[meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go

From: Richard Kowalski <*damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:50:40 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <562803.42102.qm_at_web113614.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> · damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081
--- On Tue, 3/23/10, Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net> wrote:
> From: Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 5:52 AM
> Photos at link.
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8579963.stm
> 
> Amateur sees comet breaking up from desktop 
> 
> An amateur astronomer has made a "major astronomical
> discovery" while accessing
> a telescope in Hawaii over the internet while at work in
> the UK.
> 
> Nick Howes took pictures showing the icy nucleus of a comet
> breaking up while he
> sat at his desk in Wiltshire.
> 
> He used a remote-controlled telescope through the Faulkes
> Telescope Project, run
> by experts from Cardiff University.
> 
> Dr Paul Roche said the university was delighted and that
> the images appear to
> show the comet nucleus disintegrating.
> 
> "What this illustrates is what is achievable when amateur
> astronomers can get
> their hands on such a powerful telescope," he said.
> 
> The School of Physics and Astronomy's project, which was
> created to help teach
> schoolchildren science and maths, offers access to a pair
> of remotely controlled
> telescopes, located on the Hawaiian island of Maui, and at
> Siding Spring in
> Australia - via the internet. 
> 
> Using the ?5m Faulkes Telescope North in Maui, Mr Howes
> captured six images that
> showed what appears to be a mountain-sized chunk of ice
> that has broken away
> from the giant "dirty snowball" that forms the nucleus of a
> comet.
> 
> A second set of images obtained the following day - last
> Friday - showed that
> the new fragment is still trailing the comet, which is
> officially called Comet
> C2007 C3.
> 
> Dr Roche said: "As the nucleus of a comet is typically tens
> of kilometres
> across, this fragment is probably mountain-sized, and will
> become a small comet
> as it gradually separates from its parent."
> 
> It is now hoped that astronomers will follow up Mr Howes's
> discovery using
> instruments such as the Hubble space telescope.
> 
> "We hope to involve schools in observing this comet over
> the next few weeks, so
> that we can see what happens to this new fragment," added
> Dr Roche.
> 
> It is also hoped that this discovery will help encourage
> others to use the
> telescope for research and to help make new scientific
> discoveries.
> 
> Last year, another amateur astronomer, working with several
> UK schools and the
> Faulkes Telescope Project, discovered the fastest-rotating
> asteroid in the solar
> system.
> 
> More than 200 UK schools have used the telescopes to help
> in science lessons,
> often gathering data that is used by university
> researchers.
> 
> "As well as amateur astronomers this project allows
> researchers from the
> university to help schools access professional equipment,
> and learn more about
> how modern science is really done," Dr Roche said.
> 
> "We hope this discovery will help encourage others to use
> the Faulkes Telescopes
> and lead to even more scientific discoveries."
> 
> The Faulkes Telescope Project was launched in March 2004 by
> the Dill Faulkes
> Educational Trust, as a way of helping to inspire school
> students to study
> science and maths. 
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