Session December 18th, 2023

The session that Maurizio did on this occasion was longer and apparently had better atmospheric conditions since at least a very faint tail of the comet can be observed.

The workflow process was basically the same as that described in the session held on December 16th, 2023.

The internal reflection problem continue but it can be corrected in Ps with clone stamp, healing brush, a second subtraction, etc.

In the full frame image (Original)  can be see a beautiful galaxy at the bottom as well as other smaller ones around.
The Final version is a crop from the fullframe Original.

Curiously, again a short straight line was found towards the  central up right edge part whose origin must be the product of another stationary satellite, due to the type of trace left. I hope to find more information about it that I will expand upon in this same description later.

Update:   seems Astrobin solved the object as 121 Hermione, Further search will continue
Update 2:  Not one but two asteroids were found in the image.

Doing the search in faint objects that Tycho Track does, was found the 1563 Noel Asteroid and also by the solve of PixInsight. Both searchs are done always in raw frames. Main reason that Astrobin solve only show 121 Hermione asteroid in the fullframe 'Original' image: 1563 Noel basically got lost in the subtraction of the starless trail-comet that I use for get the stars-only frame.
So I search in the file comet-trail the layer before doing the starless trail-comet in Ps (I always do a new layer stamp for each step in the workflow) and I found it!!!  Not only the evident 121 Hermione but also the trail let by the tiny and faint 1563 Noel.
In the Revision C you can see a close up -enhanced- of both asteroids, the PI Annotation and the Tycho Track charts of Noel finds.

121 Hermione (A872 JA) Asteroid
Is a very large binary asteroid discovered in 1872. It orbits in the Cybele group in the far outer asteroid belt. As an asteroid of the dark C spectral type, it is probably composed of carbonaceous materials. In 2002, a small moon was found to be orbiting Hermione. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/121_Hermione#Moon

Facts

• Categorized as a Outer Main-belt Asteroid
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• Orbits between Mars and Jupiter

Physical Characteristics

• Diameter: 209.00000 km
• Magnitude: 7.49
• Albedo: 0.0482
• Spectral type (Tholen): C
• Spectral type (SMASS): Ch

Derived Characteristics

• Orbit Period: 2,340 days (6.41 years)
• Avg. Orbit Speed: 16.05 km/s
• Aphelion Distance: 3.89 AU
• Perihelion Distance: 3.02 AU
• Rotation Period: 5.55 hours
• Approx. Composition: water, iron, nickel, cobalt, nitrogen, and ammonia.

https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/121-hermione-a872-ja
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2023 12 17.574247   10 42 15.574   +16 49 49.48   13.19 o   T08 – ATLAS-MLO, Mauna Loa    MPS 2079780
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1563 Noel (1943 EG)

1563 Noël, provisional designation 1943 EG, is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 8 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 March 1943, by Belgian astronomer Sylvain Arend at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle, and named after his son.

* According to the asteroid lightcurve database (LCDB, Wamer et al,2009) Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve, assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the family's principal body and namesake – and calculates a larger diameter of 9.0 kilometers.

Facts

• Categorized as a Main-belt Asteroid
• Not a Near Earth Object
• Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
• Mid-sized asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter
• Flora family is a prominent family of stony asteroids located in the inner region of the asteroid belt.

Physical Characteristics

• Diameter: 7.23400 km - 9 km
• Magnitude: 12.48
• Albedo: 0.370
• Spectral type (SMASS): Sa

Derived Characteristics

• Orbit Period: 1,180 days (3.23 years)
• Avg. Orbit Speed: 20.20 km/s
• Aphelion Distance: 2.38 AU
• Perihelion Distance: 2.00 AU
• Rotation Period: 3.55 hours

https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/1563-noel-1943-eg



The composite Charts 'Orbital View' 121 Hermione and 1563 Noel comes from Solar System Dynamics of Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA and the Searching JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB) - identification Tool.
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This session concludes our comet season last year.
In addition to the faint tail, part of the plasma of the head has a small extension towards one of the sides, that is, it is not completely round. This comet has the peculiarity of visiting us often, each 6.19 years.

Maurizio hopes to have the opportunity to do sessions with the current comets if the weather improves, since in these first two months there have been very few days he has had to acquire images due to the bad weather and he is using them for a special project on a nebula area and other very short sessions to some galaxies.

We appreciate your visit and comments and everyone has Clear Skies

Processed March 2024

https://twitter.com/AstroOtus/status/1764693552548778465
https://twitter.com/AstroOtus/status/1766078893650219345