Transit Dreams Observatory awarded code W33 from the Minor Planet Center
This announcement is late, but I wanted to share it with our friends here who don’t follow us on Facebook.
I am proud to announce the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center has designated Transit Dreams Observatory as Minor Planet Center W33. This designation was earned by T.D.O. as a result of our submission to the MPC of precise reliable astrometric measurements of asteroid positions in our solar system. These measurements provide the professional and advanced amateur astronomers the data needed to help refine orbits and gain additional knowledge about our solar system neighbors. Observatory codes are not given out lightly, and the Transit Dreams Observatory will endeavor to continue contributing accurate data to this body of work.
Well I finally got around to updating some of this site. I’ve changed the color scheme to black and white to hopefully modernize it and make it easier to read. I am not a web programmer by any means, so I crawl my way around WordPress to get things close to how I want them to look.
Besides the color scheme change, I’ve changed the content and menu structure of the homepage. The new header consists of 3 images over the old header of the constellation of Orion. On the left is the new logo I designed for Transit Dreams observatory. The interior of the T has a NYC “Transit” subway map, and the D has a “Dream” scape sky scene. In the center is a screen shot from the Astrometrica software I use to make the asteroid astrometry measurements. On the right is a view of the telescope, mount, and camera setup inside the observatory.
I’ve also started on the Observatory page, adding some of my thoughts as I was building the observatory and assembling the dome, as well as numerous photos of the construction. As I get caught up, I’ll add more on the process.
Galaxy NGC 891
NGC 891-Andromeda
NGC 891 is an edge-on spiral galaxy 30 million light years away in the constellation of Andromeda. You can see its faint dust lane along the plane of the galaxy because of its orientation to our line of site. This dark lane is dust and is very difficult to see visually. I can only make out the darkest portion with my 15” Newtonian reflector. When you look up at our own Milky Way galaxy and see the dark areas winding through the myriad of stars, this is the same kind of dust only seen from inside the galaxy. If you look, closely you can see many galaxies in the background of this image. NGC 891 was discovered by William Herschel on October 6, 1784
Data:
Object: NGC 891
Constellation: Andromeda
Telescope: ES127mm F7.5 APO Refractor
Mount: Paramount MX+
Camera: ATIK One 6.0
Filters: Astronomik LRGB
Guide Scope: Orion 50mm
Guide Camera: SBIG STi
Total Integration: Luminance 122 minutes(1×1), Red 80 minutes(2×2), Green 60 minutes(2×2), Blue 75 minutes(2×2). Total 5hr.47 minutes
Image Capture: SkyX camera addon
Guiding: PHD2
Stacking/calibration: Maximdl
Post Processing:Photoshop CS5
I imaged Comet P88/Howell in September. It is located in the constellation of Aries. The comet was a bit fainter than the 11.2 magnitude estimated by my Skytools software. You can see the faint tail extending out past the edge of the field to the right of the coma toward the 4:00 position. The image above is 40 minutes total exposure with LRGB filters. The brighter galaxy at the upper right is IC267, a 13.9 magnitude barred spiral. You can just make out the extended arms in the image. To the right of the comet near the edge is 15.1 magnitude galaxy MCG 2-8-26 (PGC10917). You can also pick out almost a dozen fainter galaxies down to mag. 18 in the image. The faint galaxy in the tail of the comet is LEDA 1414124 at magnitude 17.8. The Skytools screen capture below shows the comet’s location with many of the galaxies in the field labeled. The number in parentheses in the galaxy magnitude with the decimal omitted.
Data:
CON Dennis G. Wilde, TDO
OBS D. Wilde
MEA D. Wilde
TEL 127mm F7.5 APO Refractor + CCD
NET UCAC-4
0088P C2015 09 15.15028 02 54 58.48 +12 42 20.5 15.9 N XXX
0088P C2015 09 15.16174 02 54 58.21 +12 42 20.2 15.8 N XXX
0088P C2015 09 15.17433 02 54 57.91 +12 42 19.4 15.7 N XXX
Constellation: Aries
Telescope: ES127mm F7.5 APO Refractor
Mount: Paramount MX+
Camera: ATIK One 6.0
Filters: Astronomik LRGB
Guide Scope: None
Guide Camera: None
Total Integration: 40 minutes LRGB
Asteroid (1284) Latvia is a main belt asteroid about 37 km in diameter with an orbit around the Sun of 1572 Earth days. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in July 1933. It was named after the Republic of Latvia. Reinmuth discovered a total of 395 asteroids, between the years of 1914-1956, and 2 comets, 30P/Reinmuth and 44P/Reinmuth. He named Asteroid (1111) Reinmuth for himself, a practice that is no longer permitted by the IAU. The video below shows about 1 hour of asteroid motion among the stars of Pegasus.
This is the third and last asteroid I imaged to capture data for the MPC. The purpose is to obtain an observatory code I can use when submitting astrometrical data for asteroids and comets to the Minor Planet Center. This data can be used to refine the orbits of these asteroids so it can be determined they pose no risk to the Earth. The primary interest is for data on the NEO’s (Near Earth Objects). These objects sometimes pass much closer to the earth than our own Moon. If one was to strike the Earth it would have devastating consequences for much of the Earth’s population. Main belt asteroids, like the three I have imaged pose much less of a threat, but should still be periodically measured. Collisions with other asteroids and gravitational perturbations with large mass objects can alter their orbits and increase the threat level. Studying asteroids long term can also provide data on their rotation period, albedo, mass and size. This is critical data for objects that might pass close to earth.
The requirements for providing data to the MPC, in order to obtain an observatory code, are strict and demanding. It is important for the data to be accurate, so it can be used reliably in scientific research. There are many requirements, or criteria to be met before a code is issued. I’m only going to go over the basics here, but if you want the detailed information, you can find it at the Minor Planet Center website: http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/info/Astrometry.html
The basic process to obtain a code is to collect data for 3 asteroids over 2 different nights of measurements. You must make 3 measurements for each asteroid on each date. On each date the data should be collected with a separation of at least a half hour between measurements. Some asteroids move slowly and you want to detect the motion across the sky between measurements. So for the 3 asteroids, that’s nine measurements on each date. The positions of the asteroids must be calculated to an accuracy of 1 arc second. That’s why main belt asteroids are mainly used to collect the initial data. Their orbits a pretty well-known making it easier to check your reported positions against where the asteroid should be in its orbit.
For those not familiar with just how small 1 arc second error is, just think about the Earth as a whole. Looking from one horizon to the opposite horizon, encompasses 180 degrees. Each one of those degrees has 60 arc minutes. Each one of those arc minutes has 60 arc seconds. That’s 64,800 arc seconds horizon to horizon.
The easiest way to collect the data and measure accurate positions is by imaging the object, doing an astrometrical plate solve which measures the exact position of reference stars in the image matched against star catalogs like the UCAC4, and then measure the position of the object your checking, using that plate solution.
I use a program called Astrometrica, which was designed for this exact use. You load the images into the program after doing a calibration reduction on them (darks and Flats). The program will do the astrometrical plate solve and blink the images so you can find the object as it jumps from frame to frame while the stars hold their position. In theory this works beautifully. I’m still having some issues with the setup and parameters of the program to get consistently automated plate solving. Many times I’ll have to do a manual plate solve which involves overlaying the catalog positions of the stars over the stars on the images to match them up. This can be tedious. Another advantage of the software is it will put the data into the format required by the MPC. The data sets are sent by email and are read by computer, so they must be formatted correctly to be accepted by the database. I’ve already had to correct the formatting and resend the data.
Below is the data presented in the format required by the MPC. This (correctly formatted) data has already been sent to the MPC, and I am awaiting acceptance and the issuing of my observatory code. The issuance of the Observatory Code signifies my data has the required accuracy, and they can expect due diligence on my part, in regards to future data submitted.
