Translate

Oct 27, 2016

15 000 space rocks and counting

The international effort to find, confirm and catalogue the multitude of asteroids that pose a threat to our planet has reached a milestone: 15,000 discovered – with many more to go. For Infomation see 15 000 space rocks and counting,Catalog of Known Near-Earth Asteroids Tops 15,000
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Oct 20, 2016

A Confirmation Image of The NEO 2016 UE On 2016-10-20

A confirmation image of the Near-Earth Object 2016 UE
on 2016-10-20 from Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia. (MPC Q62)
 a stack of 4 - 60 Second Luminance BIN2 Images taken with iTelescope.net's
(TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 reflector + CCD) (C) Steven M. Tilley

See:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Oct 10, 2016

Confirmation of the comet C/2016 T1 (Matheny)

 Background
(as of 2016-10-13)
 
A confirmation image of the comet C/2016 T1 (Matheny)
on 2016-10-07 from AstroCamp Observatory. Nerpio, Spain - (MPC Code I89)
 a stack of 50 - 60 Second Luminance BIN2 Images using
 itelescope.net's (t18 TEL 0.32-m f/8.0 reflector + CCD)
(C) Steven M. Tilley


A confirmation image of the comet C/2016 T1 (Matheny) 
on 2016-10-07 from Auberry California USA - (MPC Code U69) 
a stack of 53 - 60 Second Luminance BIN2 Images using 
itelescope.net's (t24 TEL 0.61-m f/6.5 reflector + CCD) 
(C) Steven M. Tilley

Other links: 

Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

The Asteroid 2009 ES Past Safely then Someone Said Something and The Internet Goes Crazy

 Background
(as of 2016-10-10)
The NEO 2009 ES on 2016-09-20 (Astrometrica) a stack of 4 - 60 Second Luminance BIN2 Images taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T11 0.50-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer) at (MPC Code H06) Mayhill, New Mexico (New Mexico Skies) By Steven M. Tilley
    Tweets(Before Purple Mountain Observatory's Report)



Note before Purple Mountain Observatory's Report 2009 ES just a NEO with well know orbit. Any danger into the foreseeable future from 2009 ES was ruled out on 2009-03-18 10:56(UTC).
Purple Mountain Observatory's Report
 
Then as this story moved through the blogosphere, it changed like the "telephone game." The report was misread, poorly translated, misunderstood, etc. then rewritten by other writers with the wrong information.  Then other writers then use the revised stories as sources for new stories adding to the madness. One should seek out the original story(and see if it is reliable), and check for reliable information from some of the reliable sources such as the Minor Planet Center, NASA NEO Program Office at JPL, ESA's NEODyS (Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site), or The Tracking News.  I am not posting links to the crazy stories, Just Google Asteroid  2009 ES  and see for yourself.
 
    Other links:
Correction: (as of 2016-10-25) was corrected to say (as of 2016-10-10) the date of the post
Posted by 4 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Confirmation of the Near-Earth Object 2016 TJ17

Confirmation image of the Near-Earth Object 2016 TJ17 (absolute magnitude =25.4 ~28m) 
on 2016-10-08 a stack of 9-60 second luminance BIN2 taken 
with iTelescope.net's (T17 TEL 0.43-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD) 
at Observatory: Siding Spring - Australia (MPC code Q62)
By Steven M. Tilley

 


 Background

(as of 2016-10-09)
    Other links:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Sep 26, 2016

Asteroid 2009 ES Fact Sheet

 Background
(as of 2016-09-25)
 
The NEO 2009 ES on 2016-09-20 (Astrometrica) a stack of 4 - 60 Second Luminance BIN2 Images taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T11 0.50-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer) at (MPC Code H06) Mayhill, New Mexico (New Mexico Skies) By Steven M. Tilley
 Other links:

Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Sep 25, 2016

An Asteroid as Entered the Blogosphere… Should I Be Worried?

A commentary by Steven M. Tilley

The Asteroid to Earth "Say out my Way!!!!"
Earth to the Asteroid "Watch where you're going ... fool!!!"
 Image edited by Steven M. Tilley
(Disclaimer --  Earth and
asteroids CAN NOT talk)
 see the original (public domain) image
Planetoid crashing into primordial Earth  at
 Donald Davis' official site
About every few month or so an asteroid makes waves online.  This lead some people to panic. Before anyone panics and does something dumb. One should remember one of the secrets to life, breathe, in and out. Then remember anyone can post anything online. Some sources are better than others when it comes to asteroid information. Sources range from very useful to worse than useless.

First check for reliable information from some of the reliable sources such as the Minor Planet Center, NASA NEO Program Office at JPL, ESA's NEODyS (Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site), or The Tracking News.  The writer of this blog post is aware that are many people in the blogosphere who distrusts one or more of the name reliable sources.  The author suggests that they reexamine their stand. A significant number of individuals and organizations from around the world observe asteroids; these observations serve as a cross check. If someone or a group makes an error, the error would soon come to light with more observations. If there is nothing about the asteroid  from the name from reliable sources most likely, the story probably is wrong. 

Another thing to remember as a story moves through the blogosphere it changes like the "telephone game." The original story is misread, poorly translated, misunderstood, etc. then rewritten by other writers with the wrong information.  Then other writers then use the revised story as a source for new stories adding to the madness. One should seek out the original story(and see if it is reliable).

When reading up ( and writing) about asteroids one should know the limits of one's knowledge base.  Some of bloggers and youtbers out there go way outside of their knowledge base; they think they "know" when they don't  "know."  The problem is many people mistakenly repost "wrong" blog posts(and videos) adding to the madness. Just because something has been shared, many times does not make it true.

It should be stated that no post is complete without a "good" headline and an image to hook readers. Many times the picture is wrong, and the headline is highly misleading.  It takes lots of time to find a picture of the asteroid or use a telescope to image the asteroid in question.  This requirement of time will lead many writers to find any old image of any old asteroid. Many times if the author used a real picture of the asteroid internet users would not click.

Finally one should keep studying about asteroid there so much to know. One should not be afraid seeking good answers to questions. Just look for good sources of information. 
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Feb 26, 2016

The Comet P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS) on 2016-02-25

 Background
(as of 2016-02-25)
 Astrometrica object verification window with a stack of 25- 120 Second Luminance BIN2 Images taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 CDK astrograph + CCD)  at (MPC Code Q62) Siding Spring NSW Australia
 Astrometrica object verification window with a (1 of 25) 120 Second Luminance BIN2 image taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 CDK astrograph + CCD)  at (MPC Code Q62) Siding Spring NSW Australia
 Astrometrica object verification window with a (8 of 25) 120 Second Luminance BIN2 image taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 CDK astrograph + CCD)  at (MPC Code Q62) Siding Spring NSW Australia
 Astrometrica object verification window with a (16 of 25) 120 Second Luminance BIN2 image taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 CDK astrograph + CCD)  at (MPC Code Q62) Siding Spring NSW Australia
 Astrometrica object verification window with a (25 of 25) 120 Second Luminance BIN2 image taken with iTelescope.net's (TEL T27 0.70-m f/6.6 CDK astrograph + CCD)  at (MPC Code Q62) Siding Spring NSW Australia

Other links:
Posted by No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)