Asteroid 3122 Florence

[SilverAstro]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

My dictionary of Latin-Greek terms in biosciences names both "delphis" and "delphus", and their meanings as you quoted above ("delphus"= uterus and vagina), but does not mention any connection between them; there  seems to be also no common word root "delph--"; so I'm not quite sure about about this relation.

I'll never trust wikipedia again !

[Stu]

Just pick little Flo up again, looking good  

[mdstuart]

Stu describe it's location..I cannot find it due to patchy cloud. Is it inside the coffin yet?

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, mdstuart said:

Stu describe it's location..I cannot find it due to patchy cloud. Is it inside the coffin yet?

Not yet Mark. It's under a degree from Delta Delphini, this chart is pretty accurate.

[mdstuart]

Thanks got her now. Moving slower than the other night!

Just left of the cross now.

Mark

[mdstuart]

I can't see her moons ?

Need a tak?

[mdstuart]

Fainter as well tonight Mag 9.5 ish

Mark

Just amazing to follow..

[Stu]

7 minutes ago, mdstuart said:

I can't see her moons ?

Need a tak?

I'm using something just a little more special than that and still can't see them ????

[WaveSoarer]

I've just been out again with the 100p  (a great grab and go scope) and I could see Florence just moving up to be adjacent to delta del. A bit of cloud dodging tonight but it's still clearly visible.

[Littleguy80]

Found her! 50x complete with dodgy sketch! First asteroid in the bag  

[harrym]

2 hours ago, mdstuart said:

I can't see her moons ?

Need a tak?

I didn't realise you could get a 36 inch Tak

[Moonshane]

Just managed to sketch this per below.gamma at top delta at bottom. Hope you all get it. It's moving quickly but not like some of the smaller ones!

120ed  24mm Panoptic (image has been flipped so is effectively a RACI view).

Period covered 1230am - 1am 3/9/17

 

[JOC]

Hmmm....Looks like I'll have to check for an online reference if I get out again and try to see this - my Stellarium and Sky map on the mobile don't recognise the name or the number - unless it has a third 'official' designation.

[Moonshane]

This was pretty good https://theskylive.com/florence-info

and this

[JOC]

Hi Moonshane, that shows a fairly good direction for me, but it seems well overhead - I reckon that will be just over my house in above the gap in the hedge I used to pick up Saturn in and where I first saw the moon before dusk yesterday.  That group of four stars (Delphinus) looks sort of findable - I'll have to go out and crick my neck and see if I can spot it.  At least with my RDF if I can see it by eye I can now find it in the telescope :-D

[SilverAstro]

3 hours ago, JOC said:

 my Stellarium and Sky map on the mobile don't recognise the name or the number

Dont know about Stellarium on a mobile, but the usual Stellarium needs Florence to be updated (from the Minor Planets Center NEA list ) into it via the Config menu.

see a few posts down in "Florence&friends" https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/299120-florence3122friends/

[kerrylewis]

Desperately seeking Florence

After four evenings of frustration and failure  (I won't bore you with the details) I finally found her!

Clear Outside promised about two hours of clear skies so set up the scope under grey clouds more in hope than expectation. But CO was spot on and trusting that Sky Safari now had the right location I slewed to the spot. After I while I suspected that the spot to the left of that triangle of stars was moving. After a while I was sure and I was mesmerised as I watched it form straight lines and then triangles with other stars. A bit fainter than I was expecting but I suspect it had faded a bit since I first started searching - but wonderful. My first NEA . Chuffed to bits doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. Daft hobby - how could you explain to someone that you have spent five evenings looking for a faint slowly moving dot and then the emotions when you finally find it? 

Thank you Florence  - you can now go on your way.

[Moonshane]

That's what it's all about Kerry. Initial frustration, careful observation, joy of location. Once you stop losing that feeling then what's the point? Great stuff buddy.

[WaveSoarer]

Well done Kerry! I'm really glad that your persistence paid off. The moon will be brightening the sky too and this, along with the dimming of Florence, won't have helped. Quite an achievement all told.

[harrym]

Finally got a chance to see it with the 8" dob tonight. It's great to be able to watch something moving so quickly - I've seen a couple of comets moving through the field of view before but nothing this fast. The only moon I could see tonight was the big bright one though...

[Stu]

Nice one Harry! What sort of brightness is it now? Must have another got before it says goodbye  

[harrym]

It was about mag 10 last night. It's fading quite quickly now - should be down to mag 11 by Saturday. Hope you get another chance to see it!

[Stu]

Thanks Harry, me too. I think I can get down to mag 11 or better from home so should be able to give it another go.

[Cosmic Geoff]

I saw Florence last night (8 Sept) from about 22.30 BST onwards, using a Celestron C8 SE with Starsense GoTo and 25mm eyepiece. It took a while to match what I could see (mirror-reversed) with the finder chart on the laptop, the latter being indoors.  Position noted at around 19h 50' 23" + 50deg 41', but  after watching a while I figured out which speck was Florence and saw it moving. Magnitude 10.88 on the finder chart and that was probably about right.

I also found asteroid Julia at 22h 41', +10 deg 58', near a bright star.  

[andrew63]

Thanks for your report - glad you got to view Florence. Had a look also at Julia, thanks for the info. It's very close to Homan in Pegasus, and the bright point of the asteroid stands out well even in moonlight.  

Sky Safari has this one right ! Well worth a look.

 

andrew