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3towers Observatory Asteroids

The early 3towers Observatory asteroid images were taken on a 12-inch LX 200 telescope using a focal reducer at f/6.5 with an Apogee KX260 CCD camera or an Apogee AP7 CCD camera running under MaxIm DL/CCD.

More recent images (since March 2012) were obtained with a C-11 HyperStar combination with either a Starlight Xpress SXVR-H9C single shot color camera or a Canon 60Da camera.

All images are oriented with the North at the top and the West to the right.

Asteroid 3 Juno

Juno on March 14, 2002

Juno as visualized on the evening of 14 March 2002. Sixty second exposure with AP7 CCD camera.

Animated image

This shows Juno's motion through the sky. It consists of ten individual 60-second exposures taken in succession and put together into an animated feedback loop.

Asteroid 345 Tercidina  

Animated image

Tercidina's motion through the sky on the evening of 1 December 2005. The image is a combination of approximately 20 ninety-second exposures taken through a V filter every five minutes combined into an animated feedback loop. Near the end of the loop, Tercidina was only 7 degrees above the Western horizon.

Asteroid 1999 KW4

Asteroid 1999 KW4

Asteroid 1999 KW4 made a close approach to the Earth on the week end of May 26-27, 2001. It became approximately 10th magnitude.

On the evening of Saturday 26 May from 10:25 to 11:00pm MST (05:25-6:00 UT 27 May), seventy-five successive 15-second exposures of the asteroid were taken at the 3towers Observatory with a Meade 12-inch LX200 telescope and an Apogee AP7 CCD camera.

Fifteen of the images were added together to produce the track of the asteroid across the CCD field. The images were taken through haze and clouds.

 

 

An animated GIF image of the asteroid tracking across the sky was also made. The asteroid travels from the lower left hand corner of the frame to the upper right hand corner of the frame.

Aninamated Image 1994 KW4

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis

26 September 2004:

Animated Image 4179 Toutatis
 

Monday 10 December 2012:

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis December 10, 2012

C-11 HyperStar, Starlight Xpress SXVR-H9C - thirty 60-second exposures combined into moving gif image.