Deep Sky image annotation for asteroids

[carlomuccini]

Hi

I use SkyMapPro 11 for object tracking and SharpCap for EAA shooting; I feel great with the Deep Sky Image Annotation function

I shoot "weak" asteroids that require many exposures, even long ones, and before starting I have to be sure that the field of view is the correct one.

I know very well the problem of tracking asteroids and currently operate in this way.

Once the files have been updated in the evening from the MPC and uploaded to SkyMap and ASTAP I perform a slew on the asteroid, in SC I perform a 15s pose to have several stars, I perform the sharpsolve and sync then I wait for next picture (15s) and save the FIT image
Then I open ASTAP and load the FIT image, solve and search for asteroids. If Astap finds everything ok, I go back to SC and start the series of shots.
It all works but it's quite laborious. I was wondering if there is a simpler and faster procedure to do the same thing with ASTAP or within SC itself.

Thanks for everything

Carlo

[Jean-Francois]

Hello Carlo,

The Deep Sky Annotation tool allows to paste a text line from the clipboard.
Search how to format this line and then you can paste the coordinate of any objects to the Deep Sky Annotation tool.

Do you see my script for the UCAC4 stars catalogues ?
If not ... then search in the forum "UCAC4".
I will soon upload a new version.

I have a second script for the occultation. With few modification of the event-text file, you could use it.

Regards,
Jean-Francois

[carlomuccini]

Yes, thanks, I saw your script

Extracting coordinates from Skymap and formatting them manually for Sharpcap takes more time (and a source of errors to do things by hand at night) than opening Astap and loading a FIT

Thanks

Carlo

[admin]

Hi,

what format do the co-ordinates for the asteroids come in (is there a standard format from some online source like the Minor Planet Center?). SharpCap already has code to detect and interpret data created by the AAVSO web site when pasting custom targets or reading custom catalogs, so I don't mind adding another similar option. With the ASVSO data, SharpCap looks for the header line at the top of the file and expects an exact match before triggering the code to read AAVSO data.

cheers,

Robin

[carlomuccini]

HI
First of all, let's remember that asteroids move more or less quickly depending on the moment of opposition or due to a close passage.
I download from the site https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/data the MPCORB.DAT file containing the orbital parameters of 1,360,537 asteroids to date !
For this purpose I created a program that, starting from the original MPCORB.DAT file, creates a reduced file with the two/three asteroids of the evening.
File that I load into Skymap and it instantly displays them (because they are few). But they are just orbital parameters, not ephemeris. It's Skymap that does the work...

From the NASA website https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ it is possible to create ephemeris for an asteroid for example Ceres
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_loo ... sstr=ceres
or even just with the identification number for example 27
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_loo ... #/?sstr=27

Related Links: Ephemeris click then click on GENERATE EPHEMERIS
and a table like this is created

2024-May-02 00:00 14 56 29.72 -14 42 38.5 10.351 4.710 1.57522747821064 0.3353776 175.3013 /L 1.8371 0.6355860 285.24377 1.5817500 n.a. n.a.
2024-May-03 00:00 14 55 28.81 -14 38 36.2 10.319 4.678 1.57555986372269 0.8159112 176.3755 /L 1.4178 0.6370756 285.23521 3.8415234 n.a. n.a.
2024-May-04 00:00 14 54 27.82 -14 34 33.5 10.288 4.646 1.57617018686937 1.2977989 177.3180 /L 1.0494 0.6377994 285.22549 6.0905020 n.a. n.a.

It seems too complicated and long to me.
My consideration is the following:
The SkymapPro + SharpSolve planetarium program hit the target perfectly; Always. But I also believe Stellarium and others...

I take a photo of 15s and save it to FIT16
I drag it onto the ASTAP icon
Solve + Asteroid
and normally the asteroid is in the center
then I start with the sequence of images on the asteroid.
It all works wonderfully well
Since SharpCap already performs platesolving with Astap (a function that I no longer use because SharpSolve is faster and much more "intelligent"), could you not only make Astap do the platesolving but also make it search for an asteroid ?

I also created a program to read the coordinates of the selected object from Skymap which however are in JNOW and not J2000, copy them into the clipboard and then load it into Sharpcap. However, the asteroid cross is never on the asteroid, I believe, precisely because the coordinates are in JNOW

Carlo

[carlomuccini]

Astap, where having done plate solving and searched for asteroids, can save the FIT file by adding the data of the asteroids found in the image in the header.

Below is an excerpt from the header with the list of asteroids

COMMENT 7 Solved in 0,1 sec. Offset 0,9". Mount offset RA = 18,8', DEC=-8,1'
ANNOTATE = '2022,92;247,77;2062,92;287,77;-1.2;(20291) Raumurthy;{184};20291;'
ANNOTATE = '1194,96;2184,35;1234,96;2224,35;-1.2;(21494) 1998 JE2;{177};21494;'
....
ANNOTATE = '1170,88;1006,34;1210,88;1046,34;-1.2;(53716) 2000 EU7;{191};53716;'
ANNOTATE = '1145,10;1486,29;1185,10;1526,29;-1.2;(55223) Akiraifukube;{192};5522'
ANNOTATE = '2055,32;1400,59;2095,32;1440,59;-1.2;(60406) Albertosuci;{195};60406'

I believe the numbers refer to the X,Y position in the asteroid image

Carlo

[admin]

Hi,

let me think about this one - the Ephemeris data looks sort of promising as it has the info in we need (RA, Dec, Magnitude, plus some we dont) and it also has a fairly fixed format. On the other hand, what if SharpCap could download the MPC orbital elements and calculate the ephemeris? In that case you could just enter an asteroid number (or a comet ID perhaps?) and be set to go...

cheers,

Robin

[carlomuccini]

If SharpCap generated ephemeris it would be wonderful !

The MPCORB.DAT file may already be present on our computer if someone already works with asteroids and there is no need to download it.
If you want to image an asteroid among the first thousands, the orbital elements are now known and if they change over time, they change very little; they don't even need to continuously update the database

I would like to make a clarification on the file: there are different types
MPCORB.DAT is the "official" file; then there are other files with peculiar asteroids, newly discovered, or with close passages, Near Earth Asteroids, etc.

The same thing could then also be done with comets, apart from those "of the moment" the others are quite stellar like asteroids and difficult to recognize among the stars
The link: https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/M ... metEls.txt

Your support is invaluable! Thank you

Carlo

[admin]

Hi,

I do have a library already included in SharpCap that should be able to do the calculations. No doubt though it will use different names for the orbital parameters than the data file, so that usually means a good bit of head scratching to get them lined up, then some careful testing to make sure that the calculations agree with a pre-generated ephemeris to within a good accuracy. If I get the maths part working then I can start thinking about sourcing data and UI and so on.

cheers,

Robin

[carlomuccini]

HI

If you like/want, I can gladly do some preliminary tests if needed (weather permitting! It's been raining for months...)
Some easy bright asteroids in opposition in May

(27) Euterpe Mag=10.3
(80) Sappho Mag=11.1
(56) Melete Mag=11.0
(2) Pallas Mag=9.0

https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/Ephem ... reEls.html
Orbital Elements for Software Packages: It is a page with the same asteroid orbital data file formatted for use with different software
it might be an idea to ask for a pre-formatted file as it is most useful to you


Carlo