The Astronomical Observatory of the University of Nari˜no was founded on March 2002 by Alberto Quijano

Vodniza (Master’s Degree in Physics of the University of Puerto Rico). The Astronomical Observatory’s

Director is a member of the AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY – AAS since 2007. As a result of

our research, we have published some books and we have participated on several international meetings. In

the year 2008 our Observatory received the international code “H78” from the MINOR PLANET CENTER

of USA , by providing this institution with high quality scientific data of asteroids as well as of comets.

We presented in this work the last researches about asteroids and comets.

Keywords: AAS, MPC, University of Nari˜no, asteroids, comets

Mafla, Katherine

Perenguez L., James

Quijano-Vodniza, Alberto

Reyes, Karla Patricia

Rojas P., Mario

Universidad de Nariño

REVISTA DE CIENCIAS, Vol. 6, No. 1 de 2015.THE UNIVERSITY OF NARINO OBSERVATORYAlberto Quijano Vodniza a ? , Mario Rojas a, Karla Reyes a, James Perenguez a, Katherine Mafla a,aUniversity of Narin˜o.Aceptado Diciembre 2014; Publicado en lı´nea Marzo 2015.ISSN 2256-3830.AbstractThe Astronomical Observatory of the University of Narin˜o was founded on March 2002 by Alberto QuijanoVodniza (Master’s Degree in Physics of the University of Puerto Rico). The Astronomical Observatory’sDirector is a member of the AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY – AAS since 2007. As a result ofour research, we have published some books and we have participated on several international meetings. Inthe year 2008 our Observatory received the international code “H78” from the MINOR PLANET CENTERof USA , by providing this institution with high quality scientific data of asteroids as well as of comets.We presented in this work the last researches about asteroids and comets.Keywords: AAS, MPC, University of Narin˜o, asteroids, comets.1. IntroductionAstronomical Observatory of the University of Narin˜o was founded on March 2002 by Alberto Quijano Vodniza(Master’s Degree in Physics of the University of Puerto Rico), and built thanks to the immense support given byDr. Pedro Vicente Obando (Rector: 1995-2004). Nowadays our Observatory operates at the permanent location builtunder the conduction of Dr. Jairo Mun˜oz (Rector: 2004-2007) and at present it gets support from the academicauthorities at the University of Narin˜o. It has a dome of approximately 4.5 meters of diameter and a capaciousauditorium. At this point in time we own the following instrumentation: A newtonian reflecting telescope MEADEf/4 of 16 inches, a 14 inches MEADE robotic telescope LX200GPS, a CGE Pro 1400 CELESTRON telescope (14inches), two 8 inches MEADE robotic telescopes LX200GPS, a newtonian reflecting telescope CELESTRON of 8inches – Dobsonian type, and a CORONADO solar telescope. We have several digital cameras and also a digitalspectrometer SBIG, a high resolution spectrometer SHELYAK and a JOVE receptor for analysing the radio signalsemitted by Ju´piter and the Sun. Electronic Engineering students from the University of Narin˜o have completed therobotization of the 16” MEADE f/4 telescope. The images obtained are processed through specialized software withthe purpose of getting correct photometric and astrometric measurements. The observatory is destined for professorsand students’ scientific research. For the time being we have an internal club and we open our doors to all theeducational institutions in the Department of Narin˜o. [1]The Astronomical Observatory’s Director is a member of the AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY – AASsince 2007. As a result of our research, we have published several books: “Obtaining of the Luminous Curve of Comet? aquijanov@gmail.comREVISTA DE CIENCIAS, Vol. 6 , No 1 de 2015Hale-Bopp and Measuring of the Rotation Period Through the CCD Camera”; “Digital Astronomy”; “Design of AnExperimental Method for Measuring Stellar Temperatures Through the CCD Camera and Spectrometry”; “Obtainingof the Luminous Curve of the Comets C/2002T7 Linear, C/2001Q4 Neat, and Spectrometry of C/2001 Q4 Neat”.We have participated on several international meetings as speakers.[2]One of the most important goals of our Observatory is having actively participated in the project “DEEP IMPACT”of NASA. As a result of this scientific event, a book was published in Germany. The book includes the lectures andresearch papers of the Scientific Congress that gathered theoreticians and observers from many nations, intending tomake a full utilization of the observational data set captured from the Earth. The research we presented at this im-portant meeting in 2006 was published in October 2008 in GERMANY by the internationally recognized publishingcompany “SPRINGER-VERLAG” on the Congress’ namesake book “Deep Impact as a World Observatory Event:Synergies in Space, Time, and Wavelength”. Our work appears with the name “THE DEEP IMPACT EVENT ASSEEN FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NARIN˜O OBSERVATORY”.[3]Our Astronomical Observatory has also distinguished for having photographed a lot of Asteroids, many of themsupremely weak on brightness. In the year 2008 our Observatory received the international code “H78” from theMINOR PLANET CENTER of USA , by providing this institution with high quality scientific data of asteroids aswell as of comets, and we are the only Colombian observatory to own such code: It’s an international accreditationearned by the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Narin˜o. [4], [5]2. LAST WORKS2.1. STUDY OF THE ASTEROID 1998 QE2This big asteroid was at 5.8 millions of kilometers from the Earth on May 31 (2013) and it has a diameter of 2.7km. The radar images obtained by JPL showed that the period of rotation around its axis is close to five hours. Hills.K (2013) reported that the period is of 5.281 +/- 0.002 hours. On June 4 the team of Goldstone-Arecibo found aperiod of 4.75 +/- 0.01 hours. We also contributed with the light and phase curves to estimate the period by meansof the telescope (with red filter). The radar imagery (JPL and Arecibo) revealed that 1998 QE2 has a moon, and wecaptured a mutual event (eclipse).From our Observatory, located in Pasto-Colombia, we captured several pictures, videos and astrometry data duringseveral days. Our data was published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and also appears at the web page of NEODyS.The pictures of the asteroid were captured with the following equipment: CGE PRO 1400 CELESTRON (f/11Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope) and STL-1001 SBIG camera. We obtained the light curve of the body. Astrometrywas carried out, and we calculated the orbital elements.[6]After having processed adequately all the photographies (bias reduction, dark frames correction and correction of flatframes), we employed the software “The Sky6” and the “CcdSoft-Version 5” in order to identify the stars appearingon the images, so we could have the coordinates of any standard star. It is necessary to use many reference stars sowe can have a higher precision on determining the asteroid’s coordinates. The asteroid is identified superposing thephotos and designing a small video to appreciate clearly enough its movement with regard to the fixed stars.We obtained the following orbital parameters: eccentricity = 0.5692181, semi-major axis = 2.41104631 A.U, orbitalinclination = 12.82771 deg, longitude of the ascending node = 250.16876 deg, argument of perihelion = 345.61328deg, mean motion = 0.26326658 deg/d, perihelion distance = 1.03863508 A.U, aphelion distance = 3.78345755 A.U.The asteroid has an orbital period of 3.74 years The parameters were calculated based on 191 observations (2013May: 17-24) with mean residual = 0.162 arcseconds.2.2. THE COMET ISONThe comet was discovered last year on September 24th by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok (Rusia) and named“C/2012 S1”, and though it had promise of being very bright at the end of the current year and the beginning ofAlberto Quijano et al.: The University of Narin˜o Observatory2014, but the close encounter with the Sun (November 28th) was devastating; the comet couldn’t survive this event.To this day (December 31th 2013), it hasn’t yet been possible to detect the debris left in orbit not even by employingthe Hubble Space Telescope. In this work the comet’s light curve and the orbital parameters are obtained, usinghigh precision data. We have photographed and studied the comet from the University of Narin˜o’s Observatory(Pasto-Colombia) since January 31st , 2013. The pictures of the comet were captured with the following equipment:CGE PRO 1400 CELESTRON (f/11 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope) and STL-1001 SBIG camera. [9], [10]We obtained the following orbital parameters: eccentricity = 1.000009, orbital inclination = 61.92926 deg, longitudeof the ascending node = 295.72536 deg, argument of perihelion = 345.51426 deg, perihelion distance = 0.01249335A.U. The parameters were calculated based on 22 observations (2013 Jan 31-May 17) with mean residual = 0.387arcseconds.Fig. 1. Comet Ison (B&W) and Comet Ison (LRGB)2.3. STUDY OF THE COMET C/2013 A1 (SIDING SPRING)The comet called C/2013 A1 (SIDING SPRING) was discovered on January 3, 2013 in Australia. In January28/2014, NASA announced that is preparing for the close encounter that will happen between the comet C/2013 A1and Mars on October 19-2014. The Mission called “MAVEN” will insert in Mars orbit on september 21—2014.The comet will pass just 138,000 kilometers far from the surface of Mars. The probability that the comet collideswith Mars is small but the dust particles emitted by the comet can cause damage to spacecrafts and probes that arein orbit around that planet. NASA is making preparations to take all precautions. If the comet is quite active, therewill be almost no time to take security measures with Mars orbiters. For that reason NASA is already ahead of thefacts. According to scientists of the ”JET PROPULSION LABORATORY-JPL”, dust particles spewing from thecomet may be traveling at 56 km / sec in relation to the orbiters, fifty times faster than the speed of a bullet. Fromour Observatory, located in Pasto-Colombia, we captured several pictures, videos and astrometry data during severaldays. The pictures of the asteroid were captured with the following equipment: CGE PRO 1400 CELESTRON (f/11Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope) and STL-1001 SBIG camera. We obtained the light curve of the body. Astrometrywas carried out, and we calculated the orbital elements. [11]We obtained the following orbital parameters (Jan 21 to April 02): eccentricity = 1.0003983, orbital inclination =129.03078 deg, longitude of the ascending node = 300.99538 deg, argument of perihelion = 2.42310 deg, perihelionREVISTA DE CIENCIAS, Vol. 6 , No 1 de 2015distance = 1.40023196 A.U. The parameters were calculated based on 20 observations with mean residual = 0.334arcseconds. And the following orbital parameters (Jan 21 to October 29): Eccentricity = 1.0005849, orbital inclination= 129.04413 deg, longitude of the ascending node = 300.97593 deg, argument of perihelion = 2.42011 deg, periheliondistance = 1.39876996 A.U. The parameters were calculated based on 32 observations with mean residual = 0.309arcseconds. We also obtained the light curve of the body with our data (January to November/2014). The orbit hasa perturbation of 7 minutes, 44 seconds.3. AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank to: Dr. Alessondra Springmann (Arecibo Observatory), Dr. Petr Pravec (CzechRepublic), Dr. Lance Benner (JPL), Dr. Carl Hergenrother (Target Asteroids Team), and Dr. Dolores Hill (TargetAsteroids Team) for their special suggestions. The authors thank also to SOHO-NASA and University of Narino-Pasto-Colombia. [7], [8]References[1] http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronom$\%$C3$\%$ADa_en_Colombia[2] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/basic_connect?qsearch=vodniza&version=1[3] http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007$\%$2F978-3-540-76959-0_11[4] http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/ObsCodesF.html[5] http://newton.dm.unipi.it/neodys/index.php?pc=2.1.2&o=H78&ab=0[6] http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=22&month=05&year=2013[7] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013DPS....4510104S[8] http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/astmoons/am-285263.html[9] http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=08&month=04&year=2013[10] http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=07&month=11&year=2013[11] http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/8thmars2014/eposter/1060.pdf

The University of Narino Observatory

http://sired.udenar.edu.co/3696/1/1993-7069-1-PB.pdf

The University of Narino Observatory

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Universidad de Nariño