Faulkes Telescope Observations
C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) and other comets
Comet 292P/Li. Images obtained using the Faulkes Telescope South, operated
by Las Cumbres Observatory. Click on image to enlarge.
On the 25th of November, 2013, we went on work experience at Armagh
Observatory - quite possibly the best place for interested young people (like
us) to learn more about the solar system, comets and asteroids and the rest
of the universe. On our first day, we were introduced to Dr. David Asher and
Dr. Apostolos Christou, who work at Armagh Observatory and spend their days
researching asteroids, comets and any other Near Earth Objects (or N.E.O. for
short).
We were told by David that we would be observing the stars looking for
asteroids, comets and meteors, using both of the
Faulkes Telescopes on the
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network or LCOGT.net; one being
in Australia and the other in Hawaii - to take pictures of the night
sky. When we got our pictures and data from the telescopes, we then used
Astrometrica to find the moving
object amongst the shining stars and galactic giants, and once located we
plotted their X and Y co-ordinates.
The morning of the 27th we looked at the
videos
of potential meteors in the darkness up above of Armagh, with the cameras on
the roof facing at different parts of the night sky. Later that day, we were
taught how to use Astrometrica which we used to find many moving N.E.Os or
other asteroids via the data that was collected using the large 8m SUBARU
telescope in Hawaii. Finding over 40 moving objects was exhausting, but
definitely worthwhile, as now each one of us know our way around Astrometrica
like the back of our hands.
Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring. Images obtained using the Faulkes Telescope
South, operated by Las Cumbres Observatory. Click on image to enlarge.
Throughout our week at Armagh Observatory, we used the Faulkes Telescope in
Australia to look at an interesting comet from the Oort Cloud C/2013 A1
(Siding Spring), that was discovered on the 3rd of January in 2013, by Robert
H. McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory. We used the website
aerith.net
as well as the
Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service to help us find the comets
and asteroids to observe and whereabouts to locate them in the Australian or
Hawaiian night sky. With the information from these two websites we were able
to observe C/2013 A1 at a good degree of accuracy with three 60 second
exposures on an SDSS r' filter. The comet will pass extremely close to Mars on
19 October 2014, so this is why we chose to observe it. Although we did not
yet get the particular type of image file (.fits) to measure, we did however,
get good .jpeg images which you can see on this page.
Not only did we observe, but we attended multiple discussions on recent
astronomical topics, ranging from the Kepler missions to the delayed Gaia
launch, and including advanced topics in the field of physics such as light
curves and the polarisation of light, which all of us found interesting тАУ
even though we did not completely understand.
James Finnegan, one of the Observatory's technicians, took some time out of
his schedule to show us the many very old, interesting telescopes in the
Observatory, including the old, extremely accurate clocks that were used
along with them.
Comet C/2011 F1 LINEAR. Image obtained using the Faulkes Telescope South,
operated by Las Cumbres Observatory. Click on image to enlarge.
Comet 290P/Jager. Image obtained using the Faulkes Telescope North, operated
by Las Cumbres Observatory. Click on image to enlarge.
On the last day, we used the Ephemeris of more comets to check if we could
use the Faulkes telescope again in Hawaii. Fortunately, the Hawaii telescope
was in working order and raring to go тАУ so we used the North Faulkes
Telescope to view 290P/Jager, which is a periodic comet, meaning; it has an
orbital period of less than 200 years. We got a good colour image of it,
which you can see on this page also.
Overall our work experience placement here at Armagh Observatory was very
exciting, interesting and extremely beneficial to us and we would like to
thank David, our supervisor, Tolis, James, Mark, Ruxandra, and Aileen the
secretary of the Observatory and all the other staff at the Observatory for
making this week an enjoyable experience for all of us. We would also like
to thank the Faulkes Telescope Project and Las Cumbres Observatory for the
telescope time and making these observations possible. We wish everybody at
the observatory a happy Christmas and a new year of observing our sky, to
give us a better understanding of the universe and everything in it.
тАУ Ross, Fionnt†бn and Dylan
2013 November 29th
More astronomical projects with the Faulkes Telescopes
Last Revised: 2013 November 29th
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