Jedolby

  After traveling for millions of years from the Oort Cloud , the comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchoś rounded the sun on January 20th at a distance of 85 million miles. That's just slightly closer than the earth is to the sun, so, by cometary standards, E1 Wierzchoś was doomed to underperformance from the outset.  As if its closest-approach (perihelion) distance wasn't bad enough, our indifferent planet refused to cooperate during the comet's only known apparition through the inner solar system. Earth was already moving out of range when E1 Wierzchoś reached its closest distance to us, as recently as February 17th. These unfortunate circumstances produced the unsatisfying result (above) that I captured only two days following the comet's closest approach to earth. The image is a stack of 8 frames totaling two minutes of exposure time at f/2 with the 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The orbital view (above) from JPL's Small Body Database Lookup site shows the path of ...

Graham Chapman wasn't the oldest member of the British surrealist comedy group "Monty Python," but he was the first of the six members to pass away, back in 1989, at the young age of 48. Terry Jones would follow him in death on January 21, 2020, but all of the others are happily still with us. Why do I bring this up in February of 2026? Because just a few days ago, I finally completed my project of getting images of all six asteroids named after Monty Python members. It took me nearly four years to get them all. Ironically, asteroid (9617) Grahamchapman was the last of the six that I shot. All six asteroids were discovered by the Uppsala-ESO Survey at La Silla . The first four asteroids named for Monty Python members were discovered on the same night: March 17, 1993. The final two were discovered a few nights later, on March 21, 1993. The asteroids named after the Monty Python Six are as follows: (9617) Grahamchapman (9618) Johncleese (9619) Terrygilliam (9620) Ericidle ...

  Sunspots of February 3, 2026 Okay, hold on a sec. Let me be perfectly clear: The sun is the most dangerous celestial orb in the sky, and I DO NOT want you to think that my title "Fun with the sun" means that you can treat the sun, er, lightly. NEVER look directly at the sun with your eyes, not even for an instant!  You know that guy, Andrew Huberman, who says you should go outside immediately after waking up in the morning and look in the general direction of the sun to reset your sleep cycle? DO NOT FOLLOW THAT ADVICE! Make no mistake. The sun is no toy! And, sure, we have all accidently looked directly at the sun from time to time, giving us black spots in our vision for the next several minutes. Experiencing that once should be enough of a warning for you to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!  Sunglasses don't protect you, either. Do not be misled. Sunglasses were not designed to let you gaze upward at the sun. Not even during partial solar eclipses. Too much harmful radiation can...

  How many times must I image 3I/ATLAS before I prove that it hasn't changed its course? How many times must NASA release the results of their data on 3I/ATLAS before people believe it's a natural object? Yes, Bob Dylan said it best: "The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind." The greatest irony of 3I/ATLAS is that it is speeding out of the solar system faster than any known object, yet people refuse to let it go! Everybody wants to believe that it's aliens who might just turn their ship around. The news media keeps teasing us about the possibility that 3I/ATLAS is going to launch its probes at earth. In a previous post, I offered some updates on 3I/ATLAS . My primary goal was to prove wrong the newspaper headline of December 27th announcing that 3I/ATLAS had changed course and was now following an unpredictable path. I've been shooting 3I/ATLAS every night, and it's still landing dead center in my camera's...

Although it's probably considered more of an autumn target, variable star Mira, "The Wonderful," in the constellation Cetus, is an object that veteran backyard astronomers the world over will seek out whenever it's above the horizon. Mira is what's known as a "long-period" variable. It waxes and wanes over a period of about 332 days. And its brightness varies from, at best, 2nd magnitude (like the North Star), to as faint as 9th or 10th magnitude. That means that when it's at maximum brightness, you can see it without any optical aid, but when it's at minimum brightness, you'll need either binoculars or a telescope to see it. In my blinking animated GIF, above, Mira was neither at minimum brightness nor at maximum brightness in the two images. Maximum brightness is expected in February of 2026. And that means I probably should have shot Mira back in October of 2025 to get minimum brightness, and then wait till February to get maximum brightn...

  I saw a headline in the news last week that said, "3I/ATLAS Comet Changes Course Again - NASA Warns of Unpredictable Path." Oh, brother! What does the author of such an article want us to believe? "Changing course" for where, exactly? Are we to believe that it's turning around and coming for earth? And does "Unpredictable Path" mean that the comet will soon be lost, because we won't know where to look for it? I realize that headlines like this are mere click-bait. I shouldn't pay any attention to them at all. But apparently a lot of people are paying attention to them! At least, judging from the comments on these types of incendiary articles and YouTube videos, it appears as though a large number of people believe that aliens are in control of 3I/ATLAS. I hope these commenters are just trolling us. But okay. Let's take the headline at face value. If the comet has truly changed course and is now on an unpredictable path, that means my sky...