsequent discoveries.

However, it is always worth following up. Lachlan MacDonald didn't when
he stumbled across an unknown object in Crux when we were up at Wiruna
a few years back. With a group of visiting US observers waiting for the next
piece of eye candy, Lachlan had no time to follow it up and just passed
it by. And that's why, boys and girls, Comet Lee is not called Comet MacDonald
as Steve Lee discovered it around the same time from Coonabarabran and did
follow-up. :thumbsup:

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Mt, Kuring-Gai