Veil Nebula 31 May 08

Thats a shame.

If nothing else, we've shown that we can respond fairly quickly!

I'd encourage all of the folks here to submit any odd images (of astronomical objects of course) and sure, we'll check 'em out.

It was great ride while it lasted!

Dave

dmcdona wrote:

I'd encourage all of the folks here to submit any odd images (of astronomical objects of course) and sure, we'll check 'em out.

I would definitely second that. Remember that you guys with wide field setups are ideally placed to capture a rogue comet or a bright NEO. There was a recent discovery by a russian amateur who was surveying for variable stars when he spotted a moving object. It turned out to be the first NEO ever discovered by a russian amateur.

The key is speed. Check the images as soon as possible and don't be afraid to post anything even remotely suspect here. Even if your pretty sure you know what it is. If you do manage to get something new. There is a good chance that one of the J gang will get you a second night to firm up a potential discovery and I know we'd be only too happy to do that if at all possible.

If you do see something get as many images over as long a time span as you can. Get at least three images over an hour. Who knows, the next amateur discoverer from Ireland might be reading this and never imagining what 'Just might be!'

johnomahony wrote:

As the image was an unguided shot there is some tracking error. If you zoom in you can see the tracking error. If you look at the close up of the "object" it appears that the tracking error is reversed (or mirrored compared to nearby stars) which would suggestion a reflection. You may be right Dave.

Yup thats what struck me too. John to be honest the 'tracking error' looks more like field rotation rather than tracking error to me. Is there a chance that the polar alignment was way off? I've found that although absolute precision is neither necessary nor even desireable when guiding, large errors do show up as field rotation very quickly. Otherwise there is not a lot wrong with an otherwise grand image!!

Thanks everyone for helping out. I shall have to make sure the clip filter is as flush as possible in the camera next time.
I did find this image loaded up on the 2nd June on the web. If you really squint you can just about make out a tiny green smudge close to the small triangle of stars in my image. Mind you its well into the signal to noise zone. For anyone interested the site is

www.flickr.com/photos/zamb0ni/3587789097/sizes/l/

You need to open the original file and zoom in a bit. Really pushing my luck here: blink:

cheers
john

Great read so far guys. I bet John you've been sweating a bit with anticipation - I would!

Seanie.