[meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go

From: Richard Kowalski <*damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:11:43 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <526273.55401.qm_at_web113604.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> · damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081
--- On Tue, 3/23/10, Elizabeth Warner <warnerem at astro.umd.edu> wrote:
> From: Elizabeth Warner <warnerem at astro.umd.edu>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 10:03 AM
> Umm, yes there is... it's a SOHO
> comet...
> 
> http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUC.8844....1U
> [BUT, this may be the wrong name... another website has
> some corrections from Howe, see below]
> 
> He took 6 images and there were more images taken the next
> day...
> 
> "... Mr Howes captured six images that showed what appears
> to be a mountain-sized chunk of ice that has broken away
> from the giant "dirty snowball" that forms the nucleus of a
> comet.
> 
> A second set of images obtained the following day - last
> Friday - showed that the new fragment is still trailing the
> comet, which is officially called Comet C2007 C3. "
> 
> 
> Ohh. here's another website that has some corrections...
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1260049/Exploding-comet.html
> 
> Corrections to the above
> 
> 1: Orbit is wrong, this should be updated (Faulkes
> Telescope will contact the Mail)
> 2: It was first spotted in 2007, hence C/2007 Q3
> 3: IAU replied a few days later confirming my observations.
> The official announcement from the IAU is still pending
> 4: Other observatories have seen the event, I was the first
> to publicly announce it
> 5: American astronomers at Williams University did not see
> the event, as their telescope and seeing may have not been
> sufficient
> 
> - Nick Howes, London UK, 23/3/2010 12:27
> 
> 
> 
> Clear Skies!
> Elizabeth
> 
> 
> 
> Richard Kowalski wrote:
> > The comet discussed here (and apparently no where
> else), C/2007 C3 doesn't exist, or maybe I should say there
> is no such comet with this designation.
> > 
> > To be sure that this is actually a fragment, you need
> more than a single image. I don't see any indication that
> this is anything more than a background star.
> > 
> > --
> > Richard Kowalski
> > Full Moon Photography
> > IMCA #1081
> > 
> > 
> > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net>
> wrote:
> > 
> >> From: Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net>
> >> Subject: [meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go
> >> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >> Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 5:52 AM
> >> Photos at link.
> >> 
> >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8579963.stm
> >> 
> >> Amateur sees comet breaking up from desktop 
> >> An amateur astronomer has made a "major
> astronomical
> >> discovery" while accessing
> >> a telescope in Hawaii over the internet while at
> work in
> >> the UK.
> >> 
> >> Nick Howes took pictures showing the icy nucleus
> of a comet
> >> breaking up while he
> >> sat at his desk in Wiltshire.
> >> 
> >> He used a remote-controlled telescope through the
> Faulkes
> >> Telescope Project, run
> >> by experts from Cardiff University.
> >> 
> >> Dr Paul Roche said the university was delighted
> and that
> >> the images appear to
> >> show the comet nucleus disintegrating.
> >> 
> >> "What this illustrates is what is achievable when
> amateur
> >> astronomers can get
> >> their hands on such a powerful telescope," he
> said.
> >> 
> >> The School of Physics and Astronomy's project,
> which was
> >> created to help teach
> >> schoolchildren science and maths, offers access to
> a pair
> >> of remotely controlled
> >> telescopes, located on the Hawaiian island of
> Maui, and at
> >> Siding Spring in
> >> Australia - via the internet. 
> >> Using the ?5m Faulkes Telescope North in Maui, Mr
> Howes
> >> captured six images that
> >> showed what appears to be a mountain-sized chunk
> of ice
> >> that has broken away
> >> from the giant "dirty snowball" that forms the
> nucleus of a
> >> comet.
> >> 
> >> A second set of images obtained the following day
> - last
> >> Friday - showed that
> >> the new fragment is still trailing the comet,
> which is
> >> officially called Comet
> >> C2007 C3.
> >> 
> >> Dr Roche said: "As the nucleus of a comet is
> typically tens
> >> of kilometres
> >> across, this fragment is probably mountain-sized,
> and will
> >> become a small comet
> >> as it gradually separates from its parent."
> >> 
> >> It is now hoped that astronomers will follow up Mr
> Howes's
> >> discovery using
> >> instruments such as the Hubble space telescope.
> >> 
> >> "We hope to involve schools in observing this
> comet over
> >> the next few weeks, so
> >> that we can see what happens to this new
> fragment," added
> >> Dr Roche.
> >> 
> >> It is also hoped that this discovery will help
> encourage
> >> others to use the
> >> telescope for research and to help make new
> scientific
> >> discoveries.
> >> 
> >> Last year, another amateur astronomer, working
> with several
> >> UK schools and the
> >> Faulkes Telescope Project, discovered the
> fastest-rotating
> >> asteroid in the solar
> >> system.
> >> 
> >> More than 200 UK schools have used the telescopes
> to help
> >> in science lessons,
> >> often gathering data that is used by university
> >> researchers.
> >> 
> >> "As well as amateur astronomers this project
> allows
> >> researchers from the
> >> university to help schools access professional
> equipment,
> >> and learn more about
> >> how modern science is really done," Dr Roche
> said.
> >> 
> >> "We hope this discovery will help encourage others
> to use
> >> the Faulkes Telescopes
> >> and lead to even more scientific discoveries."
> >> 
> >> The Faulkes Telescope Project was launched in
> March 2004 by
> >> the Dill Faulkes
> >> Educational Trust, as a way of helping to inspire
> school
> >> students to study
> >> science and maths.
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