Book Comets and asteroids

Book Comets and asteroids.

are you curious about comets and asteroids? Would you like to observe them but don't know how? Don't know what equipment to use to study them or think your astronomical equipment is insufficient? Would you like to collaborate with professional astronomers with your amateur telescope? What software should you use? If you are asking yourself these questions and have not yet found answers, this is the book for you.

In Comets and Asteroids you will see that everything is easier and simpler than it seems. The authors will guide you, step by step, from less to more, through the pages of this magnificent manual of practical observation where, in addition to teaching you how to take beautiful images of comets, you will see that science can also be done. This book explains the techniques and working methods that can be used. It gives guidelines to get easily, and with any type of telescope and camera, good astrometric results to control the orbits of these bodies; methodology to discover new asteroids; or how, with photometric data, to track the brightness of comets, their possible outbursts, disconnections in their tails... Whether you are a novice or experienced observer, this book will help you to do science and research, and you may even discover an asteroid or a new comet.

About the authors:

The couple Ramón Naves and Montse Campàs manage the astronomical observatory Obs. Montcabrer-MPC 213, located in Cabrils, Barcelona. The Montcabrer Observatory is one of the most unique astronomical observatories in the world. This couple of amateur astronomers has drilled holes in the roof of their house and at night, with the help of a hydraulic piston, pulls the telescope through the roof as if it were the periscope of a submarine. It is one of the most prolific amateur observatories in our country and is mainly dedicated to astrometry and photometry of comets and asteroids, collaborating with professional astronomers specialized in the subject. In 2005, they collaborated with NASA in the Deep Impact mission. In 2009, they discovered 2 asteroids (2009 XX and 281829-Monnaves), they have also discovered more than 50 variable stars.

Ramon was a pioneer in our country in the observation of exoplanets by amateurs. He is co-discoverer of the interactions of the exoplanet Wasp-33 with its star, and co-author of several articles published on the subject in scientific journals such as Astronomy&Astrophysics (A&A). He was also a pioneer in the use of the Driftscan method for CCD observation of star occultation by asteroids.

Montse collaborates actively with Dr. Mark Kidger (ESA) and the group Observadores-cometas, being webmaster of the group's web site. She collaborates with The Astronomer group, from which in 2012 she received the George Alcock Awards for her contributions.

Contents:

• Prologue IX
• 1. Comets 1
• 1.what is a comet? 1
• 1.2. Morphology 2
• 1.3. Orbits 4
• 1.4. Comet names 5
• 1.comet families 5
• 1.6. Famous comets 6
• 1.7. Impactors 6
• 1.7.1. Famous impacts of recent times 8
• 1.8. Broken and defragmented comets 9
• 1.9. Outburst comets (outburst) 11
• 1.10. Comets visited by probes 14
• 1.11. Comets and shooting star showers 18
• 1.12. Zodiacal light 20
• 2. Asteroids 21
• 2.what is an asteroid 21
• 2.2. Asteroids visited by probes 24
• 3. Observation and imaging of comets 27
• 4. Astrometry of asteroids and comets 29
• 4.1. Introduction to astrometry 29 2
• 4.2. Instrumentation 30
• 4.2.1. Choice of suitable instrumentation 30 2.2
• 4.2.2. Optical designs 31
• 4.2.3. Mounts 32
• 4.2.4. Observatory 32
• 4.2.5. Computerization and the Internet 33
• 4.2.6. CCD 34
• 4.3. Basic requirements 40
• 4.4. Basic procedure 42
• 4.4.1. MPC format 43
• 4.5. Astrometry with Astrometrica 48
• 4.5.1. Classic procedure 48
• 4.5.2. Track-stacks 52
• 4.5.3. Astrometrica Configuration 55
• 5. Photometry 61
• 5.1. Tips for good photometric results 62 2
• 5.2. Af(rho) 64
• 5.photometry with FoCAs 65 3.1
• 5.3.1. Download and installation 65
• 5.3.2. Operation 66 3.3
• 5.3.3. Af(rho) report 72
• 6. Visual observation of comets 75
• 6.1. Determination of global magnitude 76
• 6.methods for visual estimation of the brightness (magnitude) of a comet 77 2.1
• 6.bobrovnikolff or outside-outside method 77 2.2
• 6.sidwick or inside-out method 78 2.3
• 6.morris method 78 2.4
• 6.2.4. Beyer's method 78
• 6.other factors affecting the measurement 79 3.1
• 6.atmospheric extinction. ICQ (International Comet Quarterly) method for its calculation 79 4
• 6.4. Coma study, determination of coma diameter 83 4.1
• 6.degree of condensation of the coma 83 4.2
• 6.study of the tail. Determination of the dimensions of the tail 84
• 6.drawings 84
• 6.comet approaches to bright stars 85 4.5
• 6.tricks in visual observation 85 4.5
• 7. Anecdotes and typical mistakes that can be made when observing comets 87
• Bibliography 89
• Acknowledgments 89

Technical sheet:

Book Comets and asteroids.