Asteriod Hunters

[AstroRuz]

Hey all,

Researching some stuff for my next videos and I was wondering if anyone can seriously hunt/photograph/observe asteroids from Earth? I know it's dependent on the Asteroid as they're all different and such. But is this something that many people do often?

Many thanks all

[Davey-T]

I usually try to image the brighter ones when possible easy enough with a SW Star Adventurer and DSLR, trickiest bit is finding them.

Dave

[Hals]

I always take a look through my subs when checking them, anything close by could show up as a moving speck. Zippo so far though !

[Littleguy80]

I’ve tracked down a few visually. SkySafari has a list of the brightest ones which updates regularly as the increase/decrease in magnitude. Below is my list of observed asteroids. 

[SteveWolves]

Have a look at what this place does.

[andrew s]

On 10/01/2021 at 00:52, AstroRuz said:

Hey all,

Researching some stuff for my next videos and I was wondering if anyone can seriously hunt/photograph/observe asteroids from Earth? I know it's dependent on the Asteroid as they're all different and such. But is this something that many people do often?

Many thanks all

The BAA has a section on this area BAA section .

Regards Andrew 

[SteveWolves]

Sorry missed the link out.

https://spaceguardcentre.com/

[Paul M]

It seems that they crop up quite often if you look for them. Here is a thread that might be of interest:

 

[pjsmith_6198]

I started chasing asteroids a couple of years ago when the Moon was out and made viewing DSO's difficult.  I discovered it was kind of fun tracking them down and now whenever I go out with my telescope  I'll look for one or two.    There are dozens out every night in a broad band along the zodiac  constellations.    See the attached asteroids_Jan-2021.pdf file.    That was printed from Starry Nights 6.   It shows what's currently overhead this month. It helps to magnify it make it more readable.   A lot of those are too faint to be seen with the normal telescopes we use.    The second attachment is a screen spot from SkyTools4.    It lists about 30 asteroids from mag 7.3 to 11.8  that are easily visible with the equipment we use.    I use charts printed from Starry Nights 6 or SkyTools4 to find them.  The charts contain an  eye view, a 5 degree finder view which matches my finder, and a eye piece view for the EP I'm using.   Sky Safari would probably work just as well.   Without the charts I'd have problems anything other than he brightest asteroids.  

It's interesting to keep track of their general location and magnitudes for comparisons when revisiting and it's also fun to find them two in a view with other asteroids or DSO's .   The third attachment is a chart for Jan 21 for  asteroids Melpomene (Mag 9.14)  and Echo (Mag 10.02).   They will fit in a 1 degree FOV EP for a few days and they are bright enough to easily see.    Asteroids Hygiea (Mag 9.8) and Echsfeldia (Mag 12.54) is nearby also between M44 and M67.

Phil  

 

asteroids_Jan-2021.pdf SkyTools4_Current_Bright_Minor_Planets.pdf Echo_Melpomene_1-21-2021.pdf

[bottletopburly]

You can use Astap  to identify asteroids comets etc you just need to solve the image and Astap can identify asteroids in fov info here 

 

 

[7170]

On 10/01/2021 at 00:52, AstroRuz said:

Hey all,

Researching some stuff for my next videos and I was wondering if anyone can seriously hunt/photograph/observe asteroids from Earth? I know it's dependent on the Asteroid as they're all different and such. But is this something that many people do often?

Many thanks all

Imaging them from Earth is ok, for example a lot of the brighter ones are within easy reach of an ED80 or C8 and almost all cameras on a good tracking mount. But the image is just a round looking white blob of course. Not sure about visually though as I only image remote from inside the house these days as my body doesn’t like the cold anymore 🤣.

As for finding new ones, there are lots of amateurs who have done it from Earth (even in recent years/decades) but today’s automated surveys means most new ones found are very dim (sub mag17).

Finding and imaging existing ones is something I enjoy very much. I’ve never found a new one, but we all have dreams... In terms of how common it is, lots of people do look for them but I suspect variable and double star observation is more popular in general.