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David's Astro Corner
David Stine
All who
participated in our Comet/Planet Watch last month enjoyed a
great two nights of showing the "Stars to Tulsa". We
received allot of great compliments and many people walked away
with a little bit more knowledge about the planets, stars and
comets. Thanks to all who participated. We plan to do it again
later this year.
What a
year of comets! Q4 and T7 continue to be very active and are
visible in the evenings. A new comet also was just discovered to
add to the list; C/2004 Comet Swan H6 was picked up by SOHO
spacecrafts SWAN ultraviolet camera. This comet has already
passed perihelion and is heading on a high inclination parabolic
trajectory through the inner solar system. It will probably
remain as an 8th Mg. glow for at least two months in telescopes
but will not be visible in the northern hemisphere until July.
Now how
about a comet marathon. According to Tom Hoffelder there are
several days in the middle of June that you have the opportunity
of viewing six comets in one night. The list is from June 11-19,
but I am only listing the club star party night and new moon
weekend of June 18-19. If you want the complete list, I will get
you a copy. Tom has a unique way of locating objects by using
nearby stars and sweeping to the object. The list names the
nearby star then the sweep you need to make to reach the comet.
Tom says finding all six will be a challenge as T7 even though
bright will never get very high, Bradfield will be very dim as
well as Howell which will be dim and low. You will need a good
horizon to the west for T7, to the NE for T3, and the E for
Howell. A night out at the observatory for those interested on
that Friday and Saturday night may be needed for those
interested in attempting this comet marathon.
June 11
Comet
T7 Linear Star-Alpha Hya Sweep 0.5S/4.8E 09 47.02 RA -09 10.6
DEC Mag. 7 Early Evening-11:30p
Comet
Q4 Neat Theta UMA 1.6S/4.5E 10 00.59 +50 13.8 6.3 All night
Comet
K4 Linear Iota Her 0.1S/6.5E 18 16.88 +45 55.0 9 All night
Comet
F4 Bradfield Theta Cas 0.8S/2.3E 01 27.14 +54 17.7 12 All night
Comet
T3 Tabur Lambda Per 1.4N/1.8W 03 55.61 +51 43.4 10.8 2a.m.-dawn
Comet
88P Howell 29 Cet 0.2S/2.2W 00 58.89 +01 48.7 10.6 3a.m.-dawn
Note:
Epsilon Psc is 7.2S/12.3E of Gamma Peg and 29 Cet is 5.9S/1.2E
of Epsilon Psc
June 18
Comet
T7 Linear Star-Alpha Hya Sweep 0.5N/8.5E 10 01.60 RA -08 10.2
DEC Mag 7.9
Comet
Q4 Neat Theta UMA 0.7N/6.0E 10 12.04 +52 27.6 6.8
Comet
K4 Linear Iota Her 1.1N/0.7W 17 35.48 +47 04.3 8.7
Comet
F4 Bradfield Theta Cas 1.3n/2.6E 01 29.33 +56.25.1 12.5
Comet
T3 Tabur 1 Cam* 0.1W 04 31.16 +53 52.8 11
Note: 1
Cam is 3.5N/3.8E of Lambda Per
Comet
88P Howell 29 Cet 1.3 N/1.6E 01 14.31 +03 20.2 10.7
Note:
Epsilon Psc is 7.2S/12.3E of Gamma Peg and 29 Cet is 5.9S/1.2E
of Epsilon Psc
The
motion of some of the morning comets is enough that the sweep
will need to be slightly revised by the time they are
observable. The locations are for 7 p.m. CST and the sweep
revision for each are as follows: T7, Q4, and F4 N/A K4-0.04W
each hr., T3-0.03E each hr. 88P-0.02E each hr.
Also
you can find charts for all 6 comets and the new comet at http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/.
There
is a possible chance for an outburst during the June Bootids
Meteor Shower between June 20-27th. The best possible date for
the outburst will be June 23. You might want to be out watching
the skies that night just in case. Also there is a good chance
that we may see a good display this August during the Perseid
Meteor Shower. It won't be a storm but higher than normal levels
compared with past years. More as we get closer to August.
For
those still deciding whether or not to journey to another state
for the Venus Transit next Tuesday morning there is a very good
map with times showing the locations for best viewing. Check out
: http://www.dfconcepts.com/maps/noam.gif
Tulsa
is basically out of the picture for any really good views of the
transit. As John Land mentioned, you can view the entire transit
on your computer but it's a midnight to 6a.m. time frame. Check
Johns article for the site. Steve Chapman is planning on going
to Springfield, Illinois to view the transit so if you are
interested you might contact him. He has limited seating but you
could still follow him in your vehicle. Maybe enough people
could car pool. Steve will be leaving after work on Mon June 7
and joining the Springfield Astronomy club at Centennial Park
and returning Tue June 8th after the event.
Congratulations
to Gary Buckmaster as he recently received his Master Observing
Certificate. Check out the new Reflector magazine that you
should have already received and you will see his name under
several observing certificate awards. Great work Gary. You might
not know but we have two observing programs in the club that I
designed and several people have already received their
certificates. The summer program is ready to go, so if you want
the list of objects just e-mail me. It's a lot of fun and some
out of the ordinary objects to locate but very interesting. To
get started you can go to our website www.astrotulsa.com then go
to the newsletter option at the top then click on June 2003 and
you will find the list. I can supply you with a detailed list
complete with coordinates and an observing form if you contact
me. Good luck
That's
it from my corner this month, happy comet hunting until next
month.
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