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Ursa Minor RA 15h 9m 41s D 68 19
Hi,
We have recently been 'bought' a star and presented with a elaborate certificate from the International Star Registry. The star was bought in honor of our son who last year was born premature and unfortunately didn't make it. I hope the star exists as I would really like to see it. Before I go out and buy a telescope, I was hoping that someone in here would be kind enough to verify that the star is actually real using the 'coordinates' given above (if this is even possible). Any help would be greatly appreciated. P&J |
#2
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Ursa Minor RA 15h 9m 41s D 68 19
"*Paul" wrote in message ... Hi, We have recently been 'bought' a star and presented with a elaborate certificate from the International Star Registry. The star was bought in honor of our son who last year was born premature and unfortunately didn't make it. I hope the star exists as I would really like to see it. Before I go out and buy a telescope, I was hoping that someone in here would be kind enough to verify that the star is actually real using the 'coordinates' given above (if this is even possible). Hi Paul I've no doubt that the star is real - and that it represents a very kind and thoughtful gift. To find out which star has been selected in honour of your son we would also need to know the 'epoch' of the coordinates - because of the movement of the Earth in its orbit, the position of stars in the sky changes very slightly from year to year, so catalogues should be given with an epoch date. |
#3
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Ursa Minor RA 15h 9m 41s D 68 19
On or about 2008-04-23,
OG illuminated us with: "*Paul" wrote in message ... Hi, We have recently been 'bought' a star and presented with a elaborate certificate from the International Star Registry. The star was bought in honor of our son who last year was born premature and unfortunately didn't make it. I hope the star exists as I would really like to see it. Before I go out and buy a telescope, I was hoping that someone in here would be kind enough to verify that the star is actually real using the 'coordinates' given above (if this is even possible). Hi Paul I've no doubt that the star is real - and that it represents a very kind and thoughtful gift. To find out which star has been selected in honour of your son we would also need to know the 'epoch' of the coordinates - because of the movement of the Earth in its orbit, the position of stars in the sky changes very slightly from year to year, so catalogues should be given with an epoch date. Though typing those coordinates into Google Earth in sky mode[1] shows at least one possible candidate. Depending on which one it is, it may be beyond the resolution power of most amateur kit and/or you'll need somewhere very remote to see it. [1] View menu. Switch to sky. Click location search. Type the location as shown. -- Mark Real email address | I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there is mark at | when it happens. -Woody Allen ayliffe dot org | |
#4
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Ursa Minor RA 15h 9m 41s D 68 19
*Paul wrote:
Hi, We have recently been 'bought' a star and presented with a elaborate certificate from the International Star Registry. The star was bought in honor of our son who last year was born premature and unfortunately didn't make it. I hope the star exists as I would really like to see it. Before I go out and buy a telescope, I was hoping that someone in here would be kind enough to verify that the star is actually real using the 'coordinates' given above (if this is even possible). Any help would be greatly appreciated. P&J The nearest candidate (assuming J2000.0 epoch) is a faint (magnitude 13.44) star GSC 4411-0358. Pretty difficult to see (and find) in amateur telescopes. You can see an image of it using the Digitized Sky Survey, it'll appear in the exact centre of this image... http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss...fov=NON E&v3= If that link doesn't work copy and paste GSC 4411-0358 into the Object name box on http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form click GET COORDINATES, change File format to GIF and click RETRIEVE IMAGE. Just be aware that "...only the IAU, by international decree, can officially name or number a celestial object; be it a star or whatever. The naming of celestial objects by organisations other than the IAU is therefore not recognised by any other astronomical or scientific body anywhere.". |
#5
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Ursa Minor RA 15h 9m 41s D 68 19
On or about 2008-04-23,
jochta illuminated us with: *Paul wrote: Hi, We have recently been 'bought' a star and presented with a elaborate certificate from the International Star Registry. The star was bought in honor of our son who last year was born premature and unfortunately didn't make it. I hope the star exists as I would really like to see it. Before I go out and buy a telescope, I was hoping that someone in here would be kind enough to verify that the star is actually real using the 'coordinates' given above (if this is even possible). Any help would be greatly appreciated. P&J The nearest candidate (assuming J2000.0 epoch) is a faint (magnitude 13.44) star GSC 4411-0358. Pretty difficult to see (and find) in amateur telescopes. You can see an image of it using the Digitized Sky Survey, it'll appear in the exact centre of this image... http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss...fov=NON E&v3= If that link doesn't work copy and paste GSC 4411-0358 into the Object name box on http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form click GET COORDINATES, change File format to GIF and click RETRIEVE IMAGE. Just be aware that "...only the IAU, by international decree, can officially name or number a celestial object; be it a star or whatever. The naming of celestial objects by organisations other than the IAU is therefore not recognised by any other astronomical or scientific body anywhere.". Ah, so it was the star I found in Google Earth, but of course GE couldn't tell me much about it. However locating it there & then zooming out will give you some idea of how difficult it will be to find. -- Mark Real email address | All those who believe in psychokinesis is mark at | raise my hand. ayliffe dot org | |
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