December 2012 Supernova Patrol

Moon and Jupiter

The Moon and Jupiter were very close last night with Jupiter being very bright even in such close proximity to the Moon. The night was freezing and I welcomed only having to go out briefly to open the dome and rotate the slit a couple of times. I used M76 the Little Dumbbell Nebula to focus the telescope (from my laptop in the warm kitchen) and them moved on to image 60 galaxies in Cassiopeia.

                                M76 THE LITTLE DUMBBELL NEBULA

                   (See October 2012 Observing Log for image details.)

Hampstead Observatory

Hergenrother

Click on image

268P/Hergenrother

I have added reference magnitude data to the second image taken this morning at 06:43 UT to allow an estimate of the comet's magnitude - around mag 9.

Setting up a new 0.8X Focal Reducer /Flattener

In an attempt to improve the quality of the images using my SBIG camera I have obtained a 0.8X Focal Reducer from TS Optics in Germany. The advantage of this particular reducer is that it actually slides fully into my TCF-Si Focuser. Hopefully this will reduce the level of vignetting and coma that I get compared to the f/6.3 Meade FR that I usually use. Of course there will be a smaller field and a subsequent requirement for more accurate pointing.

 I have also acquired The SkyX from Software Bisque which is very good for generating databases from imported data - particularly its ability to import Supernovae lists in a simple cut and paste operation. However I am still using The Sky6 to refine pointing with T-Point for Windows as I would need to buy the T-Point add on for Sky X! I can't see any advantages in paying for the add on at the moment!

The positioning of the 0.8X focal reducer is critical and the base of the male thread on the camera side needs to be exactly 9.75 cm from the plane of the CCD chip.

To achieve this I am using a variable length extension tube so that a precise distance can be achieved.

(More to follow including diagrams)

Tom Boles discovers his 150th Supernova

Latest 20 officially listed SN Discoveries of 2012

I have arranged these in SN name order. This does not match the discovery date order as designations take variable amounts of time to be applied. The discovery date is in column 2. Discoveries since SN 2012ec have been made but are not yet listed at CBAT.

Derived from data on the CBAT website  

Supernova 2012ej discovered by David Grennan (Dublin) in IC 2166 imaged last night using the 32" Mt Lemmon telescope in Arizona.

 I used the above telescope remotely to take a 2 minute image of this supernova last night.

Leighton Moss

The following images were taken of an Osprey at Leighton Moss taken from the lower hide. It hovered over the lake but did not dive for fish while I was there.