Tootfinder

#Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) and #Galaxy NGC 55
Date: 11 02 2026 UT 18:39
Location: Farm Tivoli, #Namibia
Telescope: ASA Astrograph 12" f3.6
Camera: ZWO ASI 6200 MM Pro
Mount: ASA DDM 85
Exp.Time: LRGB 10/2/2/2 min.
Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger

Mirage of energy sanctions against Russia: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/11/mirage-of-energy-sanctions-against.html

And all 32 #AmazonLeo satellites have been deployed by the first #Ariane 64: good news for Arianespace and Amazon but probably bad news for astronomy as the previous satellites of this #megaconstellation have proven to be brighter than they should be. As this diagram from the recent paper "Brightness Characterization and Modeling for Amazon Leo Satellites" - https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07708 - shows they are almost always brighter than the informally established 7 mag. limit. And there are no indications that the design of the 32 added to the constellation today had been modified to make them dimmer ... while the next Ariane launch will carry more of them.

Don’t get fooled by Lukashenko: https://benborges.xyz/2025/11/13/dont-get-fooled-by-lukashenko.html

Finally an RGB image of comet #3IATLAS from images taken by #GeminiNorth during the 26 November #shadowTheScientists session: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2532/ - the coma has become bluer due to more gas emission. Also published today: an X-ray image by XMM-Newton at https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/12/XMM-Newton_sees_comet_3I_ATLAS_in_X-ray_light with explanations in http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005600/CBET005646.txt which also contains more 3I news.
Meanwhile the paper https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ae2915 claims an upper limit for 3I's nucleus diameter of only some 750 meters from the measured non-gravitational acceleration (NGA) parameters: that would be waaay more stringent than the 5.6 km upper limit from early Hubble observations reported in https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf8d8 (where also a lower limit of 440 meters is stated).

Parliament votes on government reshuffle (LIVE): https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/parliament-votes-on-government-reshuffle.html

Why Ukraine refuses to abandon Pokrovsk, explained: https://benborges.xyz/2026/02/11/why-ukraine-refuses-to-abandon.html

Russia launches massive drone and missile attack on Odesa: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/13/russia-launches-massive-drone-and.html

Ukrainian forces encircle hundreds of Russian troops in Kupyansk: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/12/ukrainian-forces-encircle-hundreds-of.html

How a drought drives Iran’s protests: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/how-a-drought-drives-irans.html