Monthly Archives: November 2013

2013 NJ comes out to play

Posted on by

Well, after weeks of cloud, I get a break just when I needed it! NEO 2013 NJ has been on my hit list for a while and its a deep southern object, not unlike 2012 DA14 for that matter, and a reasonable mag 14. These Earth skimming rocks are quite fast moving and at 2.5 Lunar distances this one is going at nearly an arc min every min – which means it can be seen clearly moving in real time.

Here’s the Youtube: It’s been getting a fair pounding thanks to a plug on Universe today and a retweet by the MPC

It’s Q79!

Posted on by

After a number of abortive attempts to get my observatory recognised officially by the Minor Planet Centre, the recent long spell of clear weather allowed me to make enough observations of several asteroids over a sufficient period of time to demonstrate an acceptable level of accuracy and Samford Valley Observatory now bears the code Q79. Hurrah.

This code will mean that I can send my observations directly to them rather than through third parties, and even better, can generate lists of expected positions of asteroids (more properly known as ephemerides) without having to enter my location each time, just the code.

Previous attempts to get a code had been scuppered by weather, weather and weather…