Did We Just Discover More 'Oumuamua Type Objects?

[Winston]

Did We Just Discover More 'Oumuamua Type Objects?



Hyakutake: Evidence for Interstellar Origin

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/272/5266/1310
Hyakutake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hyakutake
It's neat to think I may have been looking at an interstellar object when I viewed Hyakutake at its closest approach from a dark sky location, darker than the one in this photo. I used live GOES images to find a clear sky site and drove to it since where I was at was overcast. An incredible sight to see. Within the coma could be seen the comet, a brilliant pinpoint "diamond," flickering intense colors. Coma and comet looked aamazing through 10x50 binocs. The naked eye view for me was was even better than this short time exposure:

 

[DaHabes]

Thanks for sharing. My astronomy activities have been quiescent for the last five years, and this type of post give me the itch. Now, If I can get my astronomy buddy to go halfsies with me on an Obsession 22" ultra-light in the next 5 years, I'll be ready to hit the road with the grandkids as they just get old enough to appreciate a dark, starlit sky. My 11" Celestron just doesn't go deep enough anymore...

 

[Winston]

Thanks for sharing. My astronomy activities have been quiescent for the last five years, and this type of post give me the itch. Now, If I can get my astronomy buddy to go halfsies with me on an Obsession 22" ultra-light in the next 5 years, I'll be ready to hit the road with the grandkids as they just get old enough to appreciate a dark, starlit sky. My 11" Celestron just doesn't go deep enough anymore...

If you haven't already been doing it, manmade satellite observations are also cool. There are plenty at visual magnitudes. In binocs, some really cool ones can be seen, like this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Geodetic_Payload

Twinkle, twinkle, little manmade star... rotating at 28 RPM last I read and flickering impressively in the process.

The coolest binoc sats I ever saw were the Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) triad formations. The triad perspective changed as they went from the horizon to overhead and to the other horizon. Awesome, like a perfectly triangular formation of alien spacecraft flying by. Alas, new tech has allowed the same to now be done with just a pair of satellites.

I preferred to look at spy sats, but haven't done so for years. Bright naked eye versions include the KH-11 optical and Lacrosse radar sats. Resources:

Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page

https://www.satobs.org/
Mailing list SeeSat-L Archives

https://www.satobs.org/seesat/index.html
Mike McCants' Classified Satellite Tracking TLE ZIP Files

https://www.prismnet.com/~mmccants/tles/
Fantastic free program for satellite observers, Heavensat:

https://www.sat.belastro.net/heavensat.ru/english/index.html
Good site for web-based tracking:

https://www.n2yo.com/

 

[DaHabes]

If you haven't already been doing it, manmade satellite observations are also cool. There are plenty at visual magnitudes. In binocs, some really cool ones can be seen, like this one:

I did a lot of Iridium flare observations back when the original satellites were in play. Plenty of ISS sightings as well. I have all of the tracking sites in my favorites and the apps on my phone. Just been doing too much rocketry lately. Plus I'm getting old, hard to stay up into the wee hours anymore. I need my beauty rest...

 

[Winston]

I did a lot of Iridium flare observations back when the original satellites were in play.

So did I. The most amazing one I saw was visible through not so thin clouds.