Maik Meyer ☄️

Title page of a diploma thesis of 1995 with some German text

Just showed my kids my diploma thesis, written 30 years ago with WordPerfect! "Fractal analysis methods for the description of the microgeometry of surfaces". All sources from the library, no scanned images, redrawn graphs. Seems like a different age.

Image of C/1986 P1 (Wilson) of 1987 May 16 by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=7416

#bskycometography no. 262

C/1986 P1 (Wilson)

1986 Aug 5: Disc by C. D. Wilson (USA) on POSS-2 plates at 11 mag. Predisc images of Aug 4. It reached 5 mag around perihelion, which occurred on 1987 Apr 20 at 1.20 au. The comet split into two fragments & was last seen on 1989 Apr 11.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Edwin Hubble seated at the 100-inch reflecting telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. Edwin P. Hubble Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, https://science.nasa.gov/people/edwin-hubble/

#bskycometography no. 261

C/1937 P1 (Hubble)

1937 Aug 4: Discovered by E. P. Hubble (USA) at 13 mag. The comet was well past perihelion (1936 Nov 14 at 1.95 au) and became slowly fainter. It was last seen on Oct 28. The comet has a period of about 600 years.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Hey, German Greens, listen and learn!

👍 Thank you, Terry!

Fossils defending fossils.

=

Comet C/2015 P3 (SWAN) on 2015 Aug 10 by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=12999

#bskycometography no. 260

C/2015 P3 (SWAN)

2015 Aug 3: Discovered by Australian amateur astronomer M. Mattiazzo in UV images taken by the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO spacecraft at 10.5 mag. Perihelion on July 28 at 0.72 au. It became quickly fainter and was last seen on Oct 2.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

An unidentified mushroom with a large brown head among brown leaves

A beautiful scarletina bolete near green moss and among old brown leaves

A beautiful parasol mushroom in green grass

A spooky bundle of tens of small black caterpillars.

What a #fungi hike today! 🍄

For the crowd on the other side of the globe.
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A series of photographs of Comet Mrkos taken on several nights in late August 1957 by Charles Kearns, George Abell, and Byron Hill with the 1.2-meter Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory in California. Changes in the structure of the ion tail are quite apparent. Courtesy Palomar Observatory. , https://www.rocketstem.org/2020/08/08/ice-and-stone-comet-of-week-33/

#bskycometography no. 259

C/1957 P1 (Mrkos)

1957 Aug 2: Disc by A. Mrkos (Slovakia) with the naked eye at 1 mag! Predisc obs of July 29 and 31, from Japan & the USA. Perihelion on Aug 1 at 0.35 au. The comet was widely observed and faded slowly until it was last seen on 1958 Jul 9.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

A colourful nebula, Messier M27 and a small greenish comet with a short tail near it.

Hope that I will be able to estimate it before the moon is spoiling the view and the possible disintegration starts:

Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), July 29 starting at 4:05 UT, 10" f/3.9, 120 min total, ASI2600MC CMOS, Payson, AZ.
Image by Chris Schur, 1° from M27, ~12 mag
groups.io/g/comet-imag...
☄️🔭

We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. - Carl Sagan

We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.

- Carl Sagan

And here I was thinking the way to solve hunger was food.

If someone might be asking: Yes, the name is indeed Sarrabat, with two "r". Jacques Cassini spelled the name incorrectly in his paper and this wrong name stuck in all following astronomy books, catalogues and papers.
Our ongoing revision of Cometography 1 will be giving the name as "Sarrabat".
🔭☄️

Path of the comet C/1729 P1 in a publication by Jacques Cassini. The path looks rather awkward as the three positions are connected via lines. The movement was of course curved. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2930508#/media/File:Comete_of_1729.jpg

#bskycometography no. 258

C/1729 P1

1729 Aug 1: Discovered by father N. Sarrabat (France) at 4.5 mag as a nebulous star. It moved very slowly and was observed until 1730 Jan 21. The comet had a far perihelion at 4.1 au on 1729 Jun 16. Absolute magnitude -3, a very large object.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Woodcut of comet C/1506 O1 in "Ußlegung un[d] ercleru[n]g der wunderbarlichen kunftige[n] erschröe]clichen ding, die vns d[er] Stern mit dem Swantz: den man[n] Comet nent, in vnsern landen gesehe[n] im iar M.CCCCC.VI. ..." by Johann Virdung, Oppenheym, 1506, SLUB Dresden, oai:de:slub-dresden:db:id-456854452

#bskycometography no. 257

C/1506 O1

1506 Jul 31: First seen by Chinese observers at maybe 3 mag. Also recorded in Japan and Europe. Perihelion occurred on Aug 28 at 0.84 au. It was last seen on Aug 18 (or even Aug 23).
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of 98P/Takamizawa of 1984 Aug 23 by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=7309

#bskycometography no. 256

98P/1984 O1 (Takamizawa)

1984 Jul 30: Disc by K. Takamizawa (Japan) at 9.5 mag. Prediscovery images of July 6 and 26, which showed it much fainter, so it was probably in outburst. Perihelion already on May 24 at 1.6 au. Last seen on Nov 25. P = 7.2 years.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Nevermind, found Kirkwood's "paper". That's the problem with Wikipedia - it presents data without evaluation. I do not think that Kirkwood's simple calculations are correct. When he wrote this, 122P was not even recovered and the only vague similarity the orbits share is P and q.

Brian, I am astonished about the splitting thing. Which Wikipedia article do you mean?

Position of comet C/1846 O1 (de Vico-Hind) in mid-May 1846, 2 months prior discovery. It should've been around 8.5 mag and was visible among three other comets in the same are aof the sky, but not detected.

#bskycometography no. 255

C/1846 O1 (de Vico-Hind)

1846 Jul 29: Disc by father F. de Vico (Italy) and J. R. Hind (England) at 9 mag. The comet was long past perihelion (May 28 at 1.38 au) and fading. Interestingly it was missed prior perihelion (outburst?). Last seen on Oct 18.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

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Image showing the orbit of comet C/568 O1 with respect to the Earth, the comet can approach the Earth very closely and did so in 568, https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=568O1&view=VOP

#bskycometography no. 254

C/568 O1

568 Jul 28: Discovered by Chinese observers and only recorded in other Chinese records. The calculated orbit indicates an rather close perigee on Sep 26 at 0.09 au. Perihelion occurred on Aug 27 (0.87 au). It was last seen on Nov 10.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

A sign reading "Aster asteroides"

A view from the bottom to the top along the trunk of a very tall tree

Some strange plants with pink ovoidal blossoms

View from top into the blossom of a white yellow Lotos flower

Visited the Botanical Garden of Bonn University today and enjoyed it quite a lot. Strange plants and trees from all over the world and seemingly from long forgotten times. Ah, and the astronomical aspect was to drive through the Argelander street and to find an "asteroidal star". 😉 🔭☄️

Remains of disintegrated comet C/2009 O2 (Catalina) on 2010 Apr 7, by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=4809

#bskycometography no. 253

C/2009 O2 (Catalina)

2009 Jul 27: Discovered by the Catalina survey (USA) at 19 mag. The comet reached perihelion on 2010 Mar 24 at 0.67 au and became as bright as 10 mag. However, it did not survive perihelion and was last seen on Apr 16.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Granted, but you do not know the quality of his telescope...

Position of comet C/1959 O1 (Bester-Hoffmeister) at the date of discovery, https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=C%2F1959%20O1&view=VOP

#bskycometography no. 252

C/1959 O1 (Bester-Hoffmeister)

1959 Jul 26: Disc by M. J. Bester & C. Hoffmeister (South Africa) photographically at 9 mag. Predisc images back until Jun 2. It had passed perigee on Jul 15 (0.24 au) & perihelion on Jul 17 (1.25 au). Last seen on Sep 11.
☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Zack Stentz @MuseZack • 12h In 1184 a bunch of German nobles got together in a building in Erfurt to mediate a land dispute...and ended up falling through rotting floorboards into the cesspit below. Sixty of them drowned in human waste. I maintain that this is how Game of Thrones should have ended. megan • @megievalist • 14h share your favorite piece of medieval lore

Today is the 841st anniversary of the Erfurt Latrine Disaster
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_...