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Opposition of (4183) Cuno
Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
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Close Approach of (152637...
Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
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Annals of the Deep Sky
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Nebulae by Steven R Coe h...
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Galaxies Lists from Stein...
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Mutual Events of Galilean...
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Close Approach of 2026 LS...
Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
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Best Sort for Observing?
Forum: How do I do it in SkyTools 4 Visual?
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Close Approach of 2026 KB...
Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
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| 2023 DZ2 |
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Posted by: bigmasterdrago - 2023-03-17, 05:02 PM - Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
- Replies (40)
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Just as we no longer have to worry about an impact of 2023 DW, we have this rock to watch. Looks like a possible 10th magnitude pass at a distance of 180,894Km on March 25th 19:43UT (daylight). Moving 9.3'/min
Really far better placed for southern observations. Sorry about the weather down under. For us northern folks, looks like 12th mag near midnight on the 24th moving 1.5'/min. At least there is no moon to cause issues.
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| Old Calibration Files for Utah Telescopes |
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Posted by: theskyhound - 2023-03-14, 11:37 PM - Forum: iTelescope Users Forum
- Replies (3)
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I hate to be a complainer but...
We were told that all of the telescopes from New Mexico were carefully cleaned, repaired, and re-calibrated when they were moved to Utah.
I'm doing some work that requires the calibration files, and I was extremely dismayed to discover that for the telescopes I checked: T02, T21, and T11, the most recent calibration files are from 2020.
Not only have these telescopes been moved, and supposedly cleaned, and repaired, but even if they hadn't they should not be using calibration files over a year old, let alone three.
Mind blown.
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| T72 Analysis |
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Posted by: theskyhound - 2023-03-14, 11:26 PM - Forum: iTelescope Users Forum
- Replies (1)
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Hello,
I have been doing some analysis on T72, and thought people might be interested in what I have discovered.
1. The telescope description page lists the gain as 6.0 e-/ADU, which appears to be a typo. I measured the gain from calibration images and obtained a gain of 0.69 e-/ADU, which is consistent with the number from the manufacturer as a typical gain setting.
2. I also measured the read noise, which is not listed on the web page. It was quite large: 13.5 e. This camera has two readout modes, and the read noise depends on which mode you have it set to. According to the FITS header the camera is in the 12 Mhz faster readout mode, which typically has a read noise of 11.5 e. The slower readout 3 Mhz mode has much lower read noise associated with it, often as low as 7 e. Switching to the 3 Mhz mode would greatly improve the SNR of the images from this camera, for both science and pretty pictures, but at the expense of longer readout times. I found this camera to be so noisy as to be avoided in the future.
I have passed this information in to iTelescope in the hope that they will switch to the slower read mode. I will have an update to this telescope soon, which will include the accurate gain and read noise values, and also includes a better estimate of the Sky brightness at the telescope location.
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| Close Approach of 2023 EY |
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Posted by: PMSchu - 2023-03-14, 07:03 PM - Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
- Replies (1)
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CNEOS predicts that this newly discovered NEO will make a close approach on 2023-Mar-17 11:39±00:32 UT at 0.00160 AU distance. V Relative= 8.12 km/sec H=26.5 magnitude, 14 m - 30 m diameter, Condition Code =8 and, 'Rarity'=1. It was first observed at ATLAS South Africa, Sutherland on 2023-03-13.
Using elements from MPC for 2023 Feb 25 0000 UT downloaded on March 14, ST4v predicts that this NEO will reach a maximum brightness of 14.5 magnitude on March 17 at 0600 EDT (to the nearest hour), moving through Canes Venatici at 366"/minute. Minimum Re is predicted on March 17 at 0800 EDT when the the NEO will be 246.1k km distant in Bootes moving at 396"/minute in daylight, as seen (or not) from Columbus, Ohio. Early risers in the Mountain time zone will have a shot, weather permitting.
This object wasn't included in today's download of the MPC's NEAs at Today's Epoch datafile, so I had to download it as a single object from the MPC. Unfortunately the epoch for these downloads is the standard epoch, currently 2023 Feb 25 0000 UT. It should be included in tomorrow's datafile, so no worries.
Since this is a new discovery with a 1 day observation arc, the time of close approach should improve in the next few days as the orbit is refined.
Good hunting,
Phil S.
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| Close Approach of 2023 CM |
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Posted by: PMSchu - 2023-03-07, 07:22 PM - Forum: Observing Close Approaching Asteroids
- Replies (4)
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CNEOS predicts that the newly discovered NEO 2023 CM will make a close approach on 2023-Mar-14 15:18 ± < 00:01 UT at a distance of 0.02636 AU. H=21.4 magnitude, V relative=14.03 km/sec, 'Rarity' =1, Condition Code = 6. It's a medium sized object 140 m - 320 m in dimeter. This MP was discovered at Mt. Lemmon Survey on 2023-02-02.
Using MPC's elements for March 7 2023 00:00 UT, ST4v predicts that this MP will reach a peak brightness of 15.9 magnitude on March 13 at 0000 AEST when the NEO will be moving through Vela at 31.2"/min at 0.03 AU distance. This NEO will be visible March 10@2100 AEST (16.1 Mag In Hydra) to March 14@0300 AEST (16.0 Mag In Carina).
This is a southern hemisphere object. The ST4v times are GMT+11 hours. I think that's AEST, but don't hold me to it.
Good hunting.
Phil S.
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