Brrrrr! It's cold, might as well reach for my Vesta!

[stolenfeather]

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

A VEST? It was so cold that I reached for my winter coat and hat! Staying pretty much immobile in 2 ºC / 35.6 ºF with 70 km winds can become uncomfortable with time but the skies called out to me. Our geographical area goes through a second freshet in the autumn months. This means cloud cover for two months straight as the rains come in so right now, I don't want to let any chances pass me by! There was also the little matter of Vesta,...

Throughout September and into October, this large asteroid is seen near the southern border of Capricornus. My astronomy magazines and my Stellarium program have been hinting at it's location for sometime now. With astronomy, there's always an allure for the first time. If I could catch Vesta, it would be my first asteroid.

My firsts?

I jumped up and down upon seeing my first planet ----> Venus

I danced around my telescope the first time I found Saturn.

I called all my friends when Jupiter made it's first appearance in my eyepiece.

I patted myself on the back for finding Uranus and Mercury.

I nearly cried when seeing my first nebula in the constellation Orion.

I simply stared in wonder the first time I saw northern lights.

I was mesmerized upon seeing my first star cluster.

I laughed and nearly hugged my telescope upon seeing my first galaxy. (Andromeda)

The green comet Lulin was my first dusty ice spectacle (comet).

Now,,... I want Vesta to be my first asteroid.

I think that I was indeed successful last night since I did encounter something looking at the stars in Capricornus. The problem is that an asteroid looks pretty much like a star and therefore difficult to decipher it from other surrounding heavenly bodies. One did stand out to me. It's not that it was bigger but,... it's light seemed more stable to me and after sometime, I started seeing a hint (make that a very small hint) of colour. I have to say however that after peering at the same object after some time through an eyepiece, sometimes what you see becomes what you want to see.

Before heading back in I gave my telescope a whirl and "popped over" the Andromeda galaxy and the planet Jupiter. It's not that I had never seen them before but the thing about being out here,... many times, it feels like the first time all over again!

The skies are clear so far. At 8:00pm, if the weather cooperates,.. I'm heading out again. I need to know if I have indeed become acquainted with this asteroid, the same heavenly body that is currently orbited by the Dawn spacecraft.

How cool is that?

[bombassa]

It's cool. And cold ;o)

[stolenfeather]

Thanks for coming by bombassa!

Isabelle

[Nexus 6]

just thought I'd pop round what's next on your list then?

[stolenfeather]

Thanks for coming by Alan! What's next? That's a good question! I guess I'll have tow wait till the clouds are whisked away to answer that question! I hope you are having better luck!

Isabelle

[Star child]

Congratulations on your first asteroid! the joy i felt when i saw my first asteroid is still fresh in my mind as it was only in July this year and that was Vesta as well (I guess Vesta is most peoples first asteroid) If you really would like to be sure what you saw was Vesta my advice is to observe it over a few days, make a note of the background stars and you will see after few days that it has moved which is conclusive that its an asteroid, you can detect the movement in 24 hours if its moving through a familiar pattern of stars. If you have a camera you could try imaging it, which isn't as hard as it might sound, all you need is a camera that allows you to do up to 15 seconds exposure and allows you to adjust the ISO and F number, just point it in the right direction and take a series of shots adjusting the ISO and F number, and exposure times until you get an image you are happy with, it needs to be focused on infinity and a higher ISO will show fainter stars but also make the photo look grainy so sometimes its a trade of between detail and picture quality. I took this image and whilst it is not visually stunning it i am very happy to have captured a image of Vesta and the main goal was to show its movement, which with the line i have drawn between 2 stars I think the movement is quite noticeable , go on, give it a go!

[David Smith]

Love reading your reports. The enthusiasm in your writing is inspirational.

Thank You

[stolenfeather]

Thank you so much David and Star Child!

I have indeed been watching Vesta over the last few days and yes,.. it is indeed what I saw! Congratulations on finding it yourself Dave! I captured a picture myself but it was simply a speck. Mind you I love my little speck!

Isabelle

[listy]

fantastic read

[stolenfeather]

Thanks Listy!

Isabelle

[Pete Presland]

well done on your first asteroid its a great little hobby isnt it

i imaged my first comet (garrard) last week,25 years after seeing my first comet (halley) it felt very much the same.i hope the feeling never changes

[stolenfeather]

I really want to find Garrard as well. My first comet was Lulin some years back and I'm looking forward to seeing another!

Isabelle

[saturn5]

Agree with the others,a great read.I can relate to your excitement in getting all those firsts.Although its a lot of years in the distant past i can still remember how chuffed i was seeing my first galaxy,think i was smiling about it for days afterwards.

You seem to be having the same cloud as we are having in Northern Scotland.I still haven't seen Garrard yet.On the plus side,we're 10 deg warmer than you and the wind is only gusting to 40mph,whatever that is in new money....40 x 1.6 = errr about 60 and a bit kmh...

[Star child]

Thank you so much David and Star Child!

I have indeed been watching Vesta over the last few days and yes,.. it is indeed what I saw! Congratulations on finding it yourself Dave! I captured a picture myself but it was simply a speck. Mind you I love my little speck!

Isabelle

Thats all i got to, a little speck but i feel the same as you do about it, and its only a speck to people who dont understand what it really is! most of my astropics are nothing more than specks or fuzzy blurs but i love them all the same!

[stolenfeather]

That's why it's called a passion right? It's not really what you see but what you know about it that counts. I love my fuzzies as well!

Isabelle