Website of the month

           To start with I would like to introduce you to a website which I visited most, Minor Planet Observer. For those who are interested in observing Asteroids this is the Mecca for them. This site is made by Brian Warner, and provides a portal to Palmer Divide Observatory (IAU Observatory code 716). On this site you will find various resources like MPO Canopus, software specially designed for Minor Planet observers interested in Astrometry and Photometry.

           For beginners and amateurs, Ephemeris Generator is the best tool which provides all visible asteroids up to 16^th magnitude, and you can generate 40 days ephemeris of any Asteroid from the list. This information could be used in locating asteroids, planning activities for observation. For those astronomers who want to do something more than just observations, here is good information on how to generate light curve database of Asteroids. This database could be uploaded for use and review of other observers, beginners may download data already uploaded by others.

           MPO Connections is software provided on this site, is used to control CCD cameras and Telescopes, is a very useful tool for Asteroid tracking, and hunting.  Visiting this site could provoke you to start observing Asteroids. This could be a starting point for serious observers who are interested in Imaging and Light curve study of Asteroids. So make use of such a wonderful resource and keep watching, so many things are out there!

By Santosh Salunke

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