Astronomy every Thursday
Noctilucent clouds put in a rare appearance on the 5th July 2023 from around 10.50pmish until 11.30pm and a few lucky CMHASD members got to see them :-)
Below are the photos that members Jim Burchell, Diane Clarke, Martin Crow and Sonia took of the clouds.
Jim's NLC images, taken with a Pentax KP.
Diane's NLC image, taken using a Canon M50 Mk2, lens Canon 100mm macro, f3.2 @ 2.5sec, ISO 400.
Martin's NLC image, taken with an iPhone.
Sonia's NLC images, taken with an iPhone.
A rather splendid image of Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) taken by CMHASD trustee and secretary Dr. Mike Rushton on the 12/13th July 2023 in Ursa Minor.
Mike wrote ''This is C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) last night. Approx Mag 14.5 with a greenish coma. The bright star in the image is Mag 7 and the limiting Mag 17.5. Perihelion was 1/7/23 and closest to earth will be on 18/8/23. This was a 20 min exposure with my eVscope.'' Imaging started just before midnight on 12/7/23 (23:57 BST).
Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) was spotted on the 1st March 2023 by the NASA funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). At the time, the comet was a +19th magnitude object moving through the constellation of Virgo.
On July 1 this Comet ATLAS reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun.
To date the comet has now moved into Draco and will move into Cepheus towards its closest approach to Earth mid-August. On August 18 this visitor to the inner Solar System will only be 3 light-minutes or so from our planet.
Based on its inclination to the ecliptic plane (38 degree) and orbital period of about 85 years C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is considered a Halley-type comet. Though the comet currently has a 'C' designation for a long period comet versus periodic comet; that will probably change as 85 years is much less than the 200 year orbital period cut off defining the 2 categories of comet.
Below is the report from SETI/UNISTELLAR Mike received back after submitting his imaging data.
Mike said ''I have had the photometry back and it was brighter than I thought at Mag 12.8. See the report from seti below. The little image in that report is stacked on the moving comet. The original image I sent was stacked on the stars.''
For more information: https://www.space.com/comet-c2023-e1-atlas-little-dipper-how-to-see
NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please see our Solar Observing safety page at crayfordmanorastro.com/solar-safety/
Lots of stunning images taken by member and trustee Simon Dawes of our Sun on 4 days during the month of June. Details of how Simon acquired the images are on the photos.
9th June 2023
16th June 2023
19th June 2023
21st June 2023
Noctilucent cloud spotted on the 30th June 2023 around 3am BST by members Martin Crow and Sonia. Both photos taken using an iPhone.
Martin's image taken from Essex
Sonia's image taken from North Kent
Rare Noctilucent Cloud spotted by CMHASD members Diane Clarke, Martin Crow and Sonia on the 25th June 2023.
First image below was taken by Diane using a Panasonic camera DMC-TZ100, f2.8 @ 1/10sec and ISO 6400 at 11.22pm BST.
The next two images were taken by Sonia using an iPhone 8 at 11.04pm and 11.14pm BST.
The next image was taken by Martin Crow using an iPhone.
A great image of the crescent Moon (with Earthshine) and Jupiter taken on the 14th June 2023 with a Pentax KP 300mm by member Jim Burchell.
John Mason's lecture has now moved from the 29th June to the 13th of July 2023. As John Mason's JWST talk is our closing lecture for the season 2022/23, we would like to open it to all CMHASD members 😊 so do please join us.
Another set of observations for the ExoClock project by member Simon Dawes :-)
Simon wrote ''This was a tricky observation, a bright star with faint comparisons, on the night of the summer solstice - the worst night of the year for astronomy, due to the lack of real night - there were 627 15s exposures which, when processed, works out at about 60Gb of disk space - for a single O-C measurement!''
''This far-off blue planet may look like a friendly haven – but don’t be deceived! Weather here is deadly. The planet’s cobalt blue colour comes from a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing clouds laced with glass. Howling winds send the storming glass sideways at 5,400 mph (2km/s), whipping all in a sickening spiral. It’s death by a million cuts on this slasher planet!'' Ref:https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/6876/hd-189733-b/
HD 189733b is an exoplanet approximately 64.5 light-years away in the constellation of Vulpecula. The planet was discovered on October 5, 2005. HD 189733b orbits its host star once every 2.2 days.
The closest transiting hot Jupiter to Earth, scientists have extensively studied the exoplanet's atmosphere. Researchers have found that the planet has an unusual rain of molten glass.
A fantastic collection of images showing the Full Moon also known as the Buck Moon rising on the 3rd July 2023 by member Jim Burchell in the constellation of Sagittarius. All images were taken with a Pentax KP. It was also the 1st Supermoon of 2023.
The full Moon in July is called a Buck Moon after the new antlers that begin to grow from the forehead of a buck (male) deer at this time of year. They shed their antlers in the early spring or late winter, growing full again in July.
This Buck Moon is the first of four Supermoons that will rise this summer 2023 culminating with September's Full Corn Moon on September 28th.
The Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical shape rather than in a circle, so its distance to us (Earth) varies over time; so there are times in the Moon's orbit when it is closer to the Earth and other times when it is further away. A Supermoon is a phenomenon that occurs when a full Moon takes place at the same time as the perigee; when the Moon is closest to the Earth.
A Supermoon is actually classified when a full Moon is closer than 360,000km to the Earth. This distance is around 21,000km closer than the Moon’s average distance from us of around 384,400km.
The Old Farmer's Almanac which has published astronomical data for many centuries, says the Buck Moon would orbit closer to the Earth than any of the full Moons we have already had this year.
The end of August's full Moon will be the only supermoon closer to the Earth this year, the publication said.
Below are Jim's photos.....
Note that 2024 will have four full Supermoons in a row too. They will occur on August 19, September 18, October 17 and November 15.
