Great story and it goes to show that it's pretty tough for an object like this
to pass by without anyone noticing. There are just so many eyes and
cameras looking up these days!
Having said that, there is no way you want to pass one of these objects
over without following them up. Just ask Lachlan MacDonald why Comet Lee
is not called Comet MacDonald.
Hat's off to Darren being on the ball.
Rob McNaught emailed me to qualify that the ephemeris for Boattini is nailed.
The reason we did not get a hit immediately on the MPC was due to
our own rough RA/Dec estimate and the time it took us to then Google and
enter the MPC checker form rather than the elements being wrong.
Normally Monte would be able to do a plate solve on the spot but for
some reason it was not happening. Similarly we had downloaded
the orbital orbital elements for comets from the MPC into TheSky but we
were damned if we could get them to appear as icons on the screen at their
computed positions, otherwise we would have spotted Boattini earlier.
Rob advises it is important to either get the position as accurate as you can,
including knowing your own lat/long and current UT or at least know what the
uncertainties in your measurements are.
Les, with regards the dial-up modem problems, if anyone has a NextG
phone on the field it might be worth checking if they can get a signal.
Most handsets can be interfaced to a laptop via the appropriate cable to
provide wireless broadband connectivity. The data charges are expensive, at
up to a couple of dollars per MB, but would probably be cheaper than calling Brian
Marsden.
Once again, thanks for the story which is fabulous!
It was a great weekend's observing. I was also wondering whether anyone at the SPSP had/used a Unihedron SQM (Sky Quality Meter). I just got one and used it at Mudgee and am interested to see how the readings compare to Ilford -- let me know if you have some readings.
Hi Les,
Though I don't know of anyone who took readings last weekend, I know
several people, including John Bambury and visiting Texas, Van Robinson,
who have taken readings several times before and I will find out for you.
When comparing readings with the northern hemisphere, take note, as
mentioned on the manufacturer's web page, no allowance is made for
the Milky Way in the original units. With the Milky Way at the zenith here, compared
to our North American friends, I suspect when trying to compare with
northern hemisphere results, it's not always an apples for apples comparison.
However, it would be interesting to compare Ilford and Mudgee. We also
have some readings for Coona I will try and pass on.
Though I don't know of anyone who took readings last weekend, I know
several people, including John Bambury and visiting Texas, Van Robinson,
who have taken readings several times before and I will find out for you.
When comparing readings with the northern hemisphere, take note, as
mentioned on the manufacturer's web page, no allowance is made for
the Milky Way in the original units. With the Milky Way at the zenith here, compared
to our North American friends, I suspect when trying to compare with
northern hemisphere results, it's not always an apples for apples comparison.
However, it would be interesting to compare Ilford and Mudgee. We also
have some readings for Coona I will try and pass on.
Best Regards
Gary
Hi Gary/Les/Rod,
I have taken several readings in the past at Ilford under dark clear skies. As Gary correcty points out, the Milky Way effect on the SQM can be significant and you cannot accurately compare Northern Hemisphere readings with Southern hemisphere readings, for this reason.
I will list some of the readings I have taken in recent years.
Coonabarabran. (Timor Cottages, 10km NW of town)
21.45 to 21.88. Coona normally averages between 21.5 and 21.7 with partial milky way effect. I got readings consistently over 21.7 with a best of 21.88 in October 2007 with no milky way effect. The best reading I got was 21.88 (repeated 3 times on the night) on an excepionally good night. Dave Kriege from Obsession Telescopes, who has observed all over the world, commented on that night that it was the 2nd best night of observing conditions he had ever encountered, bettered only by one nights observing atop Mauna Kea, about 10 years prior. Mauna Kea has a significant elevation advantage.
Ilford
21.45 to 21.58 depending on Milky way effect. Ilford averages normally 21.45 to 21.55. I got 21.58 in November 2006 with no Milky Way overhead and very clear skies.
Bucketty (private property about 5km from Koolang Observatory)
21.4 to 21.52 (this is an excellent spot considering its close proximity to major civilsation and its convenience)
Lostock (NSW Hunter Valley)
At the 2007 IISAC at Lostock in Jan 2007 I consistently got readings between 21.45 and 21.55
Border Stargaze (10km north of Albury)
21.45 average to the north away from the Albury Skyglow. 21.3 to the South with skyglow effect.
2007 Texas Star Party (Fort Davis, Texas)
21.45 average with no Milky Way effect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodstar
What a great SPSP!
the Blackeye galaxy in Virgo (M64) was a treat too.
Rod,
It is actually in Coma Berenices, about 5 degrees North of the Coma Berenices/Virgo border.
Cheers,
John B
Last edited by ausastronomer; 09-04-2008 at 02:12 AM.
Reason: Added Lostock readings
"Having said that, there is no way you want to pass one of these objects
over without following them up. Just ask Lachlan MacDonald why Comet Lee
is not called Comet MacDonald."
Or indeed why it is not called Comet Dalrymple. Lee was discovered by Steve Lee _at_ the Mudgee Star Party. Steve found the comet while searching for NGC 5189 using "Tweety" (same 'scope Damien was using this year) so he could show the planetary to some people because it was in his talk the next day.
Not knowing the exact position and not having DSC he pointed the 'scope roughly to somewhere near NGC 5189 and waggled it around and stumbled upon the comet. About 20 mins later he came down to me because I had DSC on my 10" to get an accurate position for his report, and to get an image done.
I had been observing NGC 5189 about an hour and a half earlier and it was only 1 field away ...
"Stupidly", I was using DSC and not star-hoppping.
I had been observing NGC 5189 about an hour and a half earlier and it was only 1 field away ...
Hi Les,
Thanks for the anecdote. That certainly is a Mintie's Moment. However,
I believe Lach's story is even worse because he even looked
at Comet Lee one full week before Steve looked at it.
If you all gather around, I will tell you the story ...
Once upon at time, Lachlan was up at the house at Wiruna attempting to
show some visiting Americans the Blue Planetary using Tony's 20". They
did not have a DSC/DTC installed then and in stumbling around the
Crux/Centaurus region, Lachlan happened across what later was determined
to be the comet. He apparently puzzled over it for a moment, but feeling
the pressure to help entertain his guests and deliver a view of the Blue
Planetary, decided to move on, possibly with the plan of checking on a
chart later what the unexpected nebulosity was. However, he failed to
follow up. So that boys and girls is why we call it Comet Lee and not
Comet MacDonald.
When Rob Greaves radio call came from the house the other night, the same
place that Lach had passed over Comet Lee even having spotted it first, Lach's
lesson was planted firmly in my head and I was as determined as Rob to follow
this one up.
Les, thanks again for the story and hopefully there is one still out there yet
waiting to have your name tagged to it.
"Lachlan happened across what later was determined
to be the comet. He apparently puzzled over it for a moment, but feeling
the pressure to help entertain his guests and deliver a view of the Blue
Planetary, decided to move on, ..."
Goodness me! I can almost feel his pain. The night Lee was found both Gary Mitchell & I were observing with our 10" Newtonians and we both happened to look at 5189 at almost the same time and also looked through each other's 'scopes. It wasn't just me who missed it by a field-with or so -- it was both of us -- both using DSC.
Gary wrote:
"hopefully there is one still out there yet waiting to have your name tagged to it."
It'd be nice! Tell the truth, when Mel Hulbert & I were doing the investigation leading up to my call to the IAU I was just a tiny bit ticked off that someone with just a year or so behind the eyepiece was seemingly about to rack one up while I have been observing for, shall we say a teensy bit longer ... hmmmm ...
But, that's the way it goes. Both Steve Lee and Peter Williams have logged many, many more hrs than I before they found their comets. In fact Peter Williams just needs an asteroid to complete his set. He has already found a naked-eye nova too.
John & Gary, thanks for the SQM readings -- much appreciated.
They are most interesting and I presume that they are with the old "wide-field" model. I purchased the new model which has a lens providing a much narrower HWHM sensitivity of 10 degrees. FWHM is therefore 20 degrees. It also has an IR blocking filter to take ambient temperature out of the equation and therefore the readings might therefore be a bit different to the older model. I noted that if I pointed it in the direction of Eta Carinae, I got a reading 0.2 higher than a non-Milky Way field.
I took a lot of readings over the 4 nights I was at the MSP (well, it's a new toy isn't it??). In the hope of pursuing some semblance of scientific rigor, every time I used it I took _4_ separate readings. If the Milky Way was close to Zenith, I aimed a little (15 deg) away from it. I never aimed lower than 15 deg away from Zenith (except to experiment!).
My first reading was always discarded (as per the instructions -- in the FAQ sheet). I then averaged the next three. At the moment, the readings are all on my voice recorder and as I transcribe I'll note them and they will appear in an observations post sometime in the future (I've presently got more than 100 _more_ to transcribe on top of the 40-odd already done). The worst reading I got in a cloudless true dark sky (long after astronomical twilight) was 21.38. Between 11pm and 3am It was generally somewhere between 21.60 and 21.75.
The best _averaged_ reading I got was at about 12mn on Friday night/Sat morn which was 21.82. That reading run consisted of 21.85, 21.82, 21.82 & 21.83. 21.7s were pretty common throughout the weekend. I have observed for a total of about 30 nights at Wiruna and over 100 at Mudgee and the Mudgee sky seems to me to be pretty-much on par with Ilford. It would seem to me therefore that the wide-field meter will provide a brighter reading than my spot-type one.
Also confiirms my long-held belief that John's Mudgee (Gratti) site is top-notch!!
It was nice to see Rob and his wife, Martin, Mike (a souse, to the core, we get on), Monte, and Lachlan, plus other real imagers imaging at the house site (no light nazis). Id like to make an official complaint tho, far too much Grog, should be moderated .
Hi all, and greetings from a spring-like Up Over. I have enjoyed reading this thread as I am hoping to make a trip back Down Under in the not-too-distant future (next year or 2010) and SPSP is included in my plans. In the meantime, I'm off to my second Texas Star Party at the end of next month.
A bit belated but anyway. This is my imaging setup at the house at the SPSS, only managed to take one 5 minute photo but still had a good time camping, and my daughter enjoyed making nests . She also got to look through the Mary Rose which was great.
There are just so many eyes and
.
