Minor update

It has occurred to me that without SDSS offset images or detailed enough surveys, that it would be quite akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. As a result, I have decided to do a primary search for the object in areas covered by both SDSS and legacy areas.

PS At this current rate, it seems the survey will take several months to several years. If anyone would like to help me please contact me at lego55100@gmail.com !

Imaging division 1: RA 00 00 to 00 01 DEC -21 15 to -21 00 (SAMPLE)

AREA of search:
RA 00 00 00 to 00 01 00
DEC -21 15 00 to -21 00 00

SDSS: partial
2MASS: YES (all sky)
DSS: YES (all sky)
WISE: YES (all sky)
Legacy: no

area:

SIMBAD objects:
 http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-coo?Coord=00+00+30+-21+07+30&CooFrame=FK5&CooEpoch=2000&CooEqui=2000&CooDefinedFrames=none&Radius=7.5&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+query&CoordList=
ACO 4072 - Cluster of galaxies
00 00 39.0 -21 06 18

image epoch(s):
2004 Dec 14 02:34:57.53 UTC
2004 Dec 14 02:35:33.35

Known asteroids:

Observed objects:
Not enough data

Sloan-2MASS-WISE-LEGACY Planet IX survey MAIN DETAILS

Publically-available surveys I will be including in this: 

Sloan-Digital Sky Survey:
http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr8/en/tools/chart/navi.asp?ra=45.2&dec=0
band(s):
U (near-ultraviolet/blue)
G (green)
R (red)
I (near-infrared)
Z (infrared)

limiting mag: ~23.5

2 Micron All-Sky Survey:
http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/AladinLite/?target=00%2000%2000%20%2B00%2000%2000&fov=0.33&survey=P%2F2MASS%2Fcolor
band(s):
J (infrared)
H (infrared)
K (infrared)

limiting mag: ~22

Digitized Sky Survey:
http://wikisky.org/
band(s):
red
blue

limiting mag: ~21

WISE:
http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/applications/wise/
band(s)
W1 (near infrared)
W2 (infrared)
W3 (infrared)
W4 (far infrared)

limiting mag: ~21.5

GALEX:
http://wikisky.org/
band(s):
ultraviolet1
ultraviolet2

limiting mag: ~20.5

Legacy:
http://imagine.legacysurvey.org/
band(s):
blue
red
green

DIVISION OF AREAS

the areas of survey will be divided into 1-square arcminute wide areas of sky, which I will individually note in every case in a separate post in this blog.

So, as you might have heard from the numerous media reports which are not exaggerating one bit to what I can tell, planet nine has officially been found in the outer solar system- indirectly at least. you can find more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Nine I will spare all the details about it and get straight to the meat: It has not been directly detected. Many surveys are underway to detect it, including a number of large dedicated telescopes. I will toss my hat into this too, using my already extensive knowledge of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, as well as using data from 2MASS, WISE, DSS, and other surveys. I will post updates in chunks by RA and DEC to this blog. Expect many updates to follow. ~Sam Deen (Planetaryscience)

Ceres: What to expect soon, and the mysterious bright spot

2015 will be relatively full, as years go, of space exploration. Not only will we finally get our first pictures of Pluto later this year, but the Dawn probe will become the first probe to image a dwarf planet in detail, and observe the only object in the Asteroid Belt with enough mass to pull itself into a sphere. On January 13th, the Dawn probe imaged Ceres for the first time with a higher resolution than any telescope before. Although it didn't reveal much about Ceres's surface that we don't already know, it shows the beginning of the approach to Ceres in the next month. In only one month and 11 days we will have unprecedented images of Ceres, revealing all the details of this elusive dwarf planet.

Speaking of details, many images of Ceres have revealed what appears to be a bright spot near Ceres's equator. It's certainly not a temporary feature, as images of Ceres from both the Hubble Telescope and Dawn, spaced over 10 years apart, show the same feature:

Ceres as taken by the Hubble Telescope in 2003-2004

So, let's do somethinking.

In 2003-2004 the object, whatever it was, was much more visible and bright than it is now. Plus the object appears to be inside a crater from the Dawn image.

Firstly, it could be ice. Craters have been known to be filled with ice previously. Ceres is likely no exception. However this ice deposit is near the equator, which would mean that it would have boiled away by now. Any source of ice would have to be replenished constantly, perhaps by the recently-discovered theoretical subsurface ocean.

On the topic of ice brings me to the second possibility. Earlier Hubble had observed ice around Ceres, in the atmosphere around it. This may be a geyser fueling the cloud of ice around Ceres. However it doesn't appear to have much of a height to it.

Either way, we'll find out what it is eventually when we reach Ceres. Perhaps it's just a gigantic sticker.

the North Caribou Lake impact crater

As you may know, Canada is absolutely full of impact craters. In fact, of the 10 largest craters on Earth, Canada contains 5 of them - but it just might contain 6. In Northwestern Ontario lies North Caribou Lake- another 20 km wide reminder that Canada once had glaciers. Yet from a satellite view it appears to occupy a vast egg-shaped formation made obvious by the Eyapamikama Lake to the north and an unnamed river to the south. Continuing to look around the area will reveal more features appearing to make a circular shape around 52.59706 N 90.824734 W. In total, the crater appears to measure at least 50 kilometers wide, making it the 15th largest possible crater on Earth (not including uncomfirmed craters)
Unfortunately the crater is in the middle of nowhere, the nearest town to it is Pickle Lake, with a population of only 425.

I could of course try to report it to the Earth Impact Database but they require evidence of an impact crater versus a geologic dome or volcanic crater - shatter cones, shocked quartz, impact breccia, etc etc. All of this would require a visit to the crater, yet I have neither the money or the time to do this any time soon. So I ask, by the off-chance anyone lives near the crater, consider taking a trip there and look for any of the above mentioned features.

In the mean time, I'll be saving up to go there myself.

Either way, happy New Year!

happy MJD 2457000.0!

Most of us know today as a rather unimportant day, as days go, with the rather unimportant number of December 8th. However if you're familiar with a timekeeping method used in many astronomy fields, then you'll know that from 12:00 today to 12:00 tomorrow is the julian date 2,457,000.

First, a brief history. The Julian date is a count of the days that have passed since January 1st, 4713 BC. It is used in timekeeping for astronomy to count individual days since that date, and in the case that I most often see, to provide epochs for minor planets' orbits. Today, exactly 2,457,000 days have passed since the count was started. 2456000 was March 14th, 2012 and 2458000 will be on September 4th, 2017.

So, happy JD 2457000!