Dwarf planet Ceres, March 2010

[Rob_K]

Formerly known as asteroid 1 Ceres, Ceres is the smallest identified dwarf planet in the Solar System, and the only one in the asteroid belt. In fact, it contains 32% of the total mass of the asteroid belt! Mag 8.5, round middle of its magnitude range - only 4 Vesta is brighter in the belt, mag 6.7 and in Leo ATM.

Picked Ceres up moving through Sagittarius over the last week - 3-frame animation attached, 12, 19 & 22 March 2010. Canon 400D @ 55mm. Also visible are Lagoon Nebula (M8) & Trifid (M20) at bottom right (not your usual views, LOL!). Lines at side mark position in each frame - it's moving downwards.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/Ceres12-22March2010b.gif

For those who find the lines distracting:

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww271/Rob_Kau/Ceres12-22March2010.gif

Cheers -

[Matt Wastell]

Wow! Great job Rob - I do not think I have seen this before - cool!

[Quark]

Good catch Rob,

Don't think I have seen this done previously.

Well done
Regards
Trevor

[trent_julie]

Nice Job!

[Rob_K]

Thanks all! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[asimov]

I love to see a bloke getting the most out of the equipment he has.

Great stuff Rob!

[wal]

Rob, nice pic. I enjoyed watching Vesta's passage between 40 and 41 Leonis every day between 15th to 20th Feb this year. Tell me what equipment (scope etc) do you find most useful for MP watching?

Cheers

[Troy]

Very good stuff Rob :eyepop:

:clap: :party2:

[Rob_K]

Thanks guys!



Thanks Wal. Well, I only really have one scope for viewing (pending a mount for 130mm refractor), so that is definitely the most useful (4.5" f8 reflector)! I've watched Vesta & Ceres moving from night to night several times in the past, always interesting! Those two are bright enough that any scope (or binocs) will pick them up. I didn't realise Ceres was there till I picked it up while blinking images from several nights. Love things that move, but unfortunately my planetarium program has lost its asteroids and loading them again has me completely beat!! :mad2: :P

Cheers -

[wal]

Yeah, I guess I'm limited with the 72mm Megrez to the brighter MP. For this reason I'm using the 4" a lot more despite the narrower field of view. I think to get the most out of regular MP work you probably need at least 10" to 12" in a scope but nice to hear that someone else uses smaller apertures too...:)

Cheer,s

Wal