The Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope went into safe mode on Saturday, 28 January following the apparent failure of it’s redundant power supply system. Early on the morning of the 28th HST was recovered from safe mode but with ACS offline. Other instruments aboard Hubble continue to function normally.
NASA has appointed an Anomaly Review Board and it’s findings and recommendations are due by 2 March. “It is too early to know what influences the ACS anomaly may have on Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission-4 planning” said Preston Burch, associate director/program manager for the Hubble Space Telescope in a NASA press release. ACS was switched to a redundant power system in June, 2006 following the failure of the primary power system and is the instrument which produced the spectacular images and brought worldwide acclaim for the orbiting telescope’s mission.
Reports on the observation of Friday’s occulation of star 32 Lyncis are starting to come in. Brad Timerson is working on the analysis of the Palma occultation observations; this graphic is the sky plane plot that he has so far. Many more observations will be reported and added.
Derek Breit has posted video from his observation in California. Derek says: When you open the link, scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find the link to the video. Raise the brightness and lower the contrast to get the best view. Derek will be working on this page a bit on Sunday, but the video link will be there forever. Find the video here.
Below you will find audio files from my observation of the occultation of 32 Lyncis. I observed this event at Gen. Butler State Park, Carrollton, KY. My observation was POSITIVE. After a preliminary review of the waveforms from the recording of my observation I estimate that 32 Lyncis disappeared at 09:44:36 UT and reappeared at 09:44:49 UT. I observed through broken clouds. I did NOT see the asteroid. While I attempted to continue the observation until 09:52 looking for satellites of 372 Palma, cloud cover made this impossible.
There are two podcast files here. The first “WHAS calibration” contains stereo audio with the NIST WWV time interval signal on the left channel and “Coast to Coast AM” from 840 AM WHAS, Louisville (my place of employment) on the right. This recording begins at 09:42:55 with the announcement of minute 43 and continues to minute 47.
If you monitored 840, WHAS for a “time stamp” of your observation email me for details on calibrating your audio or simply listen to the podcast below.
The second file begins at 09:43:55 and was done accoustically (ie with a microphone recording my off/on observations with a radio tuned to WWV playing in the background. This file concludes at 09:45 UT and is monaural
My Asteroid Occultation report is available here. Special thanks to David Dunham and Evelyn Welch and the staff at Gen. Butler State Park, Carrollton, KY
The best “star eclipse”, or occultation, of the 6th magnitude star, 32 Lyncis, by asteroid 372 Palma was observed across north America Friday morning, 26 January, 2007. Our special feature interview podcast with Dr. David Dunham, President of IOTA, is available here. Click on the link at the bottom of this post to listen. Dr. Dunham explains how observations help determine the size and shape of the asteroid.
I observed the occultation through broken cloud cover at General Butler State Park, Carrollton, KY. Preliminary review of my timing recording indicates a 13 second occultation at 09:44:36-09:44:49. More to follow.
This was the best eclipse of a star by an asteroid in the U.S.A. in many years, possibly since September 1983, when 40 observers from Alabama to southeastern Virginia timed the eclipse of a slightly brighter star by the asteroid (51) Nemausa. The star, at “magnitude” 6.3, is just barely visible to the naked eye for those in a dark location with good eyesight, but can be seen easily with binoculars by anyone able to find it. Astronomers call such an event an “occultation” from the Latin for the act of hiding. Amateur observations of this event can provide valuable measurements of the size and shape of asteroid 372 Palma. Over 100 asteroids are now known to have satellites, but Palma is not one of them.
Observers were encouraged to help observe this event and report the results. Results and observations are available on Dr. David Dunham’s website. Additional information is available here and at the IOTA, Steve Preston and Derek Breit websites.
Stargeezer Astronomy is all about enjoying the night sky. We present Astronomy enrichment programs in Indiana and Kentucky, and blog on everything from celestial events, our nights under the stars, astrophotography and using our "toys" (the scopes, eyepieces, cameras and mounts). "The Night Time is The Right Time"
Reports on the observation of Friday’s occulation of star 32 Lyncis are starting to come in. Brad Timerson is working on the analysis of the Palma occultation observations; this graphic is the sky plane plot that he has so far. Many more observations will be reported and added.
The best “star eclipse”, or occultation, of the 6th magnitude star, 32 Lyncis, by asteroid 372 Palma was observed across north America Friday morning, 26 January, 2007. Our special feature interview podcast with Dr. David Dunham, President of IOTA, is available here. Click on the link at the bottom of this post to listen. Dr. Dunham explains how observations help determine the size and shape of the asteroid.
