Betelgeuse Anomaly ?

[leinad]

Whilst imaging last night; during my frame and focus routine, I noticed a strange anomaly below Betelgeuse that I can't explain.

I thougt it was a dust mote or water/frost spot on the CCD; though when I slewed an took a 10min image of the running man; the spot wasnt there.
From memory I slewed back to Betelgeuse, the spot reappeared.

This was at 11.51PM WST Dec 22nd 2009.
I looked for a reference on the web but didn't find anything that matched what I was seeing. :question:

Here is 1 x 30sec capture.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt197/Leinads_pics/betelgeuse_anomaly.jpg

[Hagar]

I gather you are talking about the small bright spot in the lower right.

I suspect it is some reflection of the star itself. There appears to be a reflection on a filter or something surrounding the star and this could be a secondary reflection.

[leinad]

I just looked closely at the filter nosepiece and there was a fine sand/dust particle in that center area that must have been reflecting the light.

Very surprised that happened :P

[AlexN]

For what its worth, it definitely looks to me like your collimation is spot on..

:thumbsup:

[leinad]

Took me 2 nights and days to get it right after pulling the scope apart :P

[AlexN]

Not a bad effort.. A mate of mine struggled with his for weeks...

It'd be nice if there was a VC200L on the forums at a reasonable price at the moment... :)

[leinad]

I bet. :)
I've got the collimation procedures all worked out now almost perfectly.

There was one a few weeks ago that got snatched pretty quick.
If another pops up I'll have my eye on it too ;)

[AlexN]

Have your eye on it so you can tell me before it gets snapped up? How nice of you :D

[leinad]

:evil:

Off topic; I've got a Starlight Instruments focuser with Wireless Autofocus control and customized focuser backplate for the VC200L on the way. :D

[AlexN]

Merry Christmas Indeed! :D No more focusing by hand! Autofocus through the right software... Sounds like fun to me!! :) I gotta say, I missed my auto-focus while I didnt have it for a few months.. Now I got it back up and running I'm stoked... Just need a sensor to focus light onto !

[Paul Haese]

Looks like a planetary to me. It has a bright inner star and two outer shells. I don't think it is a reflection. The other reflections don't seem to verify this.

[Bassnut]

Bah, its a new supernova, and you found it :D

[leinad]

That's what I first thought! :)
Perhaps you could image Betelgeuse and verify ?



What I first thought.. :P
I 'should' have quickly imaged with the DSI Pro on the guidescope to verify. :screwy:

[leinad]

It's hurting my brain... if someone can image Betelgeuse area and show me the results, much appreciated. :D
Pretty sure its an optical problem, but just wanna be sure ;)

[[1ponders]]

very nice collimation. I'll have to get the secret from you ;)

[DavidU]

I need a wider field
http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/alapre.pl?-c=05+55+10.30%2B07+24+25.426&button=RGB

[En1gma]

Why don't you re-frame and see if this anomaly rotates?

Sure looks interesting. Let's hope you discovered something

rob

[DavidU]

I had a good hard look at the image and I think it looks like a PN as Paul said.
Can some one do an image? I suppose things like this near a very bright star could have been missed.

[leinad]

I took 7min worth of 30secs exposures.
Some are affected by wind with slight star tails. If I stack them all Betelgeuse looks fine, but the anomaly appears to have moved ?

I'll throw some stacks together to show.

Though if someone can image this area asap we can sort out this anomaly. If I get time these few nights, I'll setup and be checking again.

[multiweb]

There's a very easy way to check this. Take one series of shots with the star centered, move 1/4 of the field left, do it again, then again. Then stack and check if the dot is in the same spot. If it moves then you've got a reflection. If it's in the same position relative to the star then you know it's real.

[En1gma]

Here is something interesting I read while Google-ing, I could be wrong though

Edit: Had a read on the below page and according to the Findings chart, it should be around Betelgeuse right now.

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0217P/2009-pictures.html

Comet 217P/LINEAR P/2009 F3 (no. 459)
After having faded to magnitude 12 1/2 or 13 last month, this comet -- now over three months past perihelion passage -- seems to have brightened some in the recent past, appearing as a fairly diffuse 12th-magnitude object when I observed it last night; it still appears somewhat elongated, suggestive of the tail that was evident when it was closer to perihelion. Whether or not this can be considered an outburst is an open question, although it's worth recalling that the comet underwent a one-magnitude outburst in mid-October. In any event, the comet is currently going through opposition and is located in central Orion three degrees south-southwest of the bright star Betelgeuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse) (and four degrees south-southwest of the below comet); it is traveling towards the northwest at a little over 20 arcminutes per day, passing 2 1/2 degrees southwest of Betelgeuse on December 20. Normally I would expect the comet to resume fading soon, although based on its current brightness and behavior it may well remain visually detectable for perhaps another month or more.

[DavidU]

Good info Robert.

[En1gma]

Here is a link to the finding chart on the comets plot. Passes right by betelguese right now and would be around mag 8-10

Maybe we can verify this as the comet is close to perihelion

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0217P/2009.html

Rob

[dugnsuz]

Great detective work chaps - looks like that's your man Daniel.
Doug

[DavidU]

Is anyone doing a new image to see if it's Linear?
Betelgeuse is big all right....

[leinad]

Robert , ty, ty for finding that information. :thumbsup:

Anyone imaging tonight!??

If this is a Comet, it certainly looks head-on !?

[AlexN]

Imaging tonight? Have you seen the brisbane sky!?? Oh.. umm.. yea, I guess not. :)

[leinad]

I'm stuck drinking alcoholic beverages tnite, but seriously considering having some skipper drive me home to get my astro goods :)

:D

[En1gma]

NP, lets just hope i provided the right info, although all sources point to this comet..

as its on its maiden voyage back to whence it came, it should look head on right now.

Although, what springs to mind is this equation

Head on comet + earth = 2012..:help:

Do we start running??? :eyepop:

Rob

[leinad]

Haha.
Dude all I need is an image first to confirm :) !!

[En1gma]

EC AU cant be much help here :P
Cloud cloud and more cloud.

I was hoping for a break so I can take some quick snaps.

Oh, did I mention we have cloud here?

Rob

[DavidU]

It's raining here in Melbourne.:mad2:

[DavidU]

I had a bit of a look xmas night, The mag limit with the 6" refractor was 10.55 at 46X 1.13 TFOV.A no go.
Dodging clouds I got the 12" Dob out and force cooled it.At 50X It seems Comet 217 Linear is approx > mag 12 slightly diffuse is
5h 56m 5.9 +7deg18' 39.1".
Any images?

[leinad]

I've checked Starry Night and the web and found this could have also been Shoemaker Levy 118P?

The FOV though isn't wide enough to have captured these guys though?

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0118P/2010.html

No chance here to image till Mon/Tues :(

[TheDecepticon]

Hi!
Just finished for the night, so I swung round for a shot. Not the same focal length as yours, heavily stretched and slightly out of focus. Unfortunately, I do not see any thing abnormal. I have a stack of 10x30sec frames I can do for you tomorrow arvo with calibration frames if you want, they will look cleaner.
Cheers.

http://cid-10df761f0508a820.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Astrophography/B1.JPG