Observatory Update: December 30 2013

 Greetings to you my fellow followers and amateur astronomers! I hope you've all had a great holiday season, no matter what holiday you observe. With 2013 now in our rear view mirrors and 2014 quickly approaching, I wanted to take a moment to share with you some updates and what you can expect from Chuckwalla Observatory in the upcoming months.

  The year 2013 has brought us some wonderful astronomical events. Lunar eclipses, meteor showers, a few comets and asteroids...it's been a pretty good year. I suspect 2014 will be no different. In a later post, I will share with you a list of major events you can look forward to in the upcoming year. A lot of astro-happenings means a lot of Youtube videos...and this year I've posted more videos than I ever have before! My goal was to reach 100 videos by the end of 2013, and I'm happy to say I've reached that goal. I want to thank all of my subscribers and casual viewers for taking the time to watch them. Over the past few months I have seen a large increase in the amount of subscribers I've gotten on my channel. Thank you! It's because of you that I continue to make these videos, and it's because of you that I will continue to do so and hopefully hit the 200 mark sometime next year. So stay tuned to the channel. I've got a lot planned for 2014. Astronomical observing videos, equipment reviews and how-to tutorials are all planned for the line up.

 A new year also means a bit of a funding boost for the hardware side of the operation. Some time in February I'm going to be getting some new equipment for my main telescope, hopefully enabling me to use it quite a bit more and adding increased functionality to it. A new guiding set-up, a focal reducer and a Hyperstar system are all in the works. I also have an equatorial wedge that I obtained earlier in the year, which is long overdue for a review. So expect to see some new videos on my Youtube channel shortly that will discuss these items in depth and how they are used.

 This year I am also going to be doing something I've always wanted to do in the past. I'm going to be observing and imaging all 110 Messier objects! That's right, I'm starting Project M-110. The goal is to have this project completed by Christmas 2014. To give myself a better chance of finishing on time I've already started by getting two objects knocked out: M1 the Crab Nebula and M45 the Pleiades cluster. Additionally, each object will get it's own Youtube video that will explain what type of object it is, when it was discovered and some basic information about the object along with my image of it. It is certainly an obtainable goal to have all 110 objects finished by Dec. 25th 2014, but to make it on time I will have to image on average 9-10 objects per month. Stay tuned for updates and videos regarding the M-110 project.

 I wish all of you a Happy New Year! Please enjoy yourselves but remember to be safe. I look forward to bringing you more astronomy related content in 2014 and enjoying the wonders of the cosmos together.

M1 the Crab Nebula:

 

Merry Christmas from Chuckwalla Observatory!

 I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Happy Holidays from Chuckwalla Observatory.

Comet ISON Update: 2nd Death?

 Well my friends, it's not looking good for our dear Comet ISON. The last two days have been revealing as to what Ison's future is likely to be. As you already know, Ison made it's perihelion approach on Thanksgiving Day and was seemingly destroyed by the sun's relentless heat. But a few hours later, it was observed that something had made it through the solar gauntlet intact. 

It was unknown what exactly had made it through, and at this point we still don't know if it was a fragment of the nucleus or a pile of dust and rubble. But what was interesting is the fact that this remnant of Ison began to brighten up and act like a comet...at lest for a while. However, over the past 48 hours, this remnant began to dim and disperse. At this point, it has become rather ethereal in nature and much less bright that it had been. 

 So what's next? No one can say exactly. The remains of Ison is no longer in the field of view of the SOHO LASCO imagers, so it can no longer be tracked that way. Hopefully another observatory can try and catch it in the next few days. My gut feeling tells me it is probably over for Ison, although it wouldn't surprise me if Ison pulled some sort of trick out of it's sleeve. While it is entirely possible the remnant could make an interesting telescopic object if it doesn't disperse completely, I would not expect to see it with the naked eye. 

 My apologies to everyone who was expecting a fabulous naked eye object for December. I know it's very disappointing to have lost this gem of a comet. Some of you may have even bought telescopes to see Ison. We can't control the forces of nature, we have to observe and enjoy the wonders of the universe on it's terms. Ison may not have made it to greatness, but what it did do is give the gift of information. It's uniqueness will give science something to study for many years to come. This is Ison's legacy.

Image from NASA/SOHO:

 http://198.118.248.97/data/realtime/realtime-update.html#top