Asteroids

Asteroid 10286 Shnollia (1982 SM6) Observation

This is an 80-minute stacked exposure showing the Main-belt Asteroid 10286 Shnollia moving near the outer edges of the open cluster Messier 36 in the constellation Auriga on 14 Nov 2023. This asteroid is roughly 2.6 miles (4.156 km) in diameter and around magnitude 17.5.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 80 x 60 seconds, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: November 14, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Asteroid 7756 Scientia

I picked up this small 10-mile wide asteroid named 7756 Scientia while imaging the Beehive Cluster. Scientia is a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on March 27, 1990 by C. S. Shoemaker and E. M. Shoemaker at Palomar.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at -10C, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, 60 x 60 second guided exposures, focused with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using Tycho Tracker. Image Date: November 23, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Georgia and Heidelberga.mp4

Asteroids 359 Georgia and 325 Heidelberga

This is a 60-minute time lapse video that captured both asteroid 359 Georgia and 325 Heidelberga in the same field of view.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at -10C, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, 60 x 60 second guided exposures, focused with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using Tycho. Image Date: January 16, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Asteroid 2002 XY60 Moving Through The Pleiades Cluster

This is an 80-minute time lapse showing the Main-belt Asteroid 2002XY60 moving through the Pleiades Cluster and the star Merope. 2002XY60 is roughly 2.5 miles in diameter and around magnitude 18.8.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at 0F, 80 x 60 seconds, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in DSS and PixInsight. Image Date: November 5, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Thetis_121321.mp4

Main-belt Asteroid Thetis

Thetis, minor planet designation 17 Thetis, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 90 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 April 1852, by German astronomer Robert Luther at Bilk Observatory in Düsseldorf, Germany who deferred to Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander the naming his first asteroid discovery after Thetis from Greek mythology. (Wikipedia)
The video and image show the movement of Thetis over a 90-minute period on December 13, 2021.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, 90 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats, processed using PixInsight and DSS. Image Date: December 13, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Asteroid 945 Barcelona

This image shows the asteroid 945 Barcelona. From Wikipedia, “945 Barcelona is a minor planet orbiting the Sun in the Asteroid belt. It was discovered 3 February 1921 from Barcelona by the Catalan astronomer Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937) and named for the city of Barcelona (Spain), the birthplace of the discoverer. It has an estimated diameter of 25.5 km.”
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO AS2600mc-Pro running at -10C, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, 41 x 60 second guided exposures, focused with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using Tycho v9.3.3. Image Date: October 6, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Asteroid 216 Kleopatra

Here is a screen shot showing the asteroid 216 Kleopatra currently in the constellation Pegasus, estimated magnitude based on my observations is 9.84 (visual). It has a mean diameter of 122.00 km and an orbital period of 4.667 years.
Tech Specs: Meade LX-90 12" Telescope with Antares f/6.3 FR, ZWO ASI071 running at -10C, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, 40 x 60 second guided exposures, focused with a ZWO EAF, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Processed using Tycho Tracker v9.3.7. Image Date: October 11, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

beatrix.mp4

Asteroid Beatrix

Thought I would try my hand at asteroid observation, here is a short video clip showing the movement of asteroid Beatrix over 15-minutes. According to the NASA JPL Small Body Database, this asteroid is a Main Belt Asteroid with a diameter of 68 miles. At the time of the observation, it was listed at 13th magnitude.
TECH SPECS: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Canon 6D, ISO 3200, 15 x 60 second exposures. Image date: January 28, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Asteroid Johanna

127 Johanna is a main belt asteroid that is about 76 miles wide. Currently, it is slowly moving through the constellation Auriga at magnitude 11.8. From Wikipedia: Johanna (minor planet designation: 127 Johanna) is a large, dark main-belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry on 5 November 1872, and is believed to be named after Joan of Arc.
The animated GIF shows the movement of Johanna over 30 minutes by blinking two images.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, Celestron CGEM-DX mount (pier mounted), ZWO ASI071MC-Pro running at -20C, 1 x 120 second exposures, GAIN 200, guided using a ZWO ASI290MC and Orion 60mm guide scope. Captured using SharpCap v3.2. Image date: January 22, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Ceres_121221.mp4

Dwarf Planet Ceres Observation

Ceres (minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is the largest object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres has a radius of just under 294 miles. The image shown shows Ceres in a stationary position and the stars moving, the image was processed to keep Ceres stationary and give an impression of how far it moved during this one hour and 40 minute combined exposure. The diffraction spikes on Ceres are caused by the design of the Ritchey-Chretien telescope.
The video clip shows the same time comparison and the movement of Ceres.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI290MC and ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF. 100 x 60 seconds at -10C plus darks and flats, stacked in DSS. Image Date: December 12, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

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