Hi

I would need to calculate the exact time of the transit of the Sun at the meridian for at least seven days.

Can I use the EPHEMERIDES - Nightly Observing feature like in the screenshot below, column OPTIMUM? Is correct ?

   

Thanks 

Carlo

CNEOS predicts that the NEO, 2006 WB, will make a close approach on 2024-Nov-26 18:00±<00:01 UT at a distance of 0.00596 AU moving with V Relative=4.20 km/sec, H=22.8 magnitude, diameter 73 m - 160 m and 'Rarity'=2. There is a 2605 day observation arc, the Condition Code=2 and the Earth MOID=0.00415981 AU. The solution date was 2021-Apr-15 00:15:41 PDT. The initial reported observation was by Catalina Sky Survey on 2006-11-16. This object too small to make the MPC's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) at H=22.8 magnitude.

Using MPC's orbital elements for the epoch 2024 Nov 3 0000 UT, ST4.1.11.14 Pro predicts that the close approach will occur (to the nearest hour) on 2024 Nov 26 at 1400 EST when the NEO will be 13.1 magnitude and 913.44k km distant traveling through Cetus at 52"/minute in daylight and below the horizon as seen from Columbus, Ohio. Peak brightness of 13.0 magnitude is predicted on November 24/25 with the MP ~940k km distant traveling through Cetus at 57"/minute. This NEO is predicted to be brighter than 16 magnitude from Nov 20 in Canis Major to Nov 29 in Pegasus.

Here's the Object Info dialog for 2006 WB:    

Since this NEO will get very close, parallax will effect the apparent positions. For most accurate predictions download elements close to your time of observation from JPL's HORIZONS website.

Good hunting,

Phil S.

Hello,

I am new to SkyTools, and I am trying to identify how I can image a target using SHO filters for nebulosity and using RGB filter for star color. 

Is the best approach to create two projects for the target and configure the RGB project with fixed exposure times as seen in the attached screenshots, or is there a better way?

   
   

Thank you,
Nick

CNEOS predicts that the NEO, 2016 VA, will make a close approach on 2024-Nov-01 22:52±14:48 UT at a distance of 0.00378 AU moving with V Relative=21.17 km/sec, H=27.6 magnitude, diameter 8.0 m - 18 m and 'Rarity'=0. There is a 1 day observation arc, the Condition Code=7 and the Earth MOID=0.00081384 AU. The solution date was 2021-Apr-15 18:11:41 PDT. The initial reported observation was by Mt. Lemmon Survey on 2016-11-01. This NEO is too small to be on MPC's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs).

Using MPC's elements for 2024 Oct 31 0000 UT, ST4.1.11.14 Pro predicts that the close approach will occur (to the nearest hour) on 2024 Nov 1 2200 EDT at a distance of 146.60k km traveling through Sculptor at 29.2"/second and 14.6 magnitude. Peak brightness of 13.7 magnitude is predicted on 2024 Nov 1 at 2000 EDT with the NEO 185.75k km distant traveling through Aries at 18.3"/second.

Apparently this NEO hasn't been recovered yet as the uncertainty of the time of close approach listed by CNEOS is nearly 15 hours.

Here's the Object Info dialog for this object:    

As this object will pass very close by, parallax will affect  the predicted positions. For most accurate predictions. download orbital elements close to the time of close approach. JPL's HORIZONS produces the most accurate elements when the position of the object has been well determined. In the case of 2016 VA, it hasn't been seen in 8 years (2016-11-2) .

Sorry for the short heads-up on this object, it sort of sneaked up on me. I was hoping that the big boys, would reacquire it and produce more accurate elements for the orbit.

Good hunting,

Phil S.

Hi everyone, apologies if this has been posted before.

I thought it would be cool to import Guy Pirro's 888 favorite northern sky objects into ST as an observation list. His list is just a group of objects in an HTML page. I was able to cut, paste and wrangle the data into Excel and create a list of objects, so far without their associated galaxies, but I'm going to try to do that as well. 

However, I don't know how to bring it into ST - what data needs to be included and what filetype (and probably a couple of other things!). Any help appreciated.

CNEOS predicts that the recently discovered Apollo class NEO, 2024 TX13, will make a close approach on 2024-Nov-03 19:08±<00:01 UT at a distance of 0.00478 AU moving with V Relative=7.65 km/sec, H=24.7 magnitude, diameter 31 m - 70 m  and, 'Rarity'=1. There is currently an 18 day observation arc, the Condition Code=6 and the Earth MOID=0.000253784 AU. The solution date was 2024-Oct-29 08:11:14 PDT The initial reported observation was by Mt. Lemmon Survey on 2024-10-11. This NEO is too small to make the MPC's list of Potentially Hzardous Asteroids (PHAs).

Using MPC's orbital elements for 2024 Oct 29 0000 UT, ST4.1.11.14 predicts that this NEO will make its close approach (to the nearest hour) on 2024 Nov 3 1400 EST with the 16.2 magnitude MP traveling through Cancer at 133"/minute in daylight and below the horizon as seen from Columbus, Ohio. Peak brightness of 15.5 magnitude is predicted on November 2/3 with the NEO traveling from Auriga into Gemini at 90-100"/minute. This object will also be brighter than 16 magnitude on the night of November 1/2 when it will be traveling through Auriga at ~38"/minute.

Here's the Object Info dialog for this NEO:    

For the most accurate predictions download the orbital elements from the JPL HORIZON system for a time near your time of observation.

Good hunting,

Phil S.

CNEOS predicts that the NEO 2020 WG will make a close approach on 2024-Oct-28 06:35±<00:01 UT at a distance of 0.02223 AU moving with  V Relative=9.43 km/sec, H=21.7 magnitude, diameter 120 m - 270 m and 'Rarity'=1. There is a 1331 day observation arc, the Condition Code=0 and the Earth MOID=0.0131107 AU. The solution date was 2024-Jul-06 06:21:14 PDT. The initial reported observation was by Mt. Lemmon Survey on 2020-11-16. This NEO is on the MPC's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs).

Using MPC's elements for 2024 Oct 17 0000 UT, ST4.1.11.13 Pro predicts that 2020 WG will reach a peak brightness of 14.8 magnitude on the evening of October 28/29 when the NEO will be 0.02 AU distant traveling through Pegasus at ~33"/minute. The close approach is predicted to occur (to the nearest hour) on 2024 Oct 28 at 0300 EDT (0700 UT) with the NEO 0.02 AU distant and 15.0 magnitude traveling through Pisces at 34.6"/minute. This MP is predicted to be brighter than 16 magnitude from October 25 in Aquarius to November 2 in Andromeda.

Here's the Object Info dialog for this NEO:     

Good hunting,

Phil S.

CNEOS predicts that the large NEO, (450649) 2006 UY64, will make a close approach on 2024-Oct-22 15:11±<00:01 UT at a distance of 0.05667 AU moving with V Relative=13.47 km/sec, H=19.5 magnitude, diameter 340 m - 750 m and 'Rarity'=1. There is currently a 6563 day observation arc, the Condition Code=0 and the Earth MOID=0.0540125 AU. The solution date was 2024-Oct-13 06:17:00 PDT. This NEO was discovered at Siding Spring on 2006-10-25 by Siding Spring Survey. This object doesn't come close enough to make MPC's list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). There wasn't a significant change in the orbit from 2021 to 2024 as the CNEOS info shown in the Object Info dialog below shows.

Using MPC's elements for 2024 Aug 21 0000 UT, SkyTools 4.1 Visual predicts that this object will make its close approach (to the nearest hour) on 2024 Oct 22 at 1100 EDT (!500 UT) when the MP will be an estimated 14.3 magnitude and 0.06 AU distant traveling through Aries at 19.4"/minute in daylight and below the horizon in Columbus, Ohio. The peak brightness of 14.1 manitude is predicted to occur on the nights of both October 22/23 and October 23/24 with the NEO traveling through Aries at ~19"/minute and 0.06 AU distant. This object is predicted to be brighter than 16 magnitude from October 16 to 31. MPC's elements for 2024 Oct 15 0000 UT gave nearly identical predictions to those obtained using the elements for 2024 Aug 21 0000 UT.

Here's the Object Info dialog for this object:     

Good hunting,

Phil S.

I'm confused.

I am running Skytools Professional 4.0.11.13 which does not include the new transparency settings.

However, Skytools doesn't tell me that there is a new version available.

How does one get Skytools 4.1

Phil Lanz

Greg will the modelling for A3 for forward scattering apply to all comets with the right geometry or is this just for A3?