Hermes / Kassandra / Cybele appulse observed

Unusually for 30km from London the sky was cloudless during the evening of
27th October, and despite the inevitably orange / grey appearance of the
light-polluted sky I thought I would at least try to see minor planet Hermes
as it passed my local meridian.
Thanks to Starry Night Pro v4.05 with updated asteroid database I was able
to identify the correct RA and declination in Pisces to point a NexStar 11
SCT

As lucky coincidence I just happened to see Hermes at approx 13th magnitude
pass less than 1 arc minute from Kassandra (114) circa 2245UTC . Kassandra
was noticeably brighter than Hermes. I had to put my zoom eyepiece up to
about 200 x magnification to see these asteroids which could not be detected
at lower magnifications and wider fields of view that let in more town light
pollution.

At about 42 arc minutes away ( also in Pisces ) I saw Cybele (65) which at
approximately magnitude 11.5 was easy to see even in a wide field of view
with 32mm plossl eyepiece.

Three asteroids in less than 1 degree field of view ~ would make a nice
photo opportunity for someone tonight ?

Anthony

"Anthony Stokes" wrote in message
...
Unusually for 30km from London the sky was cloudless during the evening of
27th October, and despite the inevitably orange / grey appearance of the
light-polluted sky I thought I would at least try to see minor planet
Hermes
as it passed my local meridian.
Thanks to Starry Night Pro v4.05 with updated asteroid database I was able
to identify the correct RA and declination in Pisces to point a NexStar 11
SCT

As lucky coincidence I just happened to see Hermes at approx 13th
magnitude
pass less than 1 arc minute from Kassandra (114) circa 2245UTC . Kassandra
was noticeably brighter than Hermes. I had to put my zoom eyepiece up to
about 200 x magnification to see these asteroids which could not be
detected
at lower magnifications and wider fields of view that let in more town
light
pollution.

At about 42 arc minutes away ( also in Pisces ) I saw Cybele (65) which at
approximately magnitude 11.5 was easy to see even in a wide field of view
with 32mm plossl eyepiece.

Three asteroids in less than 1 degree field of view ~ would make a nice
photo opportunity for someone tonight ?

Anthony


Hi Anthony,

I was just reading in Nov S+T about a grouping of 5 within a degree from 3rd
to 14th November (closest on 9th), though the magnitudes of some of them
puts them in CCD territory

Melpomene (11.7)
Hersilia (14.2)
Marianna (14.8)
Beagle (15.6)
Francette (15.7)

Robin