Hi all,
MPEC 2024-Y20 announced yesterday the discovery of the Jupiter-family comet C/2024 X1 (Fazekas).
Its nominal orbital period (29.5 years) is surprisingly similar to that of Saturn (29.4 years; and also to 2.5 times that of Jupiter, 29.7 years), but note the uncertainty (+/- 2.8 years), so more observations will be needed before any resonance check can be done.
More anecdotally, you'll note that it has a C/ prefix despite its nominal orbital period being (slightly) below 30 years.
Adrien
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Re: KOPR APASS catalog magnitudes issues?
Hi Jakub,
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1. It is really the isue with the query looking from the comet center instead of the center of the image.
If you have in the settings the option calculated comet pos. ON then the queries seem to be done from that point out insted of the CRVAL1 and CRVAL2 from the header of the image.
I solved that by commenting out two lines of the code.
I have also solved the online catalog issue. That was related to my chang of the WorldtoPix function that was making issues with my mathplotlib and KOPR would not load the images. But now that modification caused the parsing of the star catalog to stop working.
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2. Could actually be the difference between the APASS v9 (vizier query) and APASS v10 (local copy).
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Thank you for your support
Best regards
Jure
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Re: KOPR APASS catalog magnitudes issues?
Hello Jure,
unfortunately this finds me in a time when I am heavy loaded with
work and have no time to examine these things detailed.
However answer to 1. question could be different obtaining of
stars thats counted from center of comet, not the image. The
answer of 2. question could be that the online APASS use APASS
version 8, while offline APASS 10 catalogue version. I have no
idea, if this can explains the difference, but i guess it shouldnt
be systematically.
Why live version doesnt load from online remains a mystery to me.
I will be back to this topic during xmass time, when I will have
time to examine it more closer.
Best regards,
Jakub
On 17. 12. 24 8:37, Jure Zakraj?ek via
groups.io wrote:
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Show quoted text
Hi,
I'm experiencing some strange behavior with KOPR. I
have the stable version 0.83 installed as an compile
executable.
I also have the live version, which I run from a source
with Python 3.10
I have two strange behaviors:
1. The live version is not capturing all the stars in
my image (with local APASS catalog), while the stable
version works normally.
If I remove the local APASS catalog from the live version,
it does not find any stars from the query. I'm really
confused.
Here is a screenshot: the left side shows the stable version
(compiled executable), and the right side shows the live run
from the source (local APASS catalog).
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2. The second issue I found is that there is a difference
between the magnitudes that I get from the online APASS
catalog and the local version provided with KOPR.
Here is an example: Both images are from the stable 0.83
(compiled executable), the same two stars, the same aperture
settings.
The left side shows the magnitudes from online APASS V
magnitude, and the right side shows the magnitudes from local
copy of the APASS catalog. The difference, I would say, is
quite significant.
 ?
Has anyone else experienced such behavior when running KOPR
from the source or found similar issues with the magnitudes?
?
Best regards
Jure
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KOPR APASS catalog magnitudes issues?
Hi,
I'm experiencing some strange behavior with KOPR. I have the stable version 0.83 installed as an compile executable.
I also have the live version, which I run from a source with Python 3.10
I have two strange behaviors:
1. The live version is not capturing all the stars in my image (with local APASS catalog), while the stable version works normally.
If I remove the local APASS catalog from the live version, it does not find any stars from the query. I'm really confused.
Here is a screenshot: the left side shows the stable version (compiled executable), and the right side shows the live run from the source (local APASS catalog). 
?
2. The second issue I found is that there is a difference between the magnitudes that I get from the online APASS catalog and the local version provided with KOPR.
Here is an example: Both images are from the stable 0.83 (compiled executable), the same two stars, the same aperture settings. The left side shows the magnitudes from online APASS V magnitude, and the right side shows the magnitudes from local copy of the APASS catalog. The difference, I would say, is quite significant.  ?
Has anyone else experienced such behavior when running KOPR from the source or found similar issues with the magnitudes?
?
Best regards
Jure
?
?
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Re: Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now in SWAN
Hi Vladimir,
I've been imaging this comet in the morning twilight using iTelescope T70 in Chile. This is a 135mm Samyang lens but it has the advantage of being able to get to the horizon. As of this morning I got m1=8.1 using Gaia G and comphot.
Images and ICQ data are here:
Observing conditions at 30 deg S will improve until around Dec 22. After that the comet should be visible until early January, by which time it might be mag 3 or so.
Nick James. BAA.
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On 15/12/2024 03:10, Vladimir Bezugly via groups.io wrote: Hi All.
Just for information - a recent bright comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now is visible in the last SWAN images.
X-Y position (0,0 - upper left) on 9/12 is 226-321.
Comet`s UV singature is enough bright with slow angular motion at low solar elongation.
Vladimir.
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Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now in SWAN
Hi All.
Just for information - a recent bright comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) now is visible in the last SWAN images.
X-Y position (0,0 - upper left) on 9/12 is 226-321.
Comet`s UV singature is enough bright with slow angular motion at low solar elongation.
Vladimir.
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Comet 333P/LINEAR close approach to Earth
Comet 333P/LINEAR made its close approach to Earth at 1014UT on the morning of 2024 December 9 as seen from Tucson, Arizona at a distance of 80,860,186 kilometers (50,254,932 miles). The comet was traveling at 6722 km per hour (4178 mph) relative to the Earth as it approached Earth on December 9, relatively slowly when one considers the Earth was moving at 107,208 km/hour (66,616 mph) and the comet at 133,200 km/hour (82,784 mph) relative to the Sun. The comets magnitude at close approach was G=11.0 as calculated from 4x10 second images taken thru a green filter in an aperture diameter of 2.4'. The gif animation shows the comet from 9 minutes before close approach until 10 minutes after close approach, 1005-1024UT, hazy skies and the comet moving at 9.7' per hour (resulting in short exposures) did not allow for much detail of the comets coma and tail for each 4x10s image in the gif animation taken with a small 50mm f/5 refractor. I have also included the gif animation and images from the day before close approach.
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OFF TOPIC: Free Zoom webinar by John W. Briggs on "The Importance of Preserving Astronomical History" this Saturday, December 14
We would like to invite everyone to a free Zoom webinar on?"The Importance of Preserving Astronomical History"?by astronomy historian John W. Briggs this Saturday, December 14, at 8:30 p.m. EST (1:30 UT).?(Please see the attachment.)
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This is part of the Astronomy Experts Speaker Series that my wife, Imelda Joson, and I started nearly three years ago in collaboration with the Astronomical League of the Philippines. To access the Zoom link, please register at:
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Registration is quick and easy ¡ª all you need to do is to fill in your name and email address, and the Zoom link will be sent to you automatically.
In addition to Zoom, the event will be streamed on Facebook Live and recorded for YouTube.
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We hope you can join us. Thanks!
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All the best,
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Edwin
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December 14 (Saturday), 8:30 p.m. EST / December 15 (Sunday), 9:30 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (1:30 UT)
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¡°The Importance of Preserving Astronomical History¡±
By John W. Briggs
Astronomy historian and past president, Antique Telescope Society
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Abstract:
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Everyone interested in astronomy faces a unique challenge on how to connect with it. For some enthusiasts, the subject becomes a life-long interest with never-ending opportunities for learning, engagement, and fulfilling observation. Indeed, modern technology allows both amateurs and professionals to see, record, and compute more than ever before. Our fundamental understanding of the Universe remains in an exciting flux, sometimes progressing in unexpected leaps! The progress of science and technology is thus a fascinating human process with an associated sociology that ranges back through centuries.
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This presentation will dramatize how the history of astronomy is a specialty that can, and should be, embraced by enthusiasts. Perhaps surprisingly, there are many grassroots opportunities for active engagement in the history of astronomy, given ongoing challenges in historical preservation. Artifacts from this history range from individual instruments to whole observatories, from publications to whole libraries, and from recollections to recorded "oral history." Artifacts like these ¡ª some of quite grand scale ¡ª are unfortunately being shut down, discarded, lost, or so awkwardly modified in their modernization, that intangible, but often very precious, aspects are being lost. This is especially unfortunate given the potential of historical artifacts to be inspirational educational tools, at least in the hands of people who understand how to use them. With this lavishly illustrated presentation, John Briggs hopes to engage more astronomers in the fascinating history of the field.
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Bio:
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John W. Briggs serves as Secretary of the new Alliance of Historical Observatories that has met at Mount Wilson, Palomar, Lowell and Yerkes observatories, and most recently, at the Vatican Observatory near Rome.?
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In a career that started on the editorial staff of?Sky & Telescope?magazine, John has lived and worked at far-ranging observatories in various technical capacities, including a 1994 winter-over at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. He came to New Mexico with his family in 1997 to assist in the final commissioning of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at Apache Point.?
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John served three terms as President of the Antique Telescope Society, and in 2018 he received the Society's Newton Medal for his contributions to the organization. In 2005-2006 he served as a visiting scientist at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. His principal activity now involves the Astronomical Lyceum, a facility devoted to historical astronomy and its preservation, and a related project to create the Mountain View Observatory Association in New Mexico.
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Hi everyone, we also tried to film the MOU0001 field and we did not detect anything in the field. Greetings Monte Viseggi Observatory 126 Associazione Astrofili Spezzini - APS
Via delle Fornaci 1/A 19122 La Spezia
Il giorno mer 11 dic 2024 alle 22:14 Alan Hale via <ahale= [email protected]> ha scritto: Hi Maik, all, ? I¡¯d still encourage anyone else to have a go at this. Theoretically, it could be ¡°there¡± but faint, or several arcmin away from the ephemeris position and I somehow missed it, but in any event I wouldn¡¯t entirely write it off just yet. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? Alan,
many thanks for this information. I really thought that the second tracklet was a good confirmation, and this was the reason for my message, but now it seems it might still be questionable.
Maik Hi Maik, all, ? I just took some images with LCO-Tenerife, and was unable to detect any moving objects down to magnitude ~19 within a 5x5 arcminute field centered on the predicted ephemeris position. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? I want to point out the object MOU0001 on the NEOCP. My parabolic solution looks very interesting - intrinsically faint but very close approach to Earth in January. Of course, this is based on just 18 hours of arc, so more observations are needed, to see how close to the truth it is. "One cannot discover comets lying in bed." * Lewis Swift ________________________________________________________________________ *** @skymorph.bsky.social
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Hi Maik, all, ? I¡¯d still encourage anyone else to have a go at this. Theoretically, it could be ¡°there¡± but faint, or several arcmin away from the ephemeris position and I somehow missed it, but in any event I wouldn¡¯t entirely write it off just yet. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? Alan,
many thanks for this information. I really thought that the second tracklet was a good confirmation, and this was the reason for my message, but now it seems it might still be questionable.
Maik 11.12.2024 21:52:28 Alan Hale <ahale@...>:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Maik, all, ? I just took some images with LCO-Tenerife, and was unable to detect any moving objects down to magnitude ~19 within a 5x5 arcminute field centered on the predicted ephemeris position. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? I want to point out the object MOU0001 on the NEOCP. My parabolic solution looks very interesting - intrinsically faint but very close approach to Earth in January. Of course, this is based on just 18 hours of arc, so more observations are needed, to see how close to the truth it is. "One cannot discover comets lying in bed." * Lewis Swift ________________________________________________________________________ *** @skymorph.bsky.social
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Alan,
many thanks for this information. I really thought that the second tracklet was a good confirmation, and this was the reason for my message, but now it seems it might still be questionable.
Maik
Sent from my mobile
11.12.2024 21:52:28 Alan Hale <ahale@...>:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Maik, all,
?
I just took some images with LCO-Tenerife, and was unable to detect any moving objects down to magnitude ~19 within a 5x5 arcminute field centered on the predicted ephemeris position.
?
?
Sincerely,
Alan
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I want to point out the object MOU0001 on the NEOCP.
My parabolic solution looks very interesting - intrinsically faint but very close approach to Earth in January. Of
course, this is based on just 18 hours of arc, so more observations are needed, to see how close to the truth it is.
"One cannot discover comets lying in bed." * Lewis Swift
________________________________________________________________________
*** @skymorph.bsky.social
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Hi Maik, all, ? I just took some images with LCO-Tenerife, and was unable to detect any moving objects down to magnitude ~19 within a 5x5 arcminute field centered on the predicted ephemeris position. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? I want to point out the object MOU0001 on the NEOCP. My parabolic solution looks very interesting - intrinsically faint but very close approach to Earth in January. Of course, this is based on just 18 hours of arc, so more observations are needed, to see how close to the truth it is. "One cannot discover comets lying in bed." * Lewis Swift ________________________________________________________________________ *** @skymorph.bsky.social
|
Hello all,
I want to point out the object MOU0001 on the NEOCP.
My parabolic solution looks very interesting - intrinsically faint but very close approach to Earth in January. Of course, this is based on just 18 hours of arc, so more observations are needed, to see how close to the truth it is.
Maik
--
"One cannot discover comets lying in bed." * Lewis Swift
________________________________________________________________________
*** @skymorph.bsky.social
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Connecting to unsecured SWAN website
Miki ¨C this topic came up back in early September. See the messages starting with my #32535. Your browser may automatically be changing the link to https: ¨C even if you manually type http:. Bill Gray¡¯s message
#32545 kindly described the work-around procedure for Firefox. I¡¯ve cut & pasted it below:
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¡°I'm seeing the same thing in Firefox, and fixed it as follows (recognizing you may use a different browser, but it probably has a similar ability to say "allow unsecured connections for the following sites".)
I went into Firefox's Settings tab, and found the "HTTPS-Only Mode" section. That has a "Manage Exceptions..." button; I clicked on it.
I entered the "Address of website" as , and clicked on "Turn off", then "Save Changes", and closed the settings tab.
After that, I was able to load the site without it attempting to look for the secured variant.
I can't recall when I last ran into an HTTP-only site. (There were no sites already in the "exceptions" list). Keeping SSL certificates current for a site can be mildly annoying (I have to update them manually every ~70 days for projectpluto.com), but there
are decent reasons doing so.
-- Bill
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I usually recommend use Aladin to open the FITS and find how many layers and what kind of images and data are in there. There are some FITS which have multiple slices. Some others are something called cubes. FITS Can contain so many things and sometimes you have to tweak the header to view the fits correctly ln some software.
Anyway Aladin is free, easy and gives you hints
El El mar, 10 de diciembre de 2024 a la(s) 9:31, Miki Kasz via <grymiki= [email protected]> escribi¨®:
[Edited Message Follows]
Normally, I could process FITS images in GIMP and look for comets, but now the image isn't displaying correctly (EXPECIALLY STEREO FITS). Any ideas? 
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Hi Roberto, ? Yes, I did. ? ? Sincerely, Alan ? Great that you confirmed. Did you send the observation with On Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:03:25 -0700
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I can confirm that this object is exhibiting cometary behavior. On images I took yesterday with LCO-Tenerife (0.35-m Cassegrain) it is clearly showing a small condensed coma and a short westward-pointing tail. Attached image is 300-seconds, 5x5 arcminutes, standard orientation (north up, east right), taken December 8 at 23:58 UT. Object 2015 CD60 is definitely a comet. From images taken on December 2nd (unfortunately analyzed only today)
I noticed that the object 2015CD60 (object that I follow together others to see if it has cometary activity) is definitely a comet These are the data of the object: 2015CD60 Mag. 18.0 for a coma of about 10" with a tail of about 42" Taken with a 369mm Cassegrain reduced to F/6.88 (2493mm focal on December 2nd 2024 (mean time 01h12m22s UT) with 46x90s and a limiting magnitude of about 22. Image scale 1".24/pixel north up but slightly tilted to the left by 4¡ã and east therefore to the left. I also took it on November 1, 2024 and it showed no activity (it was even more difficult to understand due to the presence of many
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Hello Miki,
Maybe you should try to open it with Siril. At first level, just opening and looking at an image, it is quite simple to use.
Christophe
Envoy¨¦ avec la messagerie s¨¦curis¨¦e
Le mardi 10 d¨¦cembre 2024 ¨¤ 16:31, Miki Kasz via groups.io <grymiki@...> a ¨¦crit?:
[Edited Message Follows]
Normally, I could process FITS images in GIMP and look for comets, but now the image isn't displaying correctly (EXPECIALLY STEREO FITS). Any ideas? 
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Normally, I could process FITS images in GIMP and look for comets, but now the image isn't displaying correctly (EXPECIALLY STEREO FITS). Any ideas? 
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Great that you confirmed. Did you send the observation with confirmation to the MPC? Regards, Roberto Haver On Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:03:25 -0700 "Alan Hale" <ahale@...> wrote: Hi Roberto, all,
Nice job Roberto!
I can confirm that this object is exhibiting cometary behavior. On images I took yesterday with LCO-Tenerife (0.35-m Cassegrain) it is clearly showing a small condensed coma and a short westward-pointing tail. Attached image is 300-seconds, 5x5 arcminutes, standard orientation (north up, east right), taken December 8 at 23:58 UT.
Sincerely,
Alan
Object 2015 CD60 is definitely a comet.
From images taken on December 2nd (unfortunately analyzed only today) I noticed that the object 2015CD60 (object that I follow together with others to see if it has cometary activity) is definitely a comet with a tail too!
These are the data of the object:
2015CD60 Mag. 18.0 for a coma of about 10" with a tail of about 42" in PA 277¡ã.
Photo data:
Taken with a 369mm Cassegrain reduced to F/6.88 (2493mm focal length) on December 2nd 2024 (mean time 01h12m22s UT) with 46x90s and a limiting magnitude of about 22. Image scale 1".24/pixel north up but slightly tilted to the left by 4¡ã and east therefore to the left. Field of 21'.6x32'.3.
I also took it on November 1, 2024 and it showed no activity (it was even more difficult to understand due to the presence of many annoying stars nearby).
Regards,
Roberto Haver
157 Frasso Sabino
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http doesn't have to do anything with that. It says no requested URL found.
Also, I tried opening site on Firefox, doesn't work either. 
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Mike Olason
Luigi Sannino
