Mars and other solar system objects 2020

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hhzhang
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Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

The celebrity solar object of the year is no other than Mars -- in the best opposition position for many years to come.

The night 2020-10-17 to 10-18 finally saw clear skies and I rushed to see what would show up in the 4.5" APO.

Through the eyepiece at 200x the planet did not show many details -- still too bright for visual (guess I should have brought a filter with me) except a bright spot (polar cap) and some fuzzy dark patterns. The imaging could reveal more details but far less impressive than hoped for.

Image

Got to have a much larger aperture in 2035!
hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Trojans in the solar system -- those small objects sharing the orbit with the big guys (planets) but (nearly) locked in safe regions either leading or trailing the big bodies.

Easily the mighty Jupiter keeps the largest collection of these Trojans -- thus called Jupiter trojans. At such distances far beyond main asteroid belt, they are not really easy to detect. But the largest of them, (624) Hektor at magnitude 14.4 these days, gives chances to even small scopes.

Image

The image of Hektor appears to be a short trail -- which is resulted from its motion. The image is simply a combination of multi-exposures spanning 30 minutes -- during which time the wandering solar object really moved among the pixels!
hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Well, some very interesting objects are completely beyond the reach of my gears under Sg's bright night skies. So either I go try out in a truly dark site when the border opens next year, or go hunting them through remote telescopes available. Do both!

Skygems observatories looks a good new one with very competitive pricing.

First target: Eris. One of the most distant objects detectable in the solar system. Now it sits at 95AU from the earth. Even at over 2000km size, it could not reach anything brighter than mag18.

Two sessions nearly 2 days apart show the sizable motion at 95AU away!

Image
hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

The representative for another interesting collection of solar system objects: Centaurs -- those wandering bodies between outer planets.

(2060) Chiron is the brightest one for now. It also has another designation 95P/Chiron. This tells that Centaurs typically behave with characteristics of both asteroids and comets.

Two images 1 day apart show how it travels among the stars.

Image
hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Copied from an earlier post.

Jupiter near opposition.

Image
hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Copied from an earlier post.

Saturn also near opposition.

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hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Copied from an earlier post.

The real celebrity of the year. The C/2020 F3 neowise.

This image was taken in early Aug -- already past the best times of the show.

The core image looks elongated -- something attributable to the fast moving speed of the body across the star field.

Image
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Airconvent
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by Airconvent »

Nice...focus should be on Mars which is at its prime now. :)
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hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

Another shot

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hhzhang
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Re: Mars and other solar system objects 2020

Post by hhzhang »

The moon

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