2020 December 22 UT – Resonant Object 04VV130

This will be an epic evening – Winter Solstice, Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, and our second RECON campaign of the 2020-21 academic year!!! For this event, RECON is pursuing Resonant Object 04VV130. If all goes well, there is a one in four probability (26%) of capturing this event. As with all campaigns this year, teams should follow CDC guidelines (including wearing masks and practicing physical distancing) to ensure the safety of all participants during the current COVID pandemic. Feel free to reach out to our email at tnorecon-org@mailman.boulder.swri.edu if there is anything we can do to help remotely. We appreciate you, RECON – stay safe!

Also, we highly recommend setting early so that you can check out the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which will be only 6 arcminutes from each other and will both fit in an eyepiece or camera field of view. The event occurs at 8:46PM PST/9:46PM MST on Monday December 21, but Jupiter and Saturn will set within an hour or so of sunset depending on your latitude, so we recommend going out early and checking out Jupiter and Saturn. However, be sure to be mindful of how long your power supply usually lasts and whether you will need to turn off the scope between conjunction viewing and the occultation event. However, the site of Jupiter and Saturn together in the sky should be spectacular!

Event Details

04VV130 is a Kuiper Belt Object in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune. For all event details (including sense-up) visit: RECON Event Detail Page for 04VV130.

Print this page and the Event Detail Page (see link above) and practice on the target star field prior to the event.

Pre-Event Checklist

  1. Complete the RECON Campaign Signup Form for this event. Some participants have had trouble using Internet Explorer to sign up when there are more than one upcoming campaign.  We recommend using an alternate internet browser.  Submissions are updated hourly on our Signup Status Page.
  2. Keep power supply plugged in at all times except when in use. Make sure laptop is fully charged well in advance of the event.
  3. Print this page and the Event Detail Page (see link above) and practice on the target star field prior to the event.

Feel free to contact the RECON leadership team anytime by emailing tnorecon-org@mailman.boulder.swri.edu.

Observation Protocol

See our Full Campaign Observation Protocol Page for details on files to save. For teams with our new QHY cameras, you only need to save the event video. For teams still using our MallinCam setup, you should take the following four videos:

  1. Position Video
  2. Event Video
  3. Sky Field Video
  4. Dark Field Video

You should configure VirtualDub to save files sequentially by using “Set Capture File” to save as C:/Users/RECON/Data/YYYYMMDD/YYYYMMDD_01. You should record the filenames and information about each file using the RECON Observation Logsheet or a text file with the same information.

Image of Star Field

Field image for 202-12-22, 00VV130 event with the MallinCAM view and orientation.
Field view for the 2020-12-22, 04VV130 campaign for the QHY camera setup. The FOV is right but the orientation may not be right.

Post-Event Details

Regardless of whether your team was able to collect data, we need all teams to complete the RECON Campaign Observation Report Form within one week of the event. To view reports from teams from throughout the network, check out the Event Reporting Status Page.

If your team collected data, we also need you to save an electronic version of your log sheet and upload both your videos and observation log to SwRI in Boulder. For more information procedures for uploading data, visit Reporting Observations.