The Aurora over the Jodrell Plank Observatory 27th February 2023

 

The Auroral glow of pink and green looking north from Wood Lane Oulton. Fixed tripod mounted Canon 600d DSLR and EOS lens at f=18mm. A single 15 second RAW image at ISO6400. Credit: Kurt Thrust

" Our sponsor Anita Roberts alerted the Observatory Team to the possible visibility of the Aurora over Lowestoft. Kurt packed a camera and tripod and jumped with Anita into the car. The closest location offering an unobstructed view to the north is only half a mile from the Observatory . The aurora was just visible to the naked eye and was changing and moving quite rapidly.  The red glow created by excited nitrogen atoms was much easier to see than the green glow created by ionised oxygen which hugged the horizon.  Trial images showed that the aurora was visible from Lowestoft!

The above image is the best of ten images that showed auroral activity and some structure in the ionised oxygen". Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory. 

Don't tell the kids

 

The Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF passing through the 'Kids' triangular asterism in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer.  A cropped stack of 35x1 minute light frames taken at f=18mm and ISO 1600 taken with a Star Adventurer EQ mounted un-modded Canon 600d DSLR. Credit: Kurt Thrust.

" In between the clouds and the full Moon rising above the rooves to our east,

Long Period Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF in the constellation Ursa Minor

 

Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF. Image acquired on 29- Jan 2023. Captured with the Observatory Canon 600d DSLR and 135mm F2 Samyang lens all mounted  on the Star Adventurer EQ mount. A crop of a stack of 40x 60sec light frames at ISO400. Processed using DSS, APS, Affinity Photo2, StarnetGUI, GraXpert, Topaz DenoiseAI and Fitswork4.
Credit: Kurt Thrust

"The Jodrell Plank team were all out to view the comet through binoculars on the one clear night we have had for some time. Unfortunately, imaging the comet was complicated by the strong moonlight, the local light pollution and the intermittent cloud. The comet should be visible all month and by the 5th of February will be close to the very bright star Capella , the alpha star in the constellation Auriga the charioteer. The comet is a visitor from the Oort cloud and last came this close to the Earth some 50,000 years ago when Neanderthals roamed over northern Europe. God knows what will have become of humanity by it's next return. 

Approximate location of the comet on the night of 29- Jan 2023 Credit :Astrometry Net

The uncropped version of the stack showing the comet against the background star field. Credit: Pip Stakkert.

A re-work of the data using some images of the overcast sky, which followed on the light frames in the imaging run, and was used as flat frames divided mathematically into the stack of light frames. This method removed much of the moonlight and light pollution without adding processing artefacts. The Comet's ion tail is well brought out by this processing method. Credit: Pip Stakkert

Annotated version . Credit: Astrometry net.

When imaged, the comet was tracking through an area of sky with few bright objects. An object of interest captured in the wide field view is the star Tonatiuh.  This star is thought to have an exo-planet. 

In 2003, radial velocity measurements made by the Okayama Planet Search Program led to the announcement of an exoplanetary companion. It is orbiting at a distance of 0.95 AU,  with a period of 199.5 days and with an eccentricity of 0.09. Since the inclination of the exoplanet's orbital plane is unknown, only a lower limit on its mass can be determined. It has at least 8.3 times the mass of Jupiter." - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.