Umm, yes there is... it's a SOHO comet...
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007IAUC.8844....1U
[BUT, this may be the wrong name... another website has some corrections
from Howe, see below]
He took 6 images and there were more images taken the next day...
"... 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. "
Ohh. here's another website that has some corrections...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1260049/Exploding-comet.html
Corrections to the above
1: Orbit is wrong, this should be updated (Faulkes Telescope will
contact the Mail)
2: It was first spotted in 2007, hence C/2007 Q3
3: IAU replied a few days later confirming my observations. The official
announcement from the IAU is still pending
4: Other observatories have seen the event, I was the first to publicly
announce it
5: American astronomers at Williams University did not see the event, as
their telescope and seeing may have not been sufficient
- Nick Howes, London UK, 23/3/2010 12:27
Clear Skies!
Elizabeth
Richard Kowalski wrote:
The comet discussed here (and apparently no where else), C/2007 C3 doesn't
exist, or maybe I should say there is no such comet with this designation.
To be sure that this is actually a fragment, you need more than a single image.
I don't see any indication that this is anything more than a background star.
--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081
--- On Tue, 3/23/10, Darren Garrison <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Darren Garrison <[email protected]>
Subject: [meteorite-list] Easy comet, easy go
To: [email protected]
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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