Autor: Tobias Hoffmann, B. Sc.

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Erfahrungsbericht

Discovery of Supernova in Galaxy M 101

During the night of the 18th of May 2023, hobby astronomer and manager of the University observatory of Oldenburg, Thorsten Plaggenborg, observed the “Pinwheel-Galaxy” Messier 101 with his own backyard observatory in the outskirts of Oldenburg. The intention was to create a pretty picture of the Galaxy, but by chance he observed a supernova explosion at an early stage. The supernova, called SN 2023ixf, was discovered by Koichi Itagaki in Japan about a day later at a brightness of 14.9 mag.

At first, it was uncertain whether the supernova was bright enough at that early time to detect in the images of Thorsten Plaggenborg, but with the help of Tobias Hoffmann, the University observatory of Oldenburg was able to clearly measure a new light source at the proposed position at around 21:10 UTC (18th of May) with a brightness of around 17.5 mag with a slight increase of brightness over the course of over one hour. The supernova can be seen in the animated picture at the bottom left of another know light source in the center of the image.

The measurement is a huge success as it is by far the earliest detection of the SN 2023ixf worldwide submitted to the AAVSO. Nevertheless, further observations at even earlier stages could be possible. It is the second time that the University observatory of Oldenburg captured a supernova explosion during its operation. Back then, SN 2014J was captured early in January 2014.

AAVSO – https://www.aavso.org
AAVSO (light curves) – https://www.aavso.org/LCGv2/

Here the full picture that was made by Thorsten Plaggenborg originally this night:

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Allgemein Smart Telescope

Oldenburg University Observatory most active telescope in Northern Europe

The University Observatory of Oldenburg achieved to make the most observations of asteroids, comets and Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) in the northern Europe area in 2022. All these observations of all observatories world-wide are collected and used by the MinorPlanetCenter (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). In total, the Oldenburg telescopes made 576 observations in this year, which is the most in Northern Germany [1] and Northern Europe [2].

Most of the observations were made with the “Große Hauptteleskop der Oldenburger Sternwarte” (GHOST), a 40 cm Ritchey-Chrétien-Telescope. It was transformed to a robotic telescope in 2021 for asteroids detection and since then continuously makes observation, when the weather is suitable. The robotic observation pipeline was published in October 2022 and can be accessed here under [3].

If you are interested in the observatory and its telescopes, please feel free to contact us: astrophysik@uol.de

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[1] Northern Germany includes: Bremen, Berlin, Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein, Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Lower Saxony
[2] Northern Europe includes in this case: Northern Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
[3] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.895732/full

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Allgemein

Universitätssternwarte im Adventskalenders

Die Universitätssternwarte wurde im Türchen “18” des Adventskalenders der Universität Oldenburg gefilmt und einen kurzen Einblick in das “Große Hauptteleskop der Oldenburger Sternwarte” (GHOST) gegeben und über die Arbeit der Sternwarte berichtet.

Mit dabei waren Prof. Dr. Björn Poppe (AG Medizinische Strahlenphysik und Space Environment), einer der Leiter der Sternwarte, sowie Tobias Hoffmann (Master Physik Student), zuständig für die Beobachtungen des Teleskops.

Ein großen Dank an Frau Silke Rudolph von der Abteilung Presse & Kommunikation der Universität Oldenburg für die tollen Aufnahmen und den Zusammenschnitt!

Quelle des Videos und mehr Informationen: https://uol.de/advent

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Allgemein

Recovery of lost Near-Earth Asteroid 2005 XW4

In the night of the 14th of December the “Großes Hauptteleskop der Oldenburger Sternwarte” (GHOST) of the university observatory of Oldenburg (G01) was able to recover an Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) that was missed for 17 years. At first, it was believed that the detected object was a new discovered asteroid, but after several observations of 25 observatories worldwide it became clear that the orbit is identical with the object “2005 XW4” or “K05X04W” which could not be observed anymore since the end of 2005 and the predictions of the orbit were too uncertain. The Oldenburg telescope was one of the first telescopes worldwide that observed the object after the ATLAS telescope at Haleakala (T05), Hawaii, initially (re-)found the object about 10 hours prior. With a visual magnitude of about 18 mag it was a relativly bright NEA, thus many observatories were able to make observations.

2005 XW4 was first discovered at Lincol Laboratory ETS in New Mexico on 6th of December 2005. It is an Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) with a diameter of 160 m (assuming albedo of 15%) and a minimal orbital intersection distance with Earth of 0.06866 AU (10.3 Million km or about 27 moon distances). Eventhough it is currently not considered a risk according to the ESA risk list, since to current measurements it will not hit Earth in the future, it should be observed frequently to improve the predictions. The goal is that the object is not lost again. This is why the Oldenburg telescopes are observing the object as long as it is close and bright enough.

This is now the second time the university observatory was able to help find objects from the “NEO Confirmation Page” of the MinorPlanetCenter. Since launch of the NEO observation system in Oldenburg, both telescopes of the university observatory, GHOST and ORT, made more than 800 follow-up observations of small objects in the solar system. They submit their measurements to Minor Planet Center (MPC), which combines measurements from observatories all around the world and calculates precise orbits of these objects. This ensures that all objects that could be dangerous for Earth are tracked. An original research article was published in October about the system in Oldenburg. It can be read here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.895732/full

More Information on the object 2005 XW4:
https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K22/K22Y13.html

Animation of the measurements of the Asteroid “2005 XW4”
Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

IC 1805 – Heart Nebula

TS-Optics Hypergraph 6 (150/420 mm)
ZWO ASI 183MM Pro CMOS Camera, -20.0 °C

IC 1805
L: 16 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
R: 15 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
G: 15 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
B: 15 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
183 min total exposure

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 33 – Triangulum Galaxy

TS-Optics Hypergraph 6 (150/420 mm)
ZWO ASI 183MM Pro CMOS Camera, -20.0 °C

M 33
L: 21 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
R: 21 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
G: 21 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
B: 21 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
252 min total exposure

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 57 – Ring Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

M 57
L: 2 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 2 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 2 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 2 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

IC 5146 – Cocoon Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

IC 5146
Ha: 15 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 10 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 9 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 7 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

NGC 1579 – Northern Trifid

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

NGC 1579
L: 6 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 6 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 6 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 6 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

NGC 7317 – Stephan’s Quintet

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

NGC 7317
L: 5 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
No flats!

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 64 – Blackeye-Galaxy

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

NGC 7129
L: 1 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 1 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 1 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 1 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

NGC 3486 – barred spiral galaxy

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

NGC 3486
L: 4 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 2 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

NGC 7129 – Reflexion Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

NGC 7129
L: 15 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
R: 15 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
G: 13 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
B: 3 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom, denoised and sharpened with TOPAZ-AI

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

PK 164+31.1 Planetary Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

IC 63
SII: 4 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
Ha: 18 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
OIII: 18 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited (denoised and sharpened) with TOPAZ-AI and Lightroom

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Deep-Sky-Objekt

IC 63 Emission Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ATIK 383L+ CCD Kamera, -15 °C

IC 63
L: 9 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
SII: 7 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
Ha: 9 x 300 s, Bin 2×2
OIII: 9 x 300 s, Bin 2×2

Picture edited (denoised and sharpened) with TOPAZ-AI and Lightroom

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Astrofotography Deep-Sky-Objekt

NGC 7331 region

TS-Optics Hypergraph 6 (150/420 mm)
ZWO ASI 283MM Pro CMOS Camera, -20.0 °C

NGC 7331 region
Color: 123 x 180 s, Bin 1×1
369 min total exposure

Picture edited with Siril and Lightroom

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Allgemein

Event Horizon Telescope: First image of the black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy

„Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.“
https://eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy

Further scientific information:
https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205/page/Focus_on_First_Sgr_A_Results

Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 81 – Bodes Galaxy

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ZWO ASI 294MC Pro Color CMOS Camera, -10.0 °C
Reducer 0.75x

M 81
Color: 52 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
260 min total exposure

Picture edited (denoised and sharpened) with TOPAZ-AI and Lightroom

Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 101 – Pinwheel Galaxy

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ZWO ASI 294MC Pro Color CMOS Camera, -10.0 °C
Reducer 0.75x

M 101
Color: 34 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
170 min total exposure

Picture edited (denoised and sharpened) with TOPAZ-AI and Lightroom

Kategorien
Deep-Sky-Objekt

M 42 – Orion Nebula

TS-Optics 16” f/8 RC Teleskop (406/3250 mm)
ZWO ASI 294MC Pro Color CMOS Camera, -10.0 °C
Reducer 0.75x

M 42
Color: 3 x 300 s, Bin 1×1
15 min total exposure

Picture edited (denoised and sharpened) with TOPAZ-AI and Lightroom