3towers Observatory - Comets & Asteroids Page 1

The 3towers Observatory: Comets & Asteroids

Many of these 3towers Observatory comet and asteroid images were taken on a 12-inch LX 200 telescope using a focal reducer at f/6.5 with an Apogee KX260 CCD camera or an Apogee AP7 CCD camera running under MaxIm DL/CCD. The black and white images vary from single 30 second exposures to images produced by adding two or more one-minute exposures together using a median routine in Mira or MaxIM DL/CCD. The color images were taken with the Apogee AP7 CCD and an ISIS FW1 Filter Wheel containing Red (R), Green (V), Blue (B), Infrared (I), and Clear Photometeric filters. They are composites of multiple individual 30-60 sec red (R), green (V), blue (B), and clear (CL) exposures added together to make final tri-color CCD images. In general, the only image processing used is bias and dark subtraction, flat fielding, and contrast stretching. Compare these images obtained with a Meade 12-inch LX 200 telescope operating at approximately f/6.5 with those from the Grasslands Observatory (24-inch f/5 telescope at a dark sky site). It is amazing what a relatively modest sized telescope at a suburban location can achieve using good imaging equipment and software.

Also note the comet images taken with a Nikon digital camera and various wide angle and telephoto lens.

Unless otherwise indicated, all images are oriented with the North at the top and the West to the right.

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Object	Other Names	3towers Observatory Images	Comments
Asteroid 3 Juno		Juno as visualized on the evening of 14 March 2002. Sixty second exposure with AP7 CCD camera.	Animated image showing Juno's motion through the sky. This consists of ten individual 60-second exposures taken in succession and put together into an animated feedback loop.
Asteroid 345 Tercidina			Animated image showing Tercidina's motion through the sky on the evening of 1 December 2005. The image is a combination of approximately 20 ninety second exposures taken through a V filter every five minutes combined into an animated feedback loop. Near the end of the loop, Tercidina was only 7 degrees above the Western horizon.
Asteroid 1999 KW4		An animated GIF image of the asteroid tracking across the sky was also made. The asteroid travels from the lower left hand corner of the frame to the upper right hand corner of the frame. Aninamated Image 1994 KW4	Asteroid 1999 KW4 made a close approach to the Earth on the week end of May 26-27, 2001. It became approximately 10th magnitude. On the evening of Saturday 26 May from 10:25 to 11:00pm MST (05:25-6:00 UT 27 May), seventy-five successive 15-second exposures of the asteroid were taken at the 3towers Observatory with a Meade 12-inch LX200 telescope and an Apogee AP7 CCD camera. Fifteen of the images were added together to produce the track of the asteroid across the CCD field. The images were taken through haze and clouds.
Asteroid 4179 Toutatis		Animated Image 4179 Toutatis Animated GIF image of the asteroid tracking across the sky. This animation was made from images selected from a total of 102 images taken on 26 September 2004. Ten second exposures through open filter.
Comet Giacobini-Zinner	21P/Giacobini-Zinner.	Image obtained at The 3towers Observatory 15 November 1998 ~ 05:30UT.	Image obtained at The Grasslands Observatory on 17 November 1998 ~ 03:00UT.
Comet Holmes	17/P Holmes	Wide angle image taken on Wednesday October 24, 2007 at 9:00 pm local time. 15 mm f/4 lens on a Nikon D100 camera with a 10 second exposure at ISO 800.	Cassiopeia is the upside down chair above and left of center. The green fuzz ball in the upper right corner is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the nearly full Moon causes an unwelcome glow coming from the upper right hand corner. Perseus is just below center, and the comet is circled. Note the Pleiades near the lower right hand corner. Two radio towers are partially seen in the lower left hand corner.
Comet Holmes	17/P Holmes	Taken on Wednesday evening October 24, 2007 at 9:15 pm local time.	Ten second exposure with a 135 mm f/3.5 lens on a Nikon D100 camera at ISO 800. The numbers next to the bright stars represent their Mag (v) as listed in MegaStar 5.0.
Comet Holmes	17/P Holmes	November 3, 2007.	Ten second exposure with a 135 mm f/3.5 lens on a Nikon D100 camera at ISO 800. The numbers next to the bright stars represent their Mag (v) as listed in MegaStar 5.0.
Comet Holmes	17/P	November 19, 2007.	Ten second exposure with a 135 mm f/3.5 lens on a Nikon D100 camera at ISO 800.
Comet Ikeya-Zhang on 5 March 2002 at 3:00 hrs UT.	C/2002 C1		This image is a composite of 30-sec red (R), 30-sec green (V), and 50-sec blue (B) exposures added together to make a tri-color CCD image. It was obtained with a 12-inch LX 200 telescope and an Apogee AP7 CCD camera with an Isis FW 1 filter wheel.
Comet Ikeya-Zhang on 18 March 2002 at 3:00 hrs UT	C/2002 C1		This image is a composite of 30-sec red (R), 30-sec green (V), 60-sec blue (B), and 60-sec clear (CL) exposures added together to make a tri-color CCD image. It was obtained with a 12-inch LX 200 telescope and an Apogee AP7 CCD camera with an Isis FW 1 filter wheel.
Comet Jager	P/1998 U3	Image obtained at the 3towers Observatory 14 November 1998 ~ 07:00UT.
Comet Juels-Holvorcem	C/2002 Y1	Image obtained at the 3towers Observatory 31 December 02 ~12:45 UT. The comet is the faint ~ 15th magnitude greenish disk just below the two stars near the middle of the image. An animated GIF image of the Comet was also made. It consists of eight 60-second exposures through a clear filter added together in a GIF animation: Animated Image of Comet Juels-Holvorcem	This image is a composite of one 60-sec red (R), one 60-sec green (V), one 90-sec blue (B), and eight 60-sec clear (CL) exposures added together to make a tri-color CCD image. It was obtained with a 12-inch LX 200 telescope and an Apogee AP7 CCD camera with an Isis FW 1 filter wheel. The small galaxy on the left is NGC5190.

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