Betelgeuse Anomaly ?

leinad (Dan) · #1 23-12-2009, 04:40 PM

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.

Here is 1 x 30sec capture.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/t...se_anomaly.jpg

Hagar (Doug) · #2 23-12-2009, 05:00 PM

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 (Dan) · #3 23-12-2009, 05:44 PM

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

AlexN · #4 23-12-2009, 06:24 PM

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

leinad (Dan) · #5 23-12-2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexN

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

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

AlexN · #6 23-12-2009, 07:28 PM

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 (Dan) · #7 23-12-2009, 09:09 PM

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 · #8 23-12-2009, 09:11 PM

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

leinad (Dan) · #9 23-12-2009, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexN

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

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

AlexN · #10 23-12-2009, 09:18 PM

Merry Christmas Indeed!

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 · #11 23-12-2009, 11:50 PM

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 (Fred) · #12 24-12-2009, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

Bah, its a new supernova, and you found it

leinad (Dan) · #13 24-12-2009, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

That's what I first thought!

Perhaps you could image Betelgeuse and verify ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Bah, its a new supernova, and you found it

What I first thought..

I 'should' have quickly imaged with the DSI Pro on the guidescope to verify.

leinad (Dan) · #14 24-12-2009, 04:10 AM

It's hurting my brain... if someone can image Betelgeuse area and show me the results, much appreciated.

Pretty sure its an optical problem, but just wanna be sure

[1ponders] (Paul) · #15 24-12-2009, 09:05 AM

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

DavidU (Dave) · #16 24-12-2009, 09:11 AM

I need a wider field
http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/alapre.pl...426&button=RGB

En1gma (Robert) · #17 24-12-2009, 10:52 AM

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

Sure looks interesting. Let's hope you discovered something

rob

DavidU (Dave) · #18 24-12-2009, 11:09 AM

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 (Dan) · #19 24-12-2009, 05:42 PM

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 (Marc) · #20 24-12-2009, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.