Comet ISON October Status Update

After Comet PanSTARRS lack-luster debut everyone was happy to have another hope for a great comet show this year in the upcoming visit of Comet ISON (Formally designated C/2012 S1 ISON). This comet was discovered on the 21st of September, 2012 by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using a 0.4-meter (16 in) reflector belonging to the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) in Russia.

Although extremely dim at this point, around 12th magnitude (in dark skies we can see down to around the 6th magnitude), there is a chance that the comet will begin to brighten substantially enough to become a naked-eye comet.  Early reports suggested it could become the best comet to see this century, but lately those statements have been pulled back and most observers are taking a wait-and-see stance.

Currently, for those of you with telescopes large enough to capture 10-12+ magnitude you should be able to start poking around the morning sky for the comet as soon as you'd like, it looks like approximately 5 to 6 AM CDT in the morning.  The comet will be passing near Mars, and angularly near the Moon, in the morning skies over the next few weeks.

For naked-eye observers or those with smaller telescopes you'll probably need to wait a few more weeks to try to locate this comet.  Based on information I've been able to dig up so far it looks like the first week in November from around 4 to 6 AM CST will be the best time to catch the comet and it could be a much brighter 6-8 magnitude at that time.

As the month of November progresses your ability to see the comet should improve through the late part of the month.  Morning observing will probably be possible up to around November 20th, maybe a day or two past.  Around this date the comet will be too close to the horizon (because it's getting ready to be sun-scorched) and the next opportunity will be after it rounds the Sun on it's way back out of the solar system with it's closest pass by Earth, at approximately 40 million miles, happening on December 26th.

Based on the information I've been able to gather from resources and through using Stellarium to plot the location, it seems that the time around November 18th (see image below, click for full image) will be ideal since the comet should be brightening at that point and not yet below the Eastern horizon.  Once it finishes out the swing it is possible that the comet will remain easily visible into the month of January.

November 18th Comet ISON

I'll be posting updates and any pictures I'm able to capture as the month goes on.  Happy comet viewing!

Moon and Star Fields in Wisconsin

While on a short vacation I managed to get a few reasonable skyward shots with my Nikon D80 and thought I'd share them with everyone. The first several in the set are of the moon as it was coming up and the last are long exposure shots with wider angles and tree leaves lit from below by a fire and porch light.

Moon and Stars in Wisconsin Gallery

Unfortunately, I didn't have a tripod or a battery for my remote so all shots were manual and had to be a little more simple than I would have otherwise tried to get.  Still, I think they turned out alright for what I had to work with.

College Astronomy Back Online

Some of you may have noticed the maintenance page up over the past few days.  This was due to a full site migration to another server, update and reconfiguration.  In any case, so far, so good, as it looks like the new site is up and running with the latest updates.  I will be considering other theme changes in the future depending on what can be found.

I'll be working on posting more content here as time permits both photography and problem work throughs.  Also, keep an eye out for upcoming Comet ISON updates that I'll be putting together over the next several weeks to help keep people informed.

Cheers!

Comet PanSTARRS Update for March 13th and 14th

I was able to catch a good glimpse of comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) again this evening (March 13th).  Fortunately, it was a bit warmer, the wind was lighter and the sky was just a tad clearer.  The viewing didn't give quite the same level of awe as the comet being near the moon.  However, I still managed to get some post worthy pictures of it.

Again, the comet was NOT visible to the naked eye from where I was viewing even with a reasonably clear sky.  It was not dark at the time so in a very dark location it just might be visible but even in that scenario, the comet is extremely small in the night sky so will probably only show up as a fuzzy pin-prick in the fabric of it all.

On March 14th, if you're up for it with binoculars or a telescope (or decent camera) you should be able to catch it around 10 degrees above the horizon almost due West for the next several nights.  Please see my former posts for details and charts of roughly where it will be located.

Comet PanSTARRS March 13th

 

Update on Comet PanSTARRS for March 13th

This is an update for Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) for March 13th 2013.  The reason it's for the 13th is because observational opportunities have run their course (except for possibly Hawaii and Alaska).

So, tonight, March 12th we were able to see the comet in the low western sky.  However.  The comet was 'not' as bright or as large as I was anticipating.  Unfortunately it did require a telescope to view and a bit of guess work with the camera to get some exposures of it.

Fortunately, that work did pay of with a few decent shots (for nothing but a Nikon D80, tripod and 70-300mm lens).

Please have a look in the gallery for more images from the 12th.

The good news is that tonight we were able to view the comet for almost 45 minutes and I would expect that timeframe to only increase as it gets further from the Sun.  As for viewing the comet on March 13th through March 26th, I've included a path diagram below for easy identification.  Based on viewing tonight, you will probably need a set of binoculars or a very clear sky since the comet is somewhat dim.  However, you should still give this a shot since this comet only comes around once every 100 million years, this is literally a once in a million lifetime chance!

Feel free to check back for more information and pictures.  We'll be posting more as we take them!