Asteroid 1998 QE2

Asteroid 1998 QE2 passed relatively close to Earth back on May 31, 2013. It remained relatively bright for several days after its closest approach, and I was able to capture it with my ST80 on June 3rd.

1998 QE2 is classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object because its orbit may occasionally bring it close to Earth. It is unlikely that 1998 QE2 will ever pose a significant threat, though.

Below is a link to a movie composed of 100 30-second exposures made at ISO-6400 with my Canon EOS Rebel T3 (1100D). The exposures start at approximately 9:47 PM CDT and end around 11:09 PM CDT. The bright star near the bottom is Yed Posterior in Ophiucus. Several satellites can be seen streaking through the video.

1998 QE2 Movie

I had to manually remove the effects of periodic error and bad polar alignment from each frame. The image below illustrates the effects of these errors over time. It is a combination of all 100 images compiled in Startrails. The up/down oscillation is due to periodic error, while the progression from left-to-right is the result of incorrect polar alignment. Autoguiding, Periodic Error Correction and various alignment techniques can reduce or remove these effects. Sadly, my mount does not support autoguiding or PEC.

The effects of periodic error (up/down oscillations) and misalignment (progression from left-to-right).

PANSTARRS and Moonset

My wife and I went up to the roof the Sam Houston State University parking garage to see the comet and take some pictures. A small crowd gathered around the telescope. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Below are some of the pics from tonight.

The star below and to the right of the comet is the planet Uranus:

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 4 seconds at ISO-400
Click here for the full-size image

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 5 seconds at ISO-1600
Click here for the full-size image

Setting Moon over Huntsville, TX; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 2.5 seconds at ISO-1600
Click here for full-size image

Here is a movie of the crescent Moon setting over Huntsville:

Moonset over Huntsville, March 13, 2013

PANSTARRS Movies!

Here are a couple of movies I put together from tonight's images.

The first is composed of 1-second exposures at ISO-400. The tripod wasn't very steady, so there is some bouncing around because of the wind.

PANSTARRS Movie #1

The second move is composed of a few 4-second exposures at ISO-1600:

PANSTARRS Movie #2

Comet Hartley - The Movie!

I took the individual images that I shot of Comet 103P/Hartley and compiled them into a movie.  It shows the progress of the comet over about a 70 minute period.  The file is in MP4 format, and is located here:

http://www.theglasgowfamily.org/blog/movies/Comet_103P-Hartley.mp4

Look for the satellite that passes through the Double Cluster!