Heads up: Hubble transit the moon Brisbane

[davewaldo]

Hi everyone.

This Thursday the 22nd the Hubble space telescope will pass infront of the moon at about 9:12 viewed from Brisbane. Id love to photograph the event but I'll be playing soccer. :(

Id love to see and hear others observations.

Dave

[davewaldo]

Sorry moderators... perhaps this thread should have been put under "astronomical events" rather than this forum. Feel free to move it if you agree.

[StephenM]

Sounds interesting Dave! Do you have a more accurate time for this?

Thanks,
Stephen

[davewaldo]

I'm pretty sure its about 9:12 50secs.... But I'd watch from atleast 9:10.

Its only over the moon for 1 second and is mag 3.6 so should be quite easy to spot on its approach from the west.

My Starry Night software shows that the HST should be a visible size, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

All these calculations are based on my location which is about 10km south of Brisbane, I'm not sure how much they would differ for other areas of Brisbane or SE QLD.

Again, I'd LOVE it if someone could try to photograph this event!:prey:

[paulF]

Hey guys,
is it observable from Sydney?
Cheers

[davewaldo]

Sorry Paul, not even close..... :(

[jjjnettie]

Calsky is the place to go to find out if you'll have a transit in your locale.
BTW, thanks for the heads up, though it might be a trifle hard to photograph through clouds.

[davewaldo]

Skippy sky is saying Thursday evening "might" be ok.... :D

Go on Jeanette, you know you want to photograph it :P :thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

LOL BOM promised me 3 good clear nights in a row and has let me down miserably.
We'll see......

[sheeny]

FYI the width of the ground track for these types of events are only a few kms wide, due to the moon only subtrending a 1/2° angle and the satellite being about 300 to 500ks up (depending on whether its the HST or the ISS, etc).:)

So if you are interested in these things, go to www.calsky.com and set up your observing location and do a search for sun/moon crossers.:) Then if you click the red phone icon on the page you can set up email alerts for these events.:thumbsup: Timing is critical to capture these things (and a reasonable FOV also helps;)) so make sure your know your time accurately:).

Al.

[asimov]

Misses the moon by a country mile here in Bundy.

[Dennis]

Thanks for the heads up Dave.

I just followed the link provided by Al to CalSKY (thanks Al) and when I selected the ISS and Brisbane, nothing came up for tonight (22nd July Thursday).

I didn’t filter the calculations for the Sun and Moon, so it would pick up all the events from 22nd July to 23rd July. Am I doing something wrong?

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Just spotted my mistake – I searched on the International Space Station!

Cheers

Dennis

[davewaldo]

I wish it was the ISS, the HST is a lot smaller.

Are you going to try to shoot this Dennis?

I'm trying to convince my wife to press the cable release in my absence so I don't miss out. I'm hoping I can set it all up and as she sees it approach she can just hold down the release and let the motor drive do the rest.

I don't know what my chances are though....

[adman]

Calsky says it will miss the moon by one and a half degrees from my location....

Adam

[erick]

Better hope they don't find a shortcut tonight :D

Good luck, people! :camera::earth:

[Liz]

Just checked Stellarium as HST bisects the Moon way up here too, at 7.30pm!!!

[Dennis]

Hi Dave

I just ran Starry Night Pro and for my location, the attached screen print shows what SNP calculates the pass to be, between 21h 12m 51s and 21h 12m 52s AEST.

SNP informs me that all my data files are up to date so I assume that the HST elements are accurate in SNP the downloaded data file?

So, it looks like we’re just on the edge and it might be worth a go with the C9.25 with my DMK31?

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hmm, I just ran CalSKY and the results indicate a 0.738º miss, so maybe I won’t be recording this event after all!

Both SNP and CalSKY used the same coordinates obtained from Google Earth for my location.

Cheers

Dennis

[davewaldo]

bummer. I run the same calculations for my position and it goes right through the middle of the moon.

I'm only 10km or so from you Dennis if I remember correctly. Its amazing that the viewing area is so narrow.

So I guess this is an event just for people in Rochedale/springwood area!

Dave.

[sheeny]

That'll do it...:P

Al.

[sheeny]

There'll be a line with a few k's each side. Calsky will give you a centreline map which is handy if you are prepared to travel / move a bit.;) (I know that doesn't suit those of us with observatories...:P).

So... waiting with anticipation to see how you've done!!!!:D

Al.

[Dennis]

Hi Dave

Yes – quite a narrow Earth track indeed. If it were an ISS transit with a mid-Moon track, I guess I’d be knocking on your door, asking to set up in your back garden!:)

Cheers

Dennis

PS – good luck with the game tonight, and mind those vuvuzelas.:)

[davewaldo]

Thanks Dennis. OOO Could you imagine the noise of vuvuzelas at indoor soccer! :lol::eyepop: You're welcome to setup in my back yard if you like, or there is a great big "water tower" in Springwood that astronomers often use, off springwood rd (its not really a tower, just a playing field size slab of concrete).

I've just done a bit more research. It turns out the HST is in shadow so it won't be visible as it approaches the moon. There goes my plans to get the wife to shoot this for me....

Calsky says in shadow, Starry night shows it in shadow. But it also says its mag 3.4... I would have thought mag 3.4 would be quite visible. Does anyone know for sure?

Also my location shows another transit on tuesday, but this one is low on the horizon and the weather forecast is bad.

Dave.

[davewaldo]

So did anyone get to observe this?

[Dennis]

Not me Dave, but perhaps more importantly, did you win!

Cheers

Dennis

[davewaldo]

:( We copped a hiding (18-4 ouch)! But I am getting a lot fitter which was the main aim :)