Posts Made By: K. Michael Malolepszy

Excellent image! Thanks for sharing.

A cometary "string-of-pearls" will fly past Earth in
May 2006 giving astronomers a fantastic view of a
dying comet.

In 1995, Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 did
something unexpected: it fell apart. For no apparent
reason, the comet's nucleus split into at least three
"mini-comets" flying single file through space.
Astronomers watched with interest, but the view was
blurry even through large telescopes. "73P" was a
hundred and fifty million miles away.

We're about to get a much closer look. In May 2006 the
fragments are going to fly past Earth closer than any
comet has come in more than twenty years.

Above from

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/24mar_73p.htm

As someone else posted here - for Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 finder charts, try these sites:

http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
(click on "comets" on left toolbar)

http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/comets/comets.htm
(charts only)

http://www.cometobservation.com/
(has not been updated recently)

General info:

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1704_1.asp

http://cometography.com/pcomets/073p.html

http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0073P/2006.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

As posted on Spaceweather.com:

-------

COMET NEWS: Dying comet 73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/24mar_73p.htm

is falling apart with a vengence. Even the fragments are fragmenting. Last night University of Arizona astronomer Carl Hergenrother took this picture of Fragment G, which is now a swarm of more than 15 pieces:

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/27apr06/hergenrother1.gif


As the comet crumbles, fresh veins of ice and dust are exposed to sunlight, causing the pieces to brighten. Fragment G (mag. 12) is still too faint for most backyard telescopes, but Fragment B (mag. 9) is an easy target--and it is undergoing a similar disruption event.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060426.html

To see it, point your telescope toward the constellation Corona Borealis in the eastern sky an hour or so after sunset;

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2006/27apr06/skymap_north.gif

----------

I had no problems at all observing comet 73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3 (Fragment C) from a severely polluted urban
site on saturday night. I setup an 11 inch dobsonian in my back yard in west St. Louis city (under extreme lioght pollution conditions) and had no problem finding and seeing 73P. I could even see a fan shaped tail of fragment C. So even if you're stuck in a light polluted location, get the scope out if it clears up!


This site is updated daily and has good charts for
finding this comet:

http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

The relevant charts and pages are found by navigating
to the "comets' page.

K. Michael Malolepszy
St. Louis Astronomical Society

I had no problem finding and seeing Comet
Schwassmann-Wachmann 73P fragments C and B with my 11
inch dob from a heavily polluted site. At times I had
the glare of an alley light shooting right into my
focuser, so the observing conditions were about the
worst imaginable. But even with that, fragment C was
bright enough to (barely) see in the 50mm finder. It
didn't have as obvious a tail nor as condensed a
pseudo-nucleus as it did last saturday when observed
from the same city location. Fragment B was almost the
same brightness as C, seeming to be a bit dimmer. It
too had nothing but a tear shaped nebulous appearance
to it.

Used the charts found here

http://www.shopplaza.nl/astro/comets/comets.htm

and here under "comets":

http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

The 2nd of the 2 sites above is getting updated daily
with reports.

Greg Ruppell has a nice images of 73P at:

http://www.ruppel.darkhorizons.org/IMAGES/73Pmosaic_label.jpg

Hubble images of the G fragment breakup at:

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2006/18/image/a

Other online articles:

Crumbling Comet

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/comets/article_1704_1.asp

History of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3

http://cometography.com/pcomets/073p.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Shows That Breaking
Up Is Not So Hard To Do

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20403

As someone who does dozens of outreach events a year, I have to echo what others have said - you list is too long. Galaxies will disappoint. Open clusters (if they fit in your FOV), globulars, double stars, Jupiter and Saturn are crowd pleasers.

Show them Castor - a great double. Tell them about how it's much more than a double - it's 6 stars!

Print out the Heavens-above data on Iridium flares and satellite passes - those are naked eye things people can watch for while in line. Beware that the Iridium flares are VERY short lived and you will need an accurate watch, set precisely.

Binoculars on a tripod aimed at M44 or the Coma cluster will be good & easy. Keep in mind that the Coma cluster may be high enough in your sky to produce neckaches with binoculars. M44 is much lower. M45 is gone this time of year.

Print out this month's Skymaps.com handout - perhaps the best single astronomy handout ever made for outreach events.

David,

One thing you should do before you begin with the observing part of your event is gather everyone together and tell them the does and dont's... like don't touch the scope! Don't finger the eyepiece! Don't use it as a spit bucket! Be nice, but let them know what to do...

The latter is such a common happening - kids and adults asking, "..where do I look - in here?" and then sticking their finger right into the eyepiece, perhaps even rubbing it around for emphasis - that I never, ever, EVER use my naglers and panoptics at public events.

NEVER.

Not after having to clean a big wad of green snot off an eyepiece - no kidding! So I have a set of "Combat Zone" eyepieces - cheap ones for star party use.

Another tip - bring a ladder with rails for the short ones - it also gives adults something to grab instead of your scope.

K. Michael M.

Looks like you guys got out of there just in time this year - those
fires that the Houstons took pictures of apparently have gotten out of control and have cut off hundreds of tourists at the North Rim:

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5083899&nav=HMO6HMaY

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5912618,00.html

K. Michael M.
St. Louis Astronomical Society

Wow ... and you admitted to this oversight in public... ouch!

Peter Glus said:\...and with eager expectation awaited night. Unfortunately, I CAUGHT THE FULL MOON! THE LIMITING MAG WAS BARELY BETTER THAN NYC! I never saw the milky way, but I did see the full Ursa Minor towards the end of the week, so I am thinking 4.5ish was lim mag. Anyway, the moral of the story is to plan the dark sky vacation with a new moon!

That is wrong - a mangling of information about the 2003 Mars Opposition. See

http://skytonight.com/news/3523496.html

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/07jul_marshoax.htm

Brian Prestemon said:

I got this e-mail today. Please let me know whether there's any truth to it at all. Thanks.


This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that
will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in
recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is
in 2287.

I've read parts of that book and it appears (to me, anyway), to be utter crankdom;

http://www.crank.net/archaeology.html

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/groves.html

Hidden History, Hidden Agenda

A Review of The Hidden History of the Human Race, by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson. Badger, CA: Govardhan Hill Publishing. 1994;

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/lepper.html
A geologist analyses the claims made in Forbidden Archeology for Sandia Cave:

http://www.ramtops.co.uk/sandia.html

Forbidden Archaeology : Antievolutionism Outside the Christian Arena

http://www.ramtops.co.uk/tarzia.html

More stuff about Pseudoarchaeology at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoarchaeology

http://www.ramtops.co.uk/

Ron Streetenberger said:

The tome "Forbidden Archeology" takes modern man's existance back many million years further than what is usually given as definative. Great read on the toilet as it is broken into many small chapters. Check Ebay for best price.