APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

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APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by APOD Robot » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:05 am

Image Comet Lemmon near the South Celestial Pole

Explanation: Currently sweeping through southern skies, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) was named for its discovery last year as part of the Mount Lemmon (Arizona) Survey. Brighter than expected but still just below naked-eye visibility, Comet Lemmon sports a stunning lime green coma and faint divided tail in this telescopic image from February 4. The greenish tint comes from the coma's diatomic C2 gas fluorescing in sunlight. Captured from an observatory near Sydney, Australia, the color composite is constructed from a series of individual exposures registered on the comet. Across the 1 degree wide field of view, the star trails are a consequence of the comet's relatively rapid motion against the background of stars near the South Celestial Pole. Moving north, the comet should grow brighter, reaching a peak (3rd magnitude or so) when it is closest to the Sun in late March. By early April it should be visible from the northern hemisphere. Of course, this year Comet Lemmon may be just another pretty comet as skygazers on planet Earth also eagerly anticipate views of Comet PANSTARRS and Comet ISON.

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Beyond » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:12 am

Well... looks this year is going to be rather cometizing. :yes: Maybe I'll even get to see one.
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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by PDB11 » Thu Feb 07, 2013 6:51 am

I'd never heard of C2 before. Fun! Perhaps it should be a Wikipedia link in the text, though.

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by fausto.lubatti » Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:12 am

Very nice picture: I like the coloured star trails left by the long exposures with filters.
Excellent job! :D

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:04 am

PDB11 wrote:I'd never heard of C2 before. Fun! Perhaps it should be a Wikipedia link in the text, though.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomic ... #section_1
Diatomic carbon is a diatomic molecule of carbon (C2), which occurs in carbon vapor, for example in electric arcs; in comets, stellar atmospheres and the interstellar medium; and in blue hydrocarbon flames.
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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:07 am

fausto.lubatti wrote:Very nice picture: I like the coloured star trails left by the long exposures with filters.
Excellent job! :D
:clap: THANK YOU for explaining that, Fausto - I was just about to ask what caused those coloured trails!

Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Apodee » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:42 am

A typo at 2.7.13 issue... in the fourth row, second sentence... "Moving north, the comet should >grower< brighter, ... it should be grow?... please fix it. :)

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by neufer » Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:13 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:
PDB11 wrote:
I'd never heard of C2 before. Fun! Perhaps it should be a Wikipedia link in the text, though.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomic_carbon#section_1 wrote:
diatomic Carbon is a diatomic molecule of carbon (C2), which occurs in carbon vapor, for example in electric arcs; in comets, stellar atmospheres and the interstellar medium; and in blue hydrocarbon flames.
  • Why Comet Lemmon is lime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_%28cleanser%29 wrote:
Image
<<Comet is a powdered cleaning product introduced in 1956 by Procter & Gamble. Scratch Free Comet with Bleach Disinfectant Cleanser contains 1.2% sodium diChloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate (a derivative of cyanuric acid) and 98.8% "other" ingredients. The only clues about the [98.8%] are disclaimers on the label that mention that the surfactants are biodegradable and that it contains no phosphate. Mixing Comet with other cleaners, specifically dish soap, toilet bowl cleaners and products that contain ammonia, is dangerous. Comet was known for a series of popular television ads featuring the character of "Josephine the Plumber" (played by actress Jane Withers).

A children's song about Comet is sung to the tune of the Colonel Bogey March:
  • Comet, it makes your face turn green
    Comet, it tastes like gasoline
    Comet, it makes you vomit,
    So get some Comet, and vomit today!
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:21 pm

Neufer - how ever do you FIND these edifying morsels of information?!
M
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by neufer » Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:28 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:
Neufer - how ever do you FIND these edifying morsels of information?!
  • I'm quite Mad you know.
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Beyond » Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:01 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:Neufer - how ever do you FIND these edifying morsels of information?!
M
He uses his Quotidian Quotationist Zen, to become the Abstruse Allusion Artificer, through which he can personally relate to the subject of his post.
thCAV39CUQ.jpg
AND, he really is quite "Mad", you know. Geniusly so.
th--2.jpg
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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:39 pm

neufer wrote:
MargaritaMc wrote:
Neufer - how ever do you FIND these edifying morsels of information?!
  • I'm quite Mad you know.
... It takes me back to my younger days (creak of joints - go figure :mrgreen: ). Is MAD still published? Or is this forum the one remaining outpost? :derp: :clap: :thumb_up:
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Keyman » Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:56 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:... It takes me back to my younger days (creak of joints - go figure :mrgreen: ). Is MAD still published? Or is this forum the one remaining outpost?
As a parttime bookseller at B&N (though my wife calls it my "paid hobby") I can tell you MAD is still available on the Newsstand.

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by ta152h0 » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:07 pm

I wonder if NASA has rockets ready on short notice to launch probes to the vicinity of cometary orbits with cameras and other sensors to study these objects close up ( maybe even bring back materials from such pristine origins ) Or does austerity measures prevent such bold moves ?
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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:21 pm

Keyman wrote:
MargaritaMc wrote:... It takes me back to my younger days (creak of joints - go figure :mrgreen: ). Is MAD still published? Or is this forum the one remaining outpost?
As a parttime bookseller at B&N (though my wife calls it my "paid hobby") I can tell you MAD is still available on the Newsstand.
How SPLENDID!! :lol2: :!: :!:

Margarita - the Limey...
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:27 pm

And I have found the WEBSITE!
http://www.madmagazine.com/

Oh! Frabjous day :clap: :clap:
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Boomer12k » Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:28 pm

Looks more like a LIME drop, than a Lemon Drop.

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by moontrail » Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:33 am

fausto.lubatti wrote:Very nice picture: I like the coloured star trails left by the long exposures with filters.
Excellent job! :D
Regarding the startrails coloured segments, was half of the exposure taken without filters?

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Chris Peterson » Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:34 pm

moontrail wrote:Regarding the startrails coloured segments, was half of the exposure taken without filters?
If you look closely at the star trails, you'll see that the image was made with 24 equal length subexposures, 12 through a clear filter, and 4 each through red, green, and blue filters. LRGB imaging is a standard approach to achieving high signal-to-noise color images with a minimum of total exposure time.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:21 am

Chris Peterson wrote:
moontrail wrote:Regarding the startrails coloured segments, was half of the exposure taken without filters?
If you look closely at the star trails, you'll see that the image was made with 24 equal length subexposures, 12 through a clear filter, and 4 each through red, green, and blue filters. LRGB imaging is a standard approach to achieving high signal-to-noise color images with a minimum of total exposure time.
I am re-visiting this thread as today's Apod is also about comet Lemmon.

So, in this image, which filters would have been used first? I should be able to work it out from the image, but I can't. (It would be less difficult if coordinates for the comet had been given.)

Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Chris Peterson » Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:45 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:So, in this image, which filters would have been used first? I should be able to work it out from the image, but I can't. (It would be less difficult if coordinates for the comet had been given.)
There's no way to tell which filter was used first without knowing something of the starfield and the motion of the comet. We can determine the sequence: L, R, G, B, but not the direction (it could as easily be B, G, R, L).

As a rule, most imagers collect their L data first, since if the weather goes south on them during the session, they still end up with a usable B&W image.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Tue Mar 05, 2013 3:12 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
MargaritaMc wrote: There's no way to tell which filter was used first without knowing something of the starfield and the motion of the comet. We can determine the sequence: L, R, G, B, but not the direction (it could as easily be B, G, R, L).

As a rule, most imagers collect their L data first, since if the weather goes south on them during the session, they still end up with a usable B&W image.
Thanks - I thought that I was being dim in not being able to work out where the comet was! I'm interested to see your use of "go south" - my Londoner Mum would say of something that has broken or worn out that it "had gone west". The UK's prevailing (wet) weather comes from the west. Does yours come from the south?
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by Chris Peterson » Tue Mar 05, 2013 3:24 pm

MargaritaMc wrote:I'm interested to see your use of "go south" - my Londoner Mum would say of something that has broken or worn out that it "had gone west". The UK's prevailing (wet) weather comes from the west. Does yours come from the south?
No. The term is unrelated to weather, so far as I know. I think it comes from our association between "south" and "down" on maps. "Going south" is the same as "going downhill".
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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by stephen63 » Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:19 am

MargaritaMc wrote: Thanks - I thought that I was being dim in not being able to work out where the comet was! I'm interested to see your use of "go south" - my Londoner Mum would say of something that has broken or worn out that it "had gone west". The UK's prevailing (wet) weather comes from the west. Does yours come from the south?
I would have thought "going west" was a polite jab in reference to the ungrateful colonists who founded the U.S. :wink:

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Re: APOD: Comet Lemmon near the South Pole... (2013 Feb 07)

Post by MargaritaMc » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:29 am

stephen63 wrote:
MargaritaMc wrote: Thanks - I thought that I was being dim in not being able to work out where the comet was! I'm interested to see your use of "go south" - my Londoner Mum would say of something that has broken or worn out that it "had gone west". The UK's prevailing (wet) weather comes from the west. Does yours come from the south?
I would have thought "going west" was a polite jab in reference to the ungrateful colonists who founded the U.S. :wink:
Mmm. Possibly....

I googled the phrase and (after getting rid of Go West Young Man and music group called Go West) I found some information on http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsg.htm. The site doesn't permit select and copy (I'm on an Android with no separate keypad, so can't do the usual work-rounds) so I'll have to summarise.

1. The saying was made common during the First World War, when a British soldier 'going west' meant leaving the scene of fighting - often thru death or injury.
2. But the notion of West being the direction of death is an old one and is related to the setting sun
3. In LONDON, Tyburn, the place of public execution from the 12th century until 1783, is near Marble Arch, which was then far too the west of the rest of London. My Mum is from the area of the London Docklands, well to the east of the City of London.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Bye the way,"Going Up west" in our family language means "getting all dolled-up and going out on the town"! :lol2: (To the West End, where all the theatres were/are).

Margarita
"In those rare moments of total quiet with a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful and serene."
&mdash; Dr Debra M. Elmegreen, Fellow of the AAAS