AAVSO ALert Notice 411:
Request for observations of the blazar 3C 66A
October 31, 2009
Further to Alert Notice #353 (July 11, 2007), Dr. Markus Boettcher (OhioUniversity) requests optical observations of the blazar 3C 66A during its current high state. Optical observations will support gamma-ray observations by the VERITAS telescope …
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AAVSO Alert Notice 410:
Request for additional epsilon Aurigae observations
October 29, 2009
Dr. Robert Stencel (Denver U.) requests enhanced coverage of the bright, long-period eclipsing binary star epsilon Aurigae through Wednesday. Observations are requested beginning immediately (October 29, 2009; JD 2455134) and continuing through November 5, 2009 (JD 2455141). …
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On October 8, 2009 at about 03:00 GMT, with no warning, an approx. 10-meter wide asteroid hit Earth’s atmosphere above Indonesia and exploded.
The break-up was so powerful, it triggered nuclear test ban sensors thousands of kilometers away.
A just-released analysis of infrasound data shows that the asteroid detonated with …
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AAVSO Alert Notice 409:
V5584 SGR = NOVA SAGITTARII 2009 NUMBER 4
October 29, 2009
Event: Nova in Sagittarius (V5584 Sgr = N Sgr 2009 No. 4)
Discovered By: Koichi Nishiyama, Kurume, Fukuoka-ken, Japan, and F. Kabashima, Miyaki-cho, Saga-ken, Japan
Discovery Date: Oct. 26.439 UT (two frames from Oct. 26.439 …
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The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.
“Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, the source of the Orionids,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens …
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AAVSO Alert Notice 407:
Outburst of the UGWZ-type dwarf nova EG Cancri
October 12, 2009
The WZ Sge-type dwarf nova EG Cancri has been reported in outburst by Ian Miller (Swansea, Wales). He reported EG Cnc at m(CV) = 14.3 on 2009 October 12.138 (JD 2455116.638). Subsequent unfiltered time series …
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The LCROSS mission operations team initiated power-up of the LCROSS science payload and saw this view of the moon. |
NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, created twin impacts on the moon’s surface early on October 9, 2009 in a search for water ice. Scientists will analyze …
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AAVSO Alert Notice 406:
Observing Campaign to monitor Magnetically-Active Dwarfs for Long-Term Variability
October 7, 2009
The observers of the AAVSO are asked to participate in a long-term photometric monitoring campaign on a number of magnetically active dwarf stars, requested by Dr. Styliani (Stella) Kafka of the Department of Terrestrial …
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Put on your hard hat and get ready for action, because on Friday, Oct. 9th, what you just imagined is really going to happen – and you can have a front row seat.Just imagine. A spaceship plunges out of the night sky, hits the ground and explodes. A plume …
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Two sunspots, which appeared on the autumnal equinox to break several months of extreme solar quiet [see New Sunspots (Finally!)], have faded away, leaving the sun blank once again. The deepest solar minimum in nearly a century appears poised to continue. NASA spacecraft are now reporting a surge in …
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