Bernhard's comets and asteroids    IAU codes: B82 Maidbronn (retired) and K87 Dettelbach Vineyard Observatory

� Copyright: Photo montage performed by Bernhard H�usler, Germany

(C) Copyright: Photo montage performed by Bernhard H�usler, Germany
Credit of the comet image of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko:
ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (C) CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
and ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Don't waste time planning the night session and focus on the evaluation...    

[Neo Planner] [periodical comets] [non periodical comets] [asteriods] [meteorids] [satellites] [equipment] [discoverers of comets] [nature] [sweet home] [sky quality SQM and weather] [allsky camera]


A warm welcome to all friends of comets and minor planets!  

We are living on a beautyful planet, surrounded in space from its large and small brothers and sisters since unimaginable times.
This web is an independant and ad-free approach to the grand show in our neighborhood in space 
with equipment geared towards tracking nearby earth cruisers.

The collaboration of amateurs in the follow-up observation of Near Earth Objects and comets is important
and I am delighted to be part of this global team of very special profs and amateurs.
For me as an amateur, participating in the measurement of near-earth bodies is definitely inspiring for my demanding hobby.

And I call on every amateur not only to photograph the beloved deep-sky objects and planets, but also to actively participate
in the observation and measurement of Near Earth Objects.
Measurements of NEO can be carried out independently of the moon phases and enrich the hobby immensely.

 

Over 10,000 individual measurements of more than 1000 Near Earth Objects on K87 Dettelbach Vineyard Observatory since 2017.


The following image shows the Execute Search Window triggered by the "S" function in the Revise Planning Window.

Illustration of the path of an object in NEO Planner: Leave nothing to chance anymore, but check the paths of each object before the session and adjust the recording times if necessary.

NEO Planner is for free, code-protected and works for all IAU stations worldwide.   

Current users: 104, 958, B50, B72, C95, E89, G04, G19, K19, K35, K55, K74, K83, K87, L40, L63, L65, L81, M18, M26, M45, M49, U52, X93
                          (Brazil, Germany,  France, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, Romania, U.S.A.)

Amateur or professional observers are welcome to use NEO Planner.  Current version: V4.5.0  (May 24 2023)   

NEO Planner is able to calculate the exposure times, the required number of exposures and the positions of currently observable comets, NEO and NEOCP objects
on the basis of MPC, JPL Horizons and JPL Scout data and and bring them in a time sequence for each location and for any equipment.

In addition, NEO Planner automatically monitors the NEOCP and provides the user with important current changes, both visually and, if desired, acoustically.
NEO Planner can work with both Astrometrica and Tycho
and provides scripts for automatic night session control for both TheSky X (Orchestrate) and N.I.N.A (XML + JSON).

If desired, the planning and ephemeris can be uploaded to a website to be followed from any location and browser.
An internal sniping tool enables timer controlled hard copies of the screen and the viewing of the night sessions via the website.

The Integration of NEO Planner into the ASCOM based Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy program N.I.N.A. by Stefan Berg about XML and JSON formats
enables the fully automatic observation of the planning proposal, even with German mounts.

NEO Planner supports up to five cameras and devices. The Execute Search Window supports searching for new objects with a mosaic display of the star background.
Any deep sky object can also be displayed and selected in this window.
The calculated positions of a mosaic are sent to N.I.N.A. delivered via a sophisticated XML and JSON interface, enabling an automatic search for near-Earth objects.
The Execute Search Window can also be used via the "S" function in the Revise Window, which shows the path of the selected planning object together with the star background.
In addition, the asteroid classes Mars Crosser, Jupiter Trojan, Centaur, TransNeptunian Object and Hyperbolic Asteroid can be integrated into the Execute Planning process.

And many features more...

Have a look here for historical informations of K87 and other observers --> Hohmann's MPEC'able (Tracking News for Humans) and NEODyS 


Customizable graphical platform of NEO and comet discoveries since 2020:

Presented here are the NEO discoveries of our user Christophe Demeautis from the K19 PASTIS observatory, Banon in France from 2021 to 2023.
The green North - South axis represents the sidereal time at the time of discovery. The East - West lines represent the declination.

Congratulations to Christophe Demeautis from K19 PASTIS Observatory, Banon, France on discovering
NEOs
  2021 YQ, 2022 BU1 2022 HE3, 2022 NF1, 2022 SW3 2022 SE6 2022 TV2 2022 TW2, 2023 CN3 and 2023 HC, on his station !!! 
He also discovered the NEOs 2022 SK9 and 2022 SX7 together with the team from 033 Karl Schwarzschild Observatory, Tautenburg.  


My auto-guiding telescope (LX600) and the cmos-camera (QHY600L) are fully automatic controlled by the programs Orchestrate and TheSky X Pro of Software Bisque over the night session.
The focuser works temperature controlled and is focused one time in the evening on a star in 50° altitude. For users automatic recordings are also available with a N.I.N.A interface.

Both the following template and the script for Orchestrate and the XML- and JSON scripts for N.I.N.A. are generated by self-written  programs on .NET platform.

The preparation time for a night session usually takes about 15 - 30 minutes. High Moon phases are requiring more time.

Examples of interfaces: Script for Orchestrate  and Template, XML and JSON for N.I.N.A.          

Example of a Program from February, 20 2023 for K87:

Copyright: The data comes from official access to web services from MPC, JPL, NASA and ESA, whose origins are the tireless measurements of dozens of professional and amateur observatories around the world

Copyright: The data comes from official access to web services from MPC, JPL, NASA and ESA, whose origins are the tireless measurements of dozens of professional and amateur observatories around the world

All parameters of the template are calculated for my equipment on location K87 and based on expected SQM results from Mag/SqArcsec 20 and weaker within the observation slot.
The Vmag average is the average of the last 10 observations of the objects taken from the MPC observation site.      


Asteroid of the day:  1999 RM45 from March, 1 2021  20:46UT   MPC   JPL orbit

asteroid 1999 RM45  45MB

animation of 96 images with 2.9 seconds exposure time each, speed: 65 arcsec/min in P.A. 279.8, V~14.0                                                 detail
Telescope: LX600 12" f-8, camera: QHY600L with
SONY Full Frame BSI CMOS Sensor IMX455  and Binning 4 x 4

 

Comet of the day: C/2021 A4 (NEOWISE) from March, 1 2021  18:27UT   MPC   JPL orbit

comet C/2021 A4 (NEOWISE) 3.7 MB

animation of six images with 48.5 seconds exposure time each, speed: 4 arcsec/min in P.A. 197.2, V~16.3                                                 detail
Telescope: LX600 12" f-8, camera: QHY600L with
SONY Full Frame BSI CMOS Sensor IMX455  and Binning 4 x 4


Some events of the last years:   September, 21 2020 - first night half

Around midnight a bright shooting star of the Southern Piscids crossed Andromeda and Lacerta
and ended its brief light show with a small explosion in the lizard's head... and is this meteor connected with some NEOs? - may be.

Southern Piscid

2020-09-21 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany                                                                                                            

15sec. exposure, 2020-09-20 UT23:09, local time 01:09, taken with ZWO ASI178MC, 8mm  f/1.4  lens, 1/2.7"; SQM: MPSAS 21.03 mag, NELM 6.1 mag
Elevation: 267m, Processing: Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. No stiffeners, airplanes or satellites on the image.

The red cross marks the radiant of the Southern Piscids meteor shower, annual maximum: September 20th. Mars is in the lower left.

In this paper by P. B. Babadzhanov - I. P. Williams - G. I. Kokhirova from 2007, the connection between the September Piscids and some Near Earth objects is discussed.


Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn came together this morning with the beautiful comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE.

A moment to pause and think about the beauty and size of our universe. This morning made my face smile.

 

I left my telescope with its automatic scanning of the sky and drove a few kilometers to the highest elevation nearby.
There one of the best moments of nighttime observations awaited me.

C/2020 F3 NEOWISE  in Auriga, Lynx on the left. Menkalinan in Auriga is the brightest star top right.

� 2020-07-12 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany

2020-07-12 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany                                                                                                                double size 1.9MB                  original size 10MB

4sec. exposure, 2020-07-12 UT01:38, local time 03:38, 70mm f/3.2, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF70-200mm f/2.8L ISII USM mounted on a tripod, ISO1000, SQM 19.6 mag
Outside temperature: 7°C, elevation: 297m, Processing: Adobe Lightroom. No stiffeners and best distant view.

The wind turbines with their warning lights on the horizon are approx. 27.5 km (17 miles) away.


C/2020 F3 NEOWISE  in Auriga

� 2020-07-12 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany

2020-07-12 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany                                                                                                                                                                 larger image click here

4sec. exposure, 2020-07-12 UT01:20, local time 03:20, 170mm f/3.2, Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EF70-200mm f/2.8L ISII USM mounted on a tripod, ISO1250, SQM 20.1 mag
Outside temperature: 7°C, elevation: 297m, Processing: Adobe Lightroom.


The Apollo  asteroid 2020 MX3 was first observed at F51 Pan-STARRS 1 on 2020-06-28.
Live track of F51

NEO Apollo 2020 MX3 will pass the Earth on July, 29 2020 in 0.02413176 AU distance ~ 3,610,060 km ~ 2,243,176 miles    
The object has a diameter of about 65 meters.

Here you can see a gif animation of this small object:

NEO 2020 MX3 � by Bernhard H�usler, Dettelbach, Germany

2020-07-28 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany                        West left               North up                                                

66  7.3sec. exposures, 2020-07-28 UT00:09, 0.30-m f/6.15 SCT +  CCD
17.4 mag, H=23.6, e= 0.2581244


Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is probably starting a desintegration process.

C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) by Bernhard H�usler, K87

There are two dots westward the central condensation. The comet tail is looking more and more like a cigar.

Here you find a light curve of the comet on CometasObs showing a decrease of the central magnitude since March, 28 2020 

      

In comparison an image of comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) during its desintegration process...                                            and one week before


2020 FR3 is an Apollo type asteroid and classified as a PHA.

The small body passed a weak galaxy cluster in the Western edge region of constellation LEO close to the bounder of CANCER


NEO and Amor 2018 NB on July,19 2018

Amor NEO 2018 NB � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany    

10 x 20sec. exposure, 2018-07-19 UT 01:18, 12" SCT  f-5.66 + CCD ST10XME,              
15.0 mag, H 19.5, ~426m

Atira NEO 2017 TF2 � by Bernhard H�usler, K87 Dettelbach    

Animation of 100 20sec. exposures, 01:12UT - 01:54UT, 42 minutes in reality ~ 1.5 sec. in animation


last observed comets:

C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany    C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany

C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS)  by Bernhard Haeusler, 2018-02-16 B/W   

composed 31 2min. exposures, 2018-02-16 UT18:42, 0.30-m f/1646.2mm ACF-SCT +  CCD
14.73mag, coma: 6', tail: 16' in PA91

C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany 

C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS)  by Bernhard Haeusler, 2018-02-06 B/W

composed 33 120sec. exposures, 2018-02-06 UT22:32, 0.30-m f/2240.2mm SCT +  CCD
16.23mag, coma: 13", tail: 3' in PA161  

C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany

C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS)  by Bernhard Haeusler, 2018-02-06 B/W

animated 64 2min.exp, 2018-02-06  UT21:23 - 23:41; asteroid on the left side: 34286, 18.1 mag

C/2016 N4 (MASTER) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany

C/2016 N4 (MASTER)  by Bernhard Haeusler, 2017-09-22 B/W   

composed 35 60sec. exposures, 2017-09-22 UT21:37, 0.30-m f/1873.1mm SCT +  CCD
16.29 mag, coma: 30", tail: 4'30' in PA150  

C/2015 V2 (Johnson) � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany    

C/2015 V2 (Johnson)  by Bernhard Haeusler, 2017-05-20 B/W                                               

composed 10 30sec. exposures, 2017-05-20 UT22:12, 0.30-m f/1873.1mm SCT +  CCD, IP: DDP low pass
12.05 mag, tail: 16' in PA317  

41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany       41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany

41/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak by Bernhard Haeusler, 2017-05-01 B/W

composed 90 20sec. exposures, 2017-05-01 UT01:54, 0.30-m f/1875mm SCT +  CCD, IP: DDP Kernel low pass
13.6 mag, coma: 5', tail: 1' in PA236

Right:  Video of 70 frames of 20 seconds exp.time each, 2017-05-01 UT01:54
Original size MP4 or MP4 HTML (22,353 KB) 

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany        45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany

45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova by Bernhard Haeusler, 2017-03-26 B/W       

composed 36 2min. exposures, 2017-03-26 UT20:10, 0.30-m f/1875mm SCT +  CCD,
17.3 mag (10" Box), coma: 1'15", tails: 8'30" in PA284, 1'15" in PA106

Right: Video of 35 frames of 2 minutes exp.time each, 2017-03-26 UT20:10 - UT21:24
 


Flash of the Satellite IRIDIUM 86, Mirror 2 on February,13 2018 with -2.5 mag

IRIDIUM 8662 � by Bernhard Haeusler, Germany  

IRIDIUM 86    2018-02-13 by Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany                            

detail of 1 15 sec. exposure, 2018-02-13 UT 17:56:32, camera: ZWO ASI 178 MC Color,  allsky lens: 2.5mm, f-1.2  170�
No Moon.

 

Copyright: The author of NEO Planner and all sites of this web is Bernhard Haeusler, Dettelbach, Germany, all rights reserved