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Comets!!

stargazerkelly

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NGC 1502

NGC 1502

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how to u guys read those maps lol they look hard to figure out

The star maps in the link are as seen from the southern hemisphere,

so you need to turn them upside down to match the sky from the northern hemisphere.

HTH, Ed.

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iamjulian

iamjulian

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The ability to read a star map is useful to a non goto telescope owner as a road map or satnav is to a car driver. You will have much more enjoyment if you know where to look and how to find things. For comets you definitely need maps because they move night on night. Hope you manage to find some. Good luck.

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matsey

matsey

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Not sure if you've got Stellarium (free planetarium software... if you haven't, I get definitely recommend getting it!), then have a look at this thread:

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/149907-c-2009-p1-gerradd-stellarium.html

which gives instructions on how to add tracking for Comet Garradd to Stellarium (though for some reason I had to change the name bit from "C/2009 P1 (Garradd)" to just "Garradd" before it would work for me). Garradd was my first comet, and I found it really easily with the help of Stellarium.

Good luck hope you see it soon, it is kinda cool :)

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matsey

matsey

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Hey don't worry I've only been doing this myself for a few months I remember feeling like I knew nothing at all!! You'll soon get the hang of it I'm sure just need some decent clear skies and a bit of practice :rolleyes:

With Stellarium is it that you can't add it or you've added it but it's not helping you find it? If it's the latter have a go at setting up the ocular plugin too (i'm on the train right now but if you google for stellarium wiki if I remember correctly there's a tutorial on there to configure it) that basically shows a pretty good view of exactly what you'll see in your eyepiece, I found that really useful for making sure I was in the right place in the sky.

If it's that you can't add it, let me know if you still want to go the stellarium route and I'll see if I can find some more detailed instructions a bit later.

And from what I've read, Garradd will be around for most of the winter too so it's not going anywhere (too) fast, so you've got plenty of time :)

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matsey

matsey

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I've just checked on my PC (I'm running Vista, this may be different on yours if you have a different operating system), and it seems I've got two copies of ssytem.ini on my harddrive.. one in C:\Program Files\Stellarium\Data and the other in C:\Users\Matsey\AppData\Roaming\Stellarium\data. My Garrard code has been added to the one in \AppData\Roaming... I can't remember doing that, but suspect the second one overrides the first? If you do a search on your harddrive for that filename, maybe it's in more than one place for you and it's the other file you need to add it to?

Also, here's a copy of the code I've added.. note that the "name" bit for me is different to the one given in the link... when I had the full name of "C/2009 P1 (Garradd)" it wasn't coming up in the Search box in Stellarium either.

Hopefully that'll get it working.. if not, I'm getting a bit stumped myself, maybe someone else will have some ideas?

Matsey :rolleyes:

[Garradd]

name = Garradd

parent = Sun

radius = 80

oblateness = 0.0

albedo = 1

lighting = false

orbit_visualization_period = 365.25

halo = true

color = 1.0,1.0,1.0

tex_halo = star16x16.png

tex_map = nomap.png

coord_func = comet_orbit

orbit_TimeAtPericenter = 2455919.1863

orbit_PericenterDistance = 1.550778

orbit_Eccentricity = 1.000901

orbit_ArgOfPericenter = 90.7398

orbit_AscendingNode = 325.9957

orbit_Inclination = 106.1893

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GJBC

GJBC

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http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/comets/2009_P1.pdf

this page shows it location for August should be easy to locate at present and for the next few days as it heads into the constellation Sagitta the arrow and if we are lucky with the weather it will pass M71 quite close. could be a good photo opportunity.

might have ago at setting up the add in for Stellarium myself now.

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JB80

JB80

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There is an easier way to get comets in Stellarium, it works for any comet you just need the latest stellarium.

1. Press F2 to open the "configuration" window. Under the "Plugins" tab in the "Configuration" window, select "Solar System Editor". Under "options" at the bottom of the tab, click the "Configure" button. A window for "Solar System; objects" will open. Under the "Solar System tab" of the "Solar System objects" window, click the "Import orbital elements in MPC format" button at the bottom of the tab. An "import data" window will open.

Under the "lists" tab of the "Import data" window, Select the "type" as "comets"; select the "source" as "download a list of objects from the internet"; under "or select from the list" click on "Select bookmark" and select "MPC's list of observable comets," and then click the button "get orbital elements."

A list of objects found will load. Scroll down and check the box next to C/2009 Garradd, then click the "Add; objects". C/2009 Garradd will then be added to your solar system. Close the Solar System editor and Configuration window.

3. If you want to see where Garradd will be in the sky, you'll need to update your location and time.

4. Find Garradd. Press F3 to open the "Find object" window. Type in "C/2009 Garradd" and you should only see one choice "C/2009 Garradd" below the search box. Click the magnifying glass at the right of the search box to lock in on Garradd. It will automatically give you a view of the sky where Garradd is located.

It worked for me and it works on not just comets but asteroids and other things.

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GJBC

GJBC

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yep i done the upgrade to version 11 and done this now i got all the comets as well awsome cheers guys

all those still on version 10.5 ( like i was ) will need to upgrade to Version 11 first

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matsey

matsey

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I wonder if I should make a seperate thread for that so more people see it.

I think that would be a great idea... I'm pretty comfortable with computers (lol I'm a web developer so I really should be!!), but not everyone is that technically-minded - fiddling about in a system file can be quite intimidating if you're not sure what you're doing. I know I'll be using your way of adding objects next time I need to, and I'm sure other people will really benefit from the info too :rolleyes:

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