COMET NEAR DOUBLE CLUSTER

Location:  Front deck, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  January 23, 2020 1730-2200.

Weather:  Unseasonably warm at beginning to bitter cold towards the end.  Mostly clear, some breeze to no breeze, 2C at 1730hrs, -2C at 2200hrs, 80% humidity.  New Moon tomorrow, so very dark skies.  Bay of Fundy roaring, waves crashing all evening.  Days are getting longer, didn't get completely dark till after 1815hrs.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 attached to 80 mm ED/APO at prime focus.  Images processed with DeepSkyStacker and PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion.

Objective:  To capture an image of celestial objects on one of the few clear nights we have had in many weeks.

Report:

• Set up around sun-down, well before dark, as the days are getting longer.  Venus was very high and bright, in the evening twilight.  Set up and was able to align the scope on Deneb, one of the great square of Pegasus stars and Venus.  Took many images of Venus and a video in order to produce a good image of our sister planet.
• Viewed and imaged Betelgeuse in the south east.  It is still noticeably dimmer than it used to be.
• Made an attempt to image Comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs, which is halfway from the brighter stars in Perseus, and the W of Cassiopeia, next to the Perseus Double Cluster.  At this point, around 1830, comet was in a position, that the telescope could not locate it, because of how high it was in the sky.  Needed to wait till the comet moved out of that area of the sky, westward.
• Looked for some other objects to image, including the Rosette Nebula and the Witch's Head Nebula, around the Orion area of sky, but instead, chose to look for and image the huge galaxy, M31, which was not far from the comet.

Messier objects 31 and 110.  Single shot, 30 second, ISO 1600.

• Was surprised to see that, by 2045 hrs, comet had moved to a location that the telescope could reach.  Took twenty images for 16 minutes of exposure time and stacked them.

Single shot image, 45 second, ISO 6400.  Overexposed to better show the comet.

Image is 20x45 second images, ISO 1600 stacked for 16 minutes of exposure.

•  Some notes on Comet T2 Panstarrs:  It's now approaching Earth, and is still outside of Mars orbit.  The comet will be closest to the Sun (Perihelion) on May 4th, 2020, which will place it halfway between Earths' and Venuses orbit.  At Aphelion (farthest from Sun) the comet will be 9,786 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.  This makes its orbital period of 342,399 years, meaning it won't be close to Earth again for 342, 399 years.  Info from heavens-above.com.
• One very bright falling star was seen at 2050hrs.  It burned up, shining brightly for an instant leaving a smoke trail.  Came almost straight down, high in the north western sky.  Looked like it might have hit the ground nearby.
  

FIRST METEOR SHOWER OF 2020

Location:  Backyard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  January 4, 2020 0610-0650

Weather:  No wind, mostly clear, a few clouds along the SE horizon, -0.8 C, 94% humidity.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  None.

Objective:  To view Quandrantid Meteor shower which was supposed to peak at 3am our time January 4th.

Report:

• After hearing a report of many meteors being seen, and clear skies in our area, went out to mostly clear skies at 0610am.  It was very cloudy at around 930pm, so was surprised to see that it had cleared off. 
• In 40 minutes, seen 9 meteors, mostly above and below Corona Borealis coming from an area between the big dipper and Polaris, much closer to the handle of the big dipper.  They were all short burst of approx. 1st mag peak brightness.  Seemed to be a hint of a smoke trail from each.  Seen several more out of the corner of my eye that appeared to be short bursts, as well.
•  Mostly watched the high, eastern sky, occasionally scanning around to the south and to the north.  Seen one meteor while briefly watching the western sky.  It was the same kind of short duration meteor with similar brightness, coming from the handle of the big dipper.
• First light started after 640am, but still seen several falling stars after that. 
• Overall, the best meteor shower I've seen in a long time.  Internet reporting of events like this, in real time, are very helpful.
• The Quandrantid Meteor shower is named after a constellation that doesn't exist anymore.  Quadrans Muralis ceased to exist after a gathering of astronomers, in 1922, came up with our modern day, existing 88 constellations.  It's an area of the sky that goes from the handle of the big dipper to Arcturus, approximately.
• Several satellites were seen, all heading south in the eastern sky.

MOON VENUS CONJUNCTION

Location:  Front yard, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 28, 2019 1900-1910hrs

Weather:  Clear, cool -2C, no wind, partly cloudy.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 with 75-300mm lens, tripod.  Images processed with PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To view and image a close conjunction of a thin, young crescent Moon and Venus, after getting a call from someone who said the Moon was looking amazing.

Report:

• Heard from someone that there was an amazing Moon in the sky and that I should take a look.  Went out in the front yard and a very thin, red, crescent Moon was low in the west with a very bright Venus over it.

2.5 second, ISO 6400, f/5.4, focal length 220mm.  Image taken at 1907hrs ADT.

2.5 second, ISO 6400, f/5.4, focal length 220mm.  Image taken at 1908hrs ADT.

CHRISTMAS COMET AND A FADING STAR

Location:  Front porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 26, 2019 1830-2200hrs

Weather:  No wind, to slight breeze, bitter cold, -12.5C, 64% humidity, mostly clear to clear, no dew.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel t3 connected to telescope at prime focus and with an 18-55mm lens.  Images stacked with DeepSkyStacker and processed with PhotoShop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To image Comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs and to view and image Orions alpha star, Betelgeuse as it has been reported to be diminishing in brightness since October of this year.

Report:

• Aligned telescope on four stars, Altair low in the west, Fomalhaut low in the south south west, Aldebaran low in the East, and Capella high in the north east.
• Also aligned scope on Venus, which was low in the south west at about 1835hrs.  While setting up to image Venus, clouds covered that part of the sky.
• Located and imaged Comet C/2017 T2 for two hours.  Comet is still too faint to see without the aid of a medium sized telescope.  Images showed significant movement of the comet, north eastward, towards the w of Cassiopeia. Comet's placement in the sky is about halfway up in the north east, in northern Perseus, after first dark.  As the evening goes on, it quickly moves high overhead, making it difficult to image.

15x120 second, ISO 1600, f/6.25, cropped. Total of 35 minutes of processed imaging. Shows comet moving north over two hours of imaging.

• Imaged the comet from about 7-9pm.  At 715pm a satellite crossed through the image field of view.

This is the only comet image that hasn't been cropped.

• Wanted to show how the comet moved over two hours in a different way.  Tried making a video of the 15x 120 second images, but it didn't turn out well.

•  Processed these three images that were taken at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm, also to show how far it moved over the 2 hour period.  Notice how it moves away from the star it almost covers at 7pm.

7pm

8pm

9pm

• There has been much chatter on the internet, by amateur and professional astronomers and even the main stream media, about the dimming of Orion's alpha star, Betelgeuse.  It is noticeable to the unaided eye, and it was reported, officially, in October of this year.
• In Robert Burnham, Jr.'s Burnham's Celestial Handbook, he describes Betelgeuse's variability like this, "The main period appears to be about 5.7 years, but there are shorter superimposed periods which vary between 150 and 300 days.  When at maximum the star sometimes rises to  magnitude 0.4 when it appears not greatly inferior to Rigel;  in 1839 and again in 1852 it was thought by some observers to be nearly the equal of Capella.  Observations by the AAVSO indicate that Betelgeuse probably reached magnitude 0.2 in 1933 and again in 1942."  From this and other observations regarding Betelgeuse, it's magnitude is a confusing subject.
• Took two twenty second images of Orion.  The second image of Orion was purposely out of focus to show how bright Betelgeuse is compared to the other stars in it's constellation.

Betelgeuse's magnitude has dimmed from a normal of about 0.4 to 1.12.  The lowest measurement of magnitude 1.12 was taken by scientists on December 7, 2019 and is the lowest it's been in 25 years of continuous observing.

Out of focus to more easily view the magnitude difference of Orion's brighter stars.  Sirius in the lower left is in another constellation and is the brightest star that can be seen from New Brunswick, Canada.

• Many satellites were seen, with one imaged, and one shooting star, passing under the field of view of camera, as imaging.  It was a slow mover coming from the direction of Polaris heading toward Orion.

COMET C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS

Location:  Front Porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 20, 2019 1800-2130hrs

Weather:  Cool, at time breezy, winds dying off after 2100hrs, -5C.  Partly cloudy until clouds covered sky at 1900hrs till about 2100hrs.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel T3 attached to 80mm ED/APO at prime focus.  Eyepieces:  12mm, 19mm and 32mm.  Images processed on Photoshop.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Objective:  To image and view comet C/2017 Panstarrs T2 in Perseus.

Report:

• Sky darkened by 1800hrs, aligned scope on 4 stars and Venus.
• Located the comet approximately halfway between Capella and Perseus's brightest star, Mirfak(Arabian for elbow).  Took ten images of about 80 seconds each, totaling approx. 14 minutes of exposure time to create a stacked image.  Also took one single shot, highly exposed to show more of the comet.  Comet was too faint to see through any of my eyepieces when I searched visually.
• The stacked image shows a 14 minute path of the comet nucleus in relation to the background stars.  This comet is a slow mover compared with other comets I've imagined.  Actually, it's the slowest.

Stacked image shows a movement of the comet nucleus over 14 minutes.  10x80second, ISO 800.  Not cropped.

Single shot, over-exposed to better show the nucleus, coma and tail.  ISO 1600, 1x80 second.  Not cropped.

• Seen several satellites, but no shooting stars.

COMET SEARCH

Location:  Front porch, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  December 18, 2019 1700-midnight.

Weather:  Very cool, no wind, -8C to -10C, no dew, mostly cloudy, with an approximately 30 minutes of clear sky from 2200 to 2230hrs , to mostly cloudy.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canadian telescopes 80ED/APO on a tracking mount with Canon Rebel t3 attached at prime focus.  Images processed with Photoshop.

Objective:  To search for comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs which was reported to be in the constellation Perseus by heavens-above.com.

Report:

• Sky clouded over shortly after dark, around 1700hrs, and didn't clear until around 2200hrs.  
• Aligned scope on four stars, and then began a search in the area to the north of  Perseus brightest stars, where the comet was thought to be.  At this time, around 2220hrs, Perseus was almost straight up, slightly to the north, which made it exceedingly difficult to image.
• Imaged five different field of views in the area, where I thought comet should be, but during the last two, clouds started to move in.  Last image, which turned out terribly, I think captured the comet, but not sure.  Was clouded out for till midnight, when I decided to pack it in.  Here is the image that I think has the comet in it.  In the upper right.

Possibly captured comet in upper right of image.  Single shot, 47 second, ISO 6400, imaged at 2234hrs, as clouds were moving in to cover sky.

•  In the second image, captured open star cluster NGC  1528.  According to Burnham's Celestial Handbook, by Robert Burnham, Jr. this open cluster contains "about 80 stars mags 8...1 degree NNW from b1 Persei".

NGC 1528 next to b1 Persei taken at 2225hrs. Single shot, raw  ISO 6400, 66 second, and focal length of 50mm.

•  No satellites, one bright shooting star, high, to the south west of Orion, heading NNE.

PURPLE SKY AFTER SUNSET

Location:  Front yard, from driveway, Little Lepreau, NB, Canada.

Date Time:  December 7, 2019 1645-1655hrs.

Weather:  Mostly clear, light breeze, -4C, sky seemed purplish around the western and eastern horizons.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  Canon Rebel t3 on tripod with 18-55mm lens.  Image processed on PhotoShop.

Objective:  To capture the purplish hue to the twilight sky.

Report:

Noticed a purplish hue to the evening sky and made an attempt to image it. 

On Spaceweather.com recently seen images from other places around the world that show a  purplish twilight sky.  Apparently it's related to volcanic activity.

I'm not sure which volcano is responsible for the purple, but there is volcanic activity being reported in New Zealand. 

1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 100, focal length 55mm.  Only processed to add text, besides that image is raw.