last update: 09.06.2007
guidestar.de:astronomical images photographed by Mark Emmerich and Sven Melchert. All images are under copyright by the authors.
Comet 217P/Linear ...
... was recovered on March 17, 2009 by italian astronomers with a remote controlled telescope in New Mexico, USA at magnitude 18. The comet was last seen in 2002.
On August 22 spanish comet observer David Cardenosa reported an outburst in activity and the appearance of a new jet. Further image filtering revealed a
clockwise spiraling jet to the northwest.
We obtained follow-up observations on August 23, 30 and 31. On the picture of Aug 23 this feature and a second tail are clearly visible. Image processing with a Larson-Sekanin-Filter
(3.0 pixel, 7.5 degree)
bringing out the details. The spiraled arc northwest of the central condensation interfere with a startrail but is still well-defined. Such arclets are indicators of
possible fragmentation events or even nucleous splitting - sometimes also called "coma wings" (click on image to enlarge).
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NEO 2008 JO24
The discovery of 2008 JO24 by the Mount Lemmon Survey at a magnitude of 20.5 could be confirmed in the morning hours of May 12 at 1:30 UT.
Click on image to see a larger version and read more ...
NEO 2007 WZ4
Small object 2007 WZ4 discovered on November 20, 2007 by the Catalina Sky Survey
was picked up at our Observatory on November 28 in 25 lunar distances as an object with mag. 19.3
Click on image to see a larger version and learn more ...
Welcome!
Since 2002 our little observatory is mainly dedicated to NEO follow-up work, chasing and confirming newly discovered minor planets crossing the earth' orbit.
After years and nearly 2000 positions measured we finally made our first discoveries in 2008. Compared to the long lists of other amateurs our 4 MBA's (main belt asteroids)
up to this date are nearly nothing. But the first two discoveries of 2008QX19 and 2008RZ77 came within a week and we were happy. But both objects faded away beyond the
range of our telescope. In December 2009 they "brighten" to magnitude 20.2 and 20.9 and hopefully we'll be able to recover both of them.
If you are an astrometrist and and looking for targets please see our follow-up page.
Besides this exciting work we still find time to make some pretty pictures of the other inhabitants of the universe. Our efforts and hopefully also our progress can be followed in the gallery. Enjoy!
News: Close flyby of asteroid 1998 FW on September 29, 2009
This not so little sucker (approx. 400-600 meters) will encounter the earth at a distance of 8.63 LD (lunar distances) on September 29, 18:43 UT. It will be
a radar target a Goldstone and Arecibo. Due to its highly eccentric orbit it is possibly an extinct comet belonging to the Jupiter-family.
We contributed astrometry on Aug. 23 and Sept. 9 to the MPC (MPEC 2009-R32). In the 30 minutes exposed image
the asteroid shows up as a bright streak. During this time the object was clearly visible on a single 30 second exposure at mag. 17. It will brighten up to magnitude 14 and be an easy target for amateur telescopes.
From September 19 - 30 1998FW4 is moving through the constellations Aquarius, Aquila and Ophiuchus accelerating rapidly. After September 30 it will be unobservable.
| Year | Obs Total | Num MPs | Unnum MPs | Comets | Resid. RA | Resid. Decl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2333 positions reported | |||||
| 2009 | 524 | 148 | 349 | 27 | +0.01 +/- 0.45 | -0.11 +/- 0.52 |
| 2008 | 503 | 126 | 365 | 12 | -0.02 +/- 0.42 | -0.09 +/- 0.47 |
| 2007 | 671 | 174 | 479 | 18 | -0.03 +/- 0.44 | -0.10 +/- 0.40 |
| 2006 | 235 | 60 | 175 | 0 | +0.12 +/- 0.50 | -0.20 +/- 0.50 |
| 2005 | 210 | 70 | 131 | 9 | +0.19 +/- 0.78 | -0.10 +/- 0.51 |
| 2004 | 121 | 41 | 72 | 8 | -0.12 +/- 0.52 | -0.17 +/- 0.48 |
| 2003 | 69 | 35 | 34 | 0 | -0.08 +/- 0.51 | +0.09 +/- 0.61 |
* counted by Minor Planet Center as of July. 7, 2009.