2022-02-13, 09:10 AM
I managed to grab a few images showing the track of the James Webb Space Telescope in its orbit around the second Lagrange point (L2). I obtained the JWST positional data from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons System at:
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/
"The James Webb Space Telescope is located some 1.5 million kilometres (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2. What is special about this orbit is that it lets the telescope stay in line with the Earth as it moves around the Sun. This allows the satellite's large sunshield to protect the telescope from the light and heat of the Sun and Earth (and Moon)."
I grabbed a series of images (with some cloud interruptions) on Wed 9th Feb 2022, between 9:04pm and 9:35pm AEST, (2022-02-09T11:04 to 11:35 UT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
I used a Celestron C9.25 Edge HD with the Celestron x0.7 Reducer (1645mm fl) and the QHY268M camera. Each frame was exposed for 120 secs. I understand that it is approx. magnitude 17.9.
After processing the image set, I saw a trail that looked too good to be true and sure enough, it was. The obvious trail belonged to an Asteroid, Number 15520, aka 1999 XK98.
Oh well, back to the drawing board. I loaded the individual calibrated and aligned frames into PixInsight and used the Blink Process and sure enough, I could just make out a small clump of pixels marching across the screen in the predicted positions of the JWST as the frames advanced. Each clump was barely above the background level but became obvious when blinked.
I loaded the frames into PS CC and used Layer Masks to combine the trail of the LWST and also raise the brightness level of the trail, above the background, to make it more conspicuous.
Image details (cropped from full frame):
Center (RA, hms): 07h 28m 41.669s
Center (Dec, dms): +10° 30' 09.775"
Size: 9.84 x 7.38 arcmin
Pixel scale: 0.461 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 360 degrees E of N
2022-02-09T11:04 to 11:42 UT. (9:04pm to 9:42pm AEST)
Each frame exposed for 120 seconds.
Asteroid details:
Object Name: 15520 1999 XK98
Object Type: Asteroid
Magnitude: 16.85
Bands of clouds rolled in during the session so there are a few gaps in the trail.
Cheers
Dennis
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/
"The James Webb Space Telescope is located some 1.5 million kilometres (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2. What is special about this orbit is that it lets the telescope stay in line with the Earth as it moves around the Sun. This allows the satellite's large sunshield to protect the telescope from the light and heat of the Sun and Earth (and Moon)."
I grabbed a series of images (with some cloud interruptions) on Wed 9th Feb 2022, between 9:04pm and 9:35pm AEST, (2022-02-09T11:04 to 11:35 UT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
I used a Celestron C9.25 Edge HD with the Celestron x0.7 Reducer (1645mm fl) and the QHY268M camera. Each frame was exposed for 120 secs. I understand that it is approx. magnitude 17.9.
After processing the image set, I saw a trail that looked too good to be true and sure enough, it was. The obvious trail belonged to an Asteroid, Number 15520, aka 1999 XK98.
Oh well, back to the drawing board. I loaded the individual calibrated and aligned frames into PixInsight and used the Blink Process and sure enough, I could just make out a small clump of pixels marching across the screen in the predicted positions of the JWST as the frames advanced. Each clump was barely above the background level but became obvious when blinked.
I loaded the frames into PS CC and used Layer Masks to combine the trail of the LWST and also raise the brightness level of the trail, above the background, to make it more conspicuous.
Image details (cropped from full frame):
Center (RA, hms): 07h 28m 41.669s
Center (Dec, dms): +10° 30' 09.775"
Size: 9.84 x 7.38 arcmin
Pixel scale: 0.461 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 360 degrees E of N
2022-02-09T11:04 to 11:42 UT. (9:04pm to 9:42pm AEST)
Each frame exposed for 120 seconds.
Asteroid details:
Object Name: 15520 1999 XK98
Object Type: Asteroid
Magnitude: 16.85
Bands of clouds rolled in during the session so there are a few gaps in the trail.
Cheers
Dennis