Spaceweather alerted me to a 0.4 LD (153,000 kms) close whizz by of NEO 2025 LB (16 metre dia) on 3rd June 2025, although at around mag. 17.5 I didn’t have much hope of recording this event.
Luckily, I did find a suitable candidate on one of the 60 sec exposures tracking on the NEO.
The position in the frame is very close to the predicted position from JPL Horizons and very close to the plotted position in The Sky X Pro.
In the composite image, I have overlaid a crop from the field of view in The Sky X Pro showing the plotted position (red dot) versus the candidate NEO on my image.
The stars in the TSX screen capture overlay the dashed trails in the image to check that everything is lined up.
Celestron C9.25 F10 at Prime Focus.
ASI 2600 MM Pro camera Bin 2x2.
A single 60 sec exposure.
Impressive!! Capturing a microscopic sized rock moving at an insane speed across the sky.... Very well done!
Thanks!
With objects this faint, it is easy to confuse them with random imaging artefacts and I only managed to grab 2 exposures before some tree blocked my view.
I would have liked another frame or two just to verify the NEO, but it was not to be.
Spaceweather alerted me to a 0.4 LD (153,000 kms) close whizz by of NEO 2025 LB (16 metre dia) on 3rd June 2025, although at around mag. 17.5 I didn’t have much hope of recording this event.
Luckily, I did find a suitable candidate on one of the 60 sec exposures tracking on the NEO.
The position in the frame is very close to the predicted position from JPL Horizons and very close to the plotted position in The Sky X Pro.
In the composite image, I have overlaid a crop from the field of view in The Sky X Pro showing the plotted position (red dot) versus the candidate NEO on my image.
The stars in the TSX screen capture overlay the dashed trails in the image to check that everything is lined up.
Celestron C9.25 F10 at Prime Focus.
ASI 2600 MM Pro camera Bin 2x2.
A single 60 sec exposure.
A needle in a hay stack would be easier to find?
Nice results, better than nice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Buda
Well done Dennis, but how did you track on the NEO? What mount did you use?
Thank you Leo and Stefan , I appreciate your comments.
When the NEO elements are up to date and the PC Clock and Lat and Long are accurate, the The Sky X Pro and the Paramount MX+ usually place the NEO pretty much in the middle of the FOV.
Then all it takes is to “Set the tracking Rate” to the NEO in TSX and TSX tracks on the NEO.
If I were to track at the sidereal rate, when the NEO is moving too fast and is too faint, the NEO trail would not be recorded by the sensor as the incoming photons are too spread out in the trail and do not register on the sensor.
So, by having the MX+ track on the NEO, the photons arrive at the same pixel location(s) and I can thus image fainter objects.
When the NEO elements are up to date and the PC Clock and Lat and Long are accurate, the The Sky X Pro and the Paramount MX+ usually place the NEO pretty much in the middle of the FOV.
Then all it takes is to “Set the tracking Rate” to the NEO in TSX and TSX tracks on the NEO.
Dennis.
Thanks Dennis,
Can you also track LEO satellites if you download the orbital elements?
Can you also track LEO satellites if you download the orbital elements?
Hi Stefan
I have not tried this, but I do know that the Paramount MX+ and TSX Pro is capable of tracking the ISS, after importing the latest set of orbital elements under program control.
Therefore, I assume that if the TSX App can access the LEO elements, it should be able to download them in a suitable format and then track the object. Here is a screen capture showing the import dialogue.
I have not tried this, but I do know that the Paramount MX+ and TSX Pro is capable of tracking the ISS, after importing the latest set of orbital elements under program control.
Therefore, I assume that if the TSX App can access the LEO elements, it should be able to download them in a suitable format and then track the object. Here is a screen capture showing the import dialogue.
It looks like the data comes from Celestrak?
Dennis.
Thanks Dennis,
It is something that I would like to try in the future using a planetary telescope.
Fantastic effort and results Dennis, you are a star
Thanks David, the real star of the show is Paramount MX+ and The Sky X Pro.
Now if only Software Bisque would provide a long overdue fix for the well documented and drawn out Southern Hemisphere PEC bug and a more functional support forum…
Very impressive. And a great reminder that much can be achieved even from light-polluted sites.
At outreach events I always try to highlight a passing asteroid. A simple live stack will show a sufficiently large and nearby asteroid as a streak gradually extending with each 30s exposure -- most recently for 2008 DG5 (424482). The sense of motion makes it real for attendees and opens up a conversation re asteroid impacts and the science & technology developments to identify the threat and defend the planet.
Kym
Thanks, and nice one, it looks like that rock was around mag. 13.8 and at a good altitude to observe.
Our senses often fool us into believing that we are living in a static universe and when you see these asteroids moving in real time, it brings animation and life to what is around us.
Dennis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shift8
Very impressive. And a great reminder that much can be achieved even from light-polluted sites.
At outreach events I always try to highlight a passing asteroid. A simple live stack will show a sufficiently large and nearby asteroid as a streak gradually extending with each 30s exposure -- most recently for 2008 DG5 (424482). The sense of motion makes it real for attendees and opens up a conversation re asteroid impacts and the science & technology developments to identify the threat and defend the planet.
Kym
