Not Vespa ... Vesta is motoring through the sky

General astronomy-related discussion (publicly viewable)
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BobSikes
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Not Vespa ... Vesta is motoring through the sky

Unread post by BobSikes »

Vesta is very bright right now. Although it looks like a star it moves like a planet, and fast enough so that over a single 24 hour period you can see the motion.

Let's log it. Describe the brightness, location and how far it moves in a day.

For more details http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 01429.html
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BobSikes
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Vesta Seen! Easily in binoculars - and imaged as well

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Viewing Vesta

November 10, 2008 about 7:30pm EST

I took my trusty 8x25 Canon binoculars out and tried to find Vesta, despite the bright moon close by. Naked eye, I could just barely make out the Pleiades , Aldebaron was the only decent star near by, but by looking carefully, I could spot alpha Cetus and alpha Pisces. Boy is that moon bright! I pulled out my chart, printed by Starry Night Pro and got to work.

In the binocs the circle of stars in the tail (?) of the whale were visible especially my jumping off star Gamma Cetus (also known as Kaffalijidhma) was easy. Star Hopping right one field I could see 70 Cetus and the pair of mag 5 stars (69 Ceti and HIP10723) above it just fine and a mag 6 star just a bit to the east of the top one where no star should be.

That would be Vesta!

Inspired by the easy binocular viewing, and with such small binocular (ok they are IS binoc, but any binocs will work) I grabbed my camera and snapped a shot. Actually 3 shots at 4 sec (ASA 800) on a tripod focus at infinity. I fiddled with the tripod and got ready to shoot more, but clouds rolled in. Sneaking in from behind me. They are still there tonight. Bummer.

Nevertheless, I stacked the three grainy shots together and with lots of fiddling got it almost to what I could see in the binoculars.

Take a look http://home.comcast.net/~sikesassne101/ ... 3%2024.jpg

Verdict: Once the moon is out of the way, and the clouds, Vesta view will be a cinch, and Vesta photography with a digital camera will be pretty easy too. Focus at infinity, don't zoom in too much, mount on a tripod and bracket your exposures until the stars, and an asteroid come in well.



Repeat this over several nights and you'll have a nice record of an asteroid's movements

So get out there and to it!
:P
BobS
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Rotorhead
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Unread post by Rotorhead »

Very nice, Bob, and an excellent description of the search. At least the moon is retreating from the vicinity of Vesta now, so it should improve night by night. I'm socked in here tonight, so no chance.

So, shall we have a fight over IS binos vs 'dumb' binos, or hand-held vs stand mounted??? Nobody has any Dobsonian binos, do they? Or go-to's? Cliques and factions seem all the fashion, lately; we must have one here somewhere.... :roll:
Bob M
15" f5 Starsplitter Dob/80mm Finder
5" Explore Scientific triplet APO on a Vixen Sphinx GEM
________
"He numbers all the stars, and calls each one by name." Ps 147:4
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WCGucfa
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Unread post by WCGucfa »

Hey guys,

This looks like a job for Dan S. and THE AMAZING LIGHT THIMBLE!! I know it's kind of bright for you Dan, but the thimble is about the right size.

I had good luck with Vesta passing Jupiter (was it last year?) and Iris passing the Sombrero and VV2 was a zipper, so I'm going after Vesta again! That is, if it ever clears up!

Bill
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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BobSikes
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Vesta's crater for Dan

Unread post by BobSikes »

Vesta is probably too easy for Dan. I think we'll set his bar higher.

Vesta's Craters!

Go Light Thimble!
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Galactus
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Unread post by Galactus »

I would love to try Vesta--Binos and GoTo--to find movement. If only these clouds would clear...
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
AKA, George H
8" Meade LX90
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Rotorhead
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Unread post by Rotorhead »

Vesta is about as simple as it gets for binoculars tonight. At 8:00 this evening, it is about 2.5 degrees (a half-bino field for my binos) from Alrescha, the lower 'point' star in Pisces, and right next to a star of nearly the same magnitude (6.46) as Vesta (6.28) in an otherwise vacant half degree of sky.

Locating Aries, who is preparing to 'head butt' Pisces, I hop over to eta Piscium (stopping to look for M74 - yeah, right, with 10x binos and no dark adaptation...) and follow the 'fishing line' southeast to Alrescha, the point where the fishing line takes an acute turn west. Placing Alrescha on the upper right edge of the field of view, I note the star pattern I'm looking for immediately: an empty area to the east of Alrescha, rimmed with a pattern of mag 7 stars near the opposite edge of the field, and a 'double star' in the middle with no stars around it. The lower of these two stars is really a star, the upper one is Vesta.

Tomorrow will be the proof, if I can return and duplicate this search, but find that my suspect has moved toward Alrescha enough to double the distance between these apparent 'double stars'. So, I make a tentative claim of Vesta tonight.
Bob M
15" f5 Starsplitter Dob/80mm Finder
5" Explore Scientific triplet APO on a Vixen Sphinx GEM
________
"He numbers all the stars, and calls each one by name." Ps 147:4
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Rotorhead
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Unread post by Rotorhead »

Last night's 'double star' has split up by 10 this evening, so indeed it was Vesta.
Bob M
15" f5 Starsplitter Dob/80mm Finder
5" Explore Scientific triplet APO on a Vixen Sphinx GEM
________
"He numbers all the stars, and calls each one by name." Ps 147:4
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WCGucfa
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Unread post by WCGucfa »

These images were taken
on 11/27 and 11/28/2008.

Bill

Vesta comes in from the right. Note three stars near center.Image

Vesta catches up with the three star asterism.Image

0835 hrs. 11/28/2008. Location: Cetus; Target, Asteroid 4 Vesta, just below center at magnitude 7.0 120mm refractor, 40mm EP, 1.5 degree field, Single fr. 30s.Image
Last edited by WCGucfa on Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Rotorhead
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Unread post by Rotorhead »

Nice shots, Bill. Vesta really is moving right along.

The next big event in this part of the sky is Comet Boethin passing very close to M74 on the early evening of January 26. Maybe that will be Bob's January challenge!
Bob M
15" f5 Starsplitter Dob/80mm Finder
5" Explore Scientific triplet APO on a Vixen Sphinx GEM
________
"He numbers all the stars, and calls each one by name." Ps 147:4
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