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The last lunar eclipse of 2021 was a deep partial one. The video here is a short time-lapse, made by the author, showing the eclipsed Moon setting behind the Andes. I observed this eclipse from Uspallata valley, in Mendoza Argentina, in central west Argentina
We had a perfectly clear night in Mendoza, Argentina, on May 26, 2021, to watch this total lunar eclipse. By clicking on the image to the left you will access the time/lapse video I made. The next lunar eclipse will take place in November this year.
OBSERVING REPORT
Eta Aquariids 2021
Visible from Uspallata, Mendoza (Argentina)
INSTRUMENT: Naked eye
Eta Aquariids 2021
Visible from Uspallata, Mendoza (Argentina)
DATE: May 6, 2021
TIME: 04:30 to 06:30am local time (UT - 3hs.)
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata valley
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata valley
In spite of the low temperatures we have in May, here in the southern hemisphere, a clear night at the mountain is a good opportunity to enjoy the starry nights, including the well-known Eta Aquariid meteor shower. On the morning of May 6, I observed these meteors from Uspallata valley, a couple of hours before dawn. I saw not too many meteors but some of them were pretty bright, offering a good show on a pleasant and cold night there. The picture to the right was taken by the author. The brightest "star" is planet Jupiter, in the constellation Capricornus then.
The last total solar eclipse took place in December 2020. With two more astronomy friends, we drove down to northern Patagonia to watch it. We set up several cameras, a small weather station, and an H/alpha telescope to register the phenomenon. You can watch the results in the video I made. Just click on the image here to enjoy it.
C/2019 U6 Lemmon
Visible from Mendoza, Argentina
DATE: May 27, 2020
TIME: 08:000pm local time (UT - 3hs.)
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
I was following this comet from my backyard during May and June (2020). Even at its brightest, in June, the comet was barely visible through binoculars and I got a decent view through one of my 8-inch telescopes appearing like a small blueish hazy spot. On the video, made with pictures taken for 2 hours, you can notice how the comet slowly moves among the stars. U6 Lemmon reached magnitude 6 on June 18.
OBSERVING REPORT
C/2020 F8 SWAN
Visible from Mendoza, Argentina
INSTRUMENT: 10x50 binocular and 8" (20cm.) telescope
C/2020 F8 SWAN
Visible from Mendoza, Argentina
DATE: May 2 and 4, 2020
TIME: 06:30am local time (UT - 3hs.)
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
This comet is predicted to reach magnitude 3 in May as you can see on the diagram here taken from Seiichi Yoshida´s webpage. Unfortunately, due to the situation the world is living in, it was not possible to drive to a dark sky site to see this visitor in its full splendor. However, I was able to see it from the urban skies on the nights of May 2 and 4. The first night the comet was visible through binoculars being clearly visible as a small and round blueish patch. On the night of May 4, just some minutes before the beginning of the astronomical twilight and with the comet about 24 degrees high in the eastern sky, it was clearly detected through my 8-inch (20cm) newtonian telescope at 42 and 78x. The core is clearly brighter and I would give this comet a DC (degree of condensation) of 5/6. Even if a beautiful tail is visible in some amazing pictures taken by some astrophotographers, none of its tail was visible from the urban sky. From the Southern Hemisphere, the comet is going down in the sky every night, moving toward the constellation Pisces.
This is a time-lapse video of this solar eclipse, member of the Series Saros 127, I made from a good observing site at the Andes mountains in San Juan Province (Argentina).
OBSERVING REPORT
Saturn Occultation by the Moon
Visible from Mendoza, Argentina
Saturn Occultation by the Moon
Visible from Mendoza, Argentina
DATE: June 18, 2019
TIME: 11:00pm local time (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) telescope
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza City - Urban skies
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza City - Urban skies
The first total lunar eclipse of 2019 (January 20-21) was visible from the Americas. I made this time-lapse video from Mendoza (Argentina). The Moon was close to the local meridian at the time of the greatest eclipse so the conditions were excellent. Some clouds were moving in front of the Moon, especially during mid-totality (you can notice that on the video). However, the eclipse was well seen, being a wonderful event.
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| © Michael Jager |
C/2016 M1 PanSTARRS
Discovered on June 22, 2016, by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala)
DATE: July 13, 2018
TIME: 11:18pm local time (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) telescope
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city - Urban skies
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| M1 PanSTARRS is barely visible from urban skies but you can find and see it when observing carefully. |
Eclipse Parcial de Sol 2018 / Partial Solar Eclipse 2018 from LeoCavagnaro on Vimeo.
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| © Jean Soulier |
3200 Phaethon & geminids 2017
3200 Phaethon discovered on October 11, 1983 by IRAS satellite
DATE: December 14 and 17, 2017
TIME: From midnight to sunrise (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) telescope
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Jocolì and Upallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies
OBSERVING SITE: Jocolì and Upallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies
A few days later, on December 17th, I drove to Uspallata Valley, well into the Andes mountains, to observe which is seemingly the parent body of this shower, the rock comet 3200 Phaethon, an Apollo-potentially hazardous object. The night before it approached to Earth down to 0.07 a.u. The night of the observation it was situated on the southern side of the Great Square of Pegasus, shining like an 11.5 magnitude star. It was observed at 120x. The movement of 3200 Phaethon against the background stars was pretty obvious. The sketches below show the position of this object with a difference of 10 minutes in the observation, from 23:18 to 23:28 local time (UT - 3hs.).
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| © Roland Fichtl |
C/2015 V2 Johnson
Discovered by J. A. Johnson (Catalina Sky Survey) on November 3, 2015
DATE: April 30, 2017
TIME: 01:33am local time (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) telescope
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies
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Photo of V2 Johnson taken by Martin Junius on April 29, 2017
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Video from Chubut, Argentina.
Eclipse Solar Anular Febrero 2017 from LeoCavagnaro on Vimeo.
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DATE: February 10/11, 2017
TIME: 09:43pm (February 10th.) local time (UT - 3hs.) - Time of the greatest eclipse
INSTRUMENT: Canon SX510HS digital camera
TIME: 09:43pm (February 10th.) local time (UT - 3hs.) - Time of the greatest eclipse
INSTRUMENT: Canon SX510HS digital camera
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza City (Argentina) - Urban Skies
From my observing site, the Moon was 15 degrees high in the sky at the moment of the greatest eclipse at 00:43 UT1 (February 11th), 09:43pm local time. The synodic month in which the eclipse takes place has a Brown Lunation Number of 1164.
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DATE: May 29, 2016
TIME: 11:15pm (May 29th.) to 01:15am (May 30th.) local time (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) reflector telescope
TIME: 11:15pm (May 29th.) to 01:15am (May 30th.) local time (UT - 3hs.)
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) reflector telescope
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza City (Argentina) - Urban Skies
The sketch here, made by the author, shows how the red planet appeared during the time of its closest approach to Earth. The sky conditions were far from optimum but good enough to make possible the identification of some albedo features. The sketch was made observing through an 8-inch telescope at 266x without a planetary filter.
Time of the sketch: 11:25pm local time (02:25am UT).
Coordinates of the planet: Altitude: 68° 3' 45" Azimuth: 63° 48' 17"
Seeing (Antoniadi scale): 3-2.
Central meridian (CM): 142°5 (indicated with a red line on Mars map below). The North pole is tilted towards the Earth.
Magnitude: -2.0
Apparent diameter: 18.60"
According to Paul G. Abel in his book Visual Lunar and Planetary Astronomy (2013), the region of the planet I was observing this night is known by amateur astronomers as "the dull face of Mars" due to the lack of strong albedo features. I could observe and identify two major features, the Mare Simerium region in the martian southern hemisphere and the Mare Boreum zone close to the martian north pole (see sketch above). More difficult to glimpse, visible just for brief moments, is a small feature named Solis Lacus that was on the planet`s preceding limb at the moment of the observation. A very small dark spot could be barely glimpsed on the northern hemisphere (upper right on the sketch). Its shape and position match with a feature named Propontis.
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| Figure 1 |
I observed Mars again at 12:50am local time (03:50am UT) using the same magnification and no filter. A whitish, long feature (in the same orientation as Mare Sirenum) was visible immediately to the south of that albedo region, reaching the limb of the planet. Another white, narrow, and small area was hard to see to the north of the dark spot Propontis. Applying a red filter N21, Mare Sirenum looked wider in the zone close to the central meridian.
An observation using a green filter N56 at 01:10am local time (May 30), 04:10am UT, made possible to see more clearly the white feature south of Mare Sirenum. An even more conspicuous and rather round spot was visible there (I indicate it with a white ellipse on Figure 1). A feature named Eridania is situated there, and it can become very bright on occasions when there is a lot of cloud activity in the region.
An observation using a green filter N56 at 01:10am local time (May 30), 04:10am UT, made possible to see more clearly the white feature south of Mare Sirenum. An even more conspicuous and rather round spot was visible there (I indicate it with a white ellipse on Figure 1). A feature named Eridania is situated there, and it can become very bright on occasions when there is a lot of cloud activity in the region.
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DATE: May 9, 2016.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Argentina).
After 10 years we could see this rare phenomenon again. The transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016, began at 11:12am UT, and the planet left the Sun`s surface at 06:42pm UT. From Mendoza (Argentina) we could say that the event was entirely visible because the Sun rose just 3 minutes after the beginning of the transit. It was totally cloudy the whole day, but a clear spot in the sky around 3pm local time (6pm UT) made it possible to take some pictures and make a visual observation through an 8-inch telescope at 78x and mylar filter.
The composite picture above shows two photos I took with just a Canon SX510HS digital camera (working at 120x) mounted on a tripod. You can see some cloud interference in the left photo. The diagram (left) shows the "transit in progress", "entire transit", and "no transit visible" regions on the planet.
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Discovered on April 7, 2000 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project
DATE: March 13, 2016.
TIME: 11:40pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 10x50 binocular.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Potrerillos (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies.
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| Positions of 252P LINEAR at 12:00am UT. |
This Jupiter family comet is expected to pass 13.9 lunar distances (5 million kms) from Earth on March 21. It is probably related to another comet, P/2016 BA14 PanSTARRS. This comet will pass at 9.2 lunar distances (3.5 million kms) on March 22.
I tried to observe 252P LINEAR on March 14 and 15 from the polluted sky of Mendoza city using an 8-inch telescope but it was not visible at all.
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Produced by the asteroid (rock comet?) 3200 Phaeton.
DATE: December 13/14, 2015.
TIME: 11:55pm (13th) to 03:15am (14th) local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: Naked eye.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: San Alberto, Uspallata (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies.
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A meteor geminid shows up between Castor (Gemini) and Procyon
(Canis Minor). Photo by the author.
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Although the radiant of this major shower never climbs very high in the sky from this latitude (-32°9), the Geminid meteor shower offers a good display for observers at this part of the planet. The radiant reaches roughly 25° when transits the local meridian around 02:00am local time during the peak of this nice shower. The sky was mostly clear and steady during the first part of the night and later became totally clear and marvellous to see geminids.
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A geminid meteor appears close to Pleaides early in the night when
the radiant was still low in the sky. Photo by the author.
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Discovered in late October 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey.
TIME: 8:40pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
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US10 Catalina (September 12, 2015) through an 8-inch telescope at
78x. Sketch by the author. |
Although the visual magnitude of the comet is 6.2, according to the latest reports, it is still a faint roundish nebulous patch without a tail through an 8-inch telescope when observed from polluted urban skies. At a first glance, US10 Catalina looks smooth in brightness and faint at 78x. Under the observing conditions this night the degree of condensation seems to be DC=2/3. Using averted vision, a small brighter zone within the coma can be glimpsed. The brightest star in the 40 arc minutes field of view is the 7.8 visual magnitude star HD 131855.
Back to Index of reports
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Eclipse Total de Luna 27 Septiembre 2015 from LeoCavagnaro on Vimeo.
The last lunar eclipse of 2015 was a member of Saros Series 137. It was a dark eclipse. There is some explanation about why it was a dark eclipse in an article by Bob King (Universe Today).
Back to Index of reports
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Discovered on August 16, 2014 by Pan-STARRS 1
telescope (Haleakala).
DATE: July 19, 2015.
TIME: 7:57pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 10x50 binocular.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies.
TIME: 7:57pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 10x50 binocular.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina) - Dark skies.
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Image from Celestron SkyPortal App. showing comet Q1
PanSTARRS as seen from -33° latitude after sunset.
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The magnitude of the comet at the moment of the observation was m1=5.2.
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Jovian Mutual Event 2015
Video from Mendoza, Argentina.
DATE: February 22, 2015.
TIME: 11:39pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: Canon A570IS digital camera.
OBSERVING SITE: City (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
Time-lapse video of the eclipse of Io by Ganymede with a digital camera using eyepiece projection on an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
What are mutual events of Jupiter?
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Discovered on August 17, 2014, by T. Lovejoy (Birkdale, Qld., Australia).
DATES: January 8 and 18, 2015.
TIMES: 10:54pm and 10:15pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: Canon SX510HS digital camera.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITES: City and Las Vegas (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban and dark skies respectively.
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Chart showing the path of comet Q2 Lovejoy
© Sky & Telescope
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According to the light
curve, the green comet Q2 Lovejoy (The green glow comes from molecules of
diatomic carbon (C2) fluorescing in ultraviolet sunlight in the near-vacuum of
space) was at magnitude 3.9 at its brightest. Its high orbital inclination of 80°3 is the reason because its path in the sky had been in Austral skies until mid December 2014.
Lovejoy passed closest by Earth on January 7th at a
distance of 0.47 a.u. (44 million miles; 70 million km). The comet came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 30 January 2015 at a distance of
1.29 AU (193,000,000 km; 120,000,000 mi) from the Sun.
Picture of the comet taken on January 8th from the polluted skies of Mendoza City. That night the magnitude of the comet was roughly 4.1.
This photo was taken from a dark sky site situated a few miles south of a small village called "Las Vegas", in Los Andes mountains. That night (January 18th), the comet was brightening at magnitude 4.4. However, it was barely visible to the naked eye that night.
Back to Index of reports
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Discovered by Cristovao
Jacques (SONEAR Observatory near Oliveira, Brazil) on March 13, 2014.
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| Light curve ©COMETBASE |
TIME: 9:30pm local time (UT - 7hs).
INSTRUMENTS: 15x70 binocular and 10" (25cm.) telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Ochoco National Forest (Oregon, USA). |
| Comet E2 Jacques on August 20, 2014 |
This comet was a circumpolar object when it was
observed during the Oregon Star Party 2014. The night of the observation the sky was not totally dark because the end of the Nautical Twilight occurred 10 minutes before. It was easily visible through this kind of binocular, being easy to find because it was situated about 3° 20' east-southeast of the star ε Cassiopeiae, Segin (see map to the right).
The comet, situated not very far from the conspicuous objects Stock 2 and the double cluster of Perseus, shows a pale green color and it is rather smooth in brightness. Through a 10" telescope (25cm.) E2 Jacques shows a bright nucleus with the outer parts of the coma appearing fainter. The magnitude of the comet at the moment of the observation was m1=6.2
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OBSERVING REPORT
Video from Mendoza, Argentina
Eclipse lunar from LeoCavagnaro on Vimeo.
Back to Index of reports
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OBSERVING REPORTNova Delphini 2013
Discovered by the japanese amateur nova hunter Koichi Itagaki.
DATE: August 17, 2013.
TIME: 12:50am local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENTS: 10x50 binocular.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
Nova Delphini 2013 was
discovered on August 14, 2013, peaked two days later to magnitude 4.4, and by
November 10 was down to magnitude 11.2. It was an easy target to see from an
urban sky with just a binocular. The sketch below, made by the author, shows the nova at the center of the field.
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Discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala) on June 6,2011
DATE: March 2013.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
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| Light curve of C/2011 L4 PanSTARRS |
This is a short time-lapse video I
made from Mendoza city in March 2013 when this beautiful comet was visible
after sunset.
L4 PanSTARRS passed closer to Earth
(1.10AU) on March 5, 2013, and was closest to the Sun (0.30 AU) on March 10. Its magnitude peak was 1.0 in mid-March 2013.
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Discovered
by Malcolm Hartley, on 15 March 1986 using the Schmidt Telescope at the Siding
Spring Observatory in Australia.
DATE: September 4, 2010.
TIME: 10:05pm local time (UT - 7hs).
INSTRUMENT: 12" (30cm.) reflector telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Sunriver (Oregon, USA) - Dark skies.
This comet, which showed a magnitude around 10 at the moment
of this observation, was seen in a rich starry field in the constellation
Andromeda. At 70x, 103P/Hartley looked like a faint hazy spot with a slightly
brighter core which was more obvious using averted vision. Some faint stars
appear superimposed on the comet`s coma. The brighter core of the coma is
better viewed using higher magnification (210x).
DATE: October 2, 2010.
TIME: 8:50pm local time (UT - 7hs).
INSTRUMENT: 24" (61cm.) reflector telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Timothy Lake (Oregon, USA) - Dark skies.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro.
OBSERVING SITE: Timothy Lake (Oregon, USA) - Dark skies.
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| Light curve (Aug. 2010 through Feb. 2011). ©COMETBASE |
At 188x, the coma looked very impressive with the core or inner part appearing round and smooth in brightness, like a sort of distant and small elliptical (E0) galaxy. Two faint stars situated close to it were a good reference to notice the fast movement of the comet in the sky.
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Discovered on March 19, 2007, by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search.
DATE: November 7, 2007
TIME: 9:15pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) reflector telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
TIME: 9:15pm local time (UT - 3hs).
INSTRUMENT: 8" (20cm.) reflector telescope.
OBSERVER: Leo Cavagnaro
OBSERVING SITE: Mendoza city (Mendoza, Argentina) - Urban skies.
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| Light curve of the comet in late 2007. ©COMETBASE |
This
comet was observed a few minutes after the end of the local nautical twilight with
the sky not totally dark. However, the observation was made from an urban
sky so the sky conditions were not optimum. Beyond this, the comet
looked obvious through this kind of telescope at 78x, between the few stars
visible in the field of view. No tail was glimpsed under these conditions. F1
Loneos shows a high degree of condensation (DC=7). Its magnitude was m1=5.4 at the
moment of the observation.
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| C/2007 F1 Loneos. Sketch by the author. |
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Discovered on August 7, 2006, by R. H. McNaught (Siding Spring Survey).
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Comet P1 McNaught during the twilight in January 2007.
Photo taken by the author.
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This transit began at 19:12 UT and finished at 00:10 UT on November 8th. The phenomenon was partially visible from Mendoza, Argentina, with the Sun setting 1 hour before the end of the transit.
Visit this page to know more about Mercury transits.
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| .Photos of the transit taken by the author using screen-projection method |
This is the closest approach since a time of 59,619 years.
Sketches and reports of the closest approach of the planet.
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| Mars map copyright of Daniel Troiani and ALPO |
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (02:03am local
time / 05:03am UT):
Altitude:
53° 40' 39"
Azimuth: 65° 0'
59"
Right ascension:
22h 55m 25.76s
Declination: -13°
10' 51.0"
Mars was in
constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.2
Diameter:
21.29"
Phase: 0.948
Elongation: 142.4°
02:03am local time (Centre of disk at long
338.6°, lat -20.2°). Observation at 42x. Small disk of the planet. Without any planetary filter, a prominent dark region is visible on the central part of the disc. The image
is pretty steady. Phase effect is perceived.
02:10am local time (Centre of disk at long 340.3°, lat -20.2°). At 78x the image is still stable. The south polar cap is visible
without filters, appearing white and bright. Dark zones are visible at the
center of the disc, Mare Sirenum, Sinus Sabaeus, Sinus Meridiani (see Mars map
above).
02:29am local time (Centre of disk at long 344.9°, lat
-20.2°). At 167x, the mentioned dark zones are visible with more detail.
The region Mare Serpentis-Noachis is visible at negative declinations, appearing
fainter than the other ones.
03:11am local time (Centre of disk at long 355.2°, lat -20.2°). At
167x and green filter No 58 there were not conspicuous features visible on Mars
surface, except the polar cap.
03:26am local time. End of observation.
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (01:29am local time / 04:29am UT):
Altitude:
48° 32' 50"
Azimuth: 71° 18'
30"
Right ascension:
22h 55m 48.86s
Declination: -13°
15' 34.0"
Mars was in
constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.2
Diameter:
21.66"
Phase: 0.952
Phase: 0.952
Elongation: 144.2°
01:29am local time (Centre of disk at long
312.1°, lat -20.1°). Observation at
78x. Some turbulent image of the planet. However, some features are visible at
this power, like Iapigia and Mare Serpentis. There were some moments of bad seeing
being those features not visible.
01:40am local time (Centre of disk at long 314.7°, lat -20.1°). At 167x, the polar cap is clearly visible. It was viewed sharper using a green filter (No. 58). It seems to be a little smaller relative to the observation made on July 26. Besides Iapigia, Mare Serpentis, and Hellespontus, the interesting zone Syrtis Major could be glimpsed. The zone Hellas, close to the pole was also visible. A narrow region on the border of the polar cap looked darker.
02:15am local time. End of observation.
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (02:20am local time / 05:20am UT):
Altitude: 48°
32' 50"
Azimuth: 71° 18'
30"
Right ascension: 22h
55m 51.81s
Declination: -13°
31' 54.8"
Mars was in
constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.4
Diameter:
22.56"
Phase: 0.963
Phase: 0.963
Elongation: 148.9°
02:20am local time (Centre of disk at long
279.0°, lat -19.8°). Observation at 167x with red filter No 25A.
Noticeable regression of the south polar cap. Using this filter, the view of the albedo features is clearly enhanced.
03:08am local time (Centre of disk at long 290.7°, lat -19.8°). 167x and green filter No 58. The zones that stand out are Hellas and Lybia, appearing small and much clearer than the rest, but not as bright as the polar cap.
03:19am local time: End of observation.
03:08am local time (Centre of disk at long 290.7°, lat -19.8°). 167x and green filter No 58. The zones that stand out are Hellas and Lybia, appearing small and much clearer than the rest, but not as bright as the polar cap.
03:19am local time: End of observation.
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (01:58am local time / 04:58am UT):
Altitude:
61° 7' 42"
Azimuth: 54° 8'
59"
Right ascension:
22h 54m 58.73s
Declination: -13°
48' 43.7"
Mars was in
constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.5
Diameter:
23.22"
Phase: 0.971
Elongation: 152.9°
01:58am
local time (Centre of disk at long 237.6°, lat -19.6°). Observation at 167x. A dark lane is visible, crossing the planet's surface with the orientation seen on the sketch above. Another dark area is visible close to the polar cap.
02:10am local time (Centre of disk at
long 240.5°, lat -19.6°). Using a red filter No 25A, an even narrower and darker lane is
visible in the dark region mentioned above.
02:45am local time (Centre of disk at
long 249.0°, lat -19.6°). 167x and green
filter No 58. The polar cap appears smaller and it is a little more difficult to
observe.
02:55am local time. End of observation.
Apparent topocentric coordinates at the moment of the observation:
Altitude: 51° 58' 46"
Azimuth: 72° 03'
00"
Right ascension:
22h 40m 16.1s
Declination: -15° 36' 4.6"
Mars was in
constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.9
Diameter:
25.10"
Centre of disk at
long 23.8°, lat -18.8°
Phase: 0.998
Phase: 0.998
Elongation: 172.6°
No report, just a sketch.
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (11:23pm local time / 02:23am UT September 2):
Altitude: 57° 45' 30"
Azimuth: 65° 59' 21"
Right ascension: 22h 32m 52.34s
Declination: -16° 07' 07.5"
Mars was in constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.9
Diameter: 24.96"
Phase: 0.997
Elongation: 171.6°
11:23pm local time (Centre of disk at long 320.0°, lat -18.7°). This night I had the best view of the planet of the whole opposition (Antoniadi scale: IV/V). The albedo features were seen very sharp and dark at 167x, especially Sinus Sabaeus, Sinus Meridiani, and Syrtis Major. The polar cap appears very bright. A bright white dot is visible at the edge of the polar cap (indicated on the sketch above).
12:17am local time (Centre of disk at long 333.2°, lat -18.7°). Using the same magnification and the green filter No 58 the south polar cap looks very bright. Through this filter, the bright dot could not be seen easily.
12:23am local time (Centre of disk at long 334.7°, lat -18.7°). 167x and red filter No 25A. The view was astounding, steady and clear. The albedo features appeared very sharp through this filter. Amazing view of the region Sinus Sabaeus-Sinus Meridiani. A few minutes later, Sinus Sabaeus and Arabia's view toward the North was very interesting.
12:31am local time. End of observation.
12:31am local time. End of observation.
Apparent topocentric coordinates for the epoch of date:
At the beginning of the observation (09:10pm local time / 12:10am UT September 10):
Altitude: 38° 50' 27"
Azimuth: 84° 55' 39"
Right ascension: 22h 25m 08.25s
Declination: -16° 26' 34.9"
Mars was in constellation Aquarius
Magnitude: -2.7
Diameter: 24.26"
Phase: 0.990
Elongation: 163.9°
09:10pm local time (Centre of disk at long 216.7°, lat -18.8°). The south polar cap is clearly much smaller than the previous weeks and it was hard to see. Easy to see are Mare Cimmerium and Mare Tyrrhenum. The clear zone between these two regions was visible too.
The view of some less conspicuous albedo features improves using a red filter No 25A. The view of the polar cap through a green filter No 58 was not good.
The view of some less conspicuous albedo features improves using a red filter No 25A. The view of the polar cap through a green filter No 58 was not good.
09:45pm local time. End of observation.
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