Northern Prairie Star Party Black Nugget Lake September 15, 2012
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Transcript of Northern Prairie Star Party Black Nugget Lake September 15, 2012
Northern Prairie Star PartyBlack Nugget LakeSeptember 15, 2012
Brian MartinThe King’s University College
Three Fundamental “Sciences”
• Measuring “Distance”, Position & “Scale” Astrometry
• Measuring Brightness and Intensity Photometry
• Measuring “Colour” Spectroscopy
Exciting science that you can do from the back yard!
Astrometry
How big are the lunar features in this image?
August 29, 2012H-alpha filter0.001 s exposureED80Atik 314L+ cameraTKUCO
Some Math …
q
R S
The Small Angle Formula Rq* = S where:• R = distance from object• q = angle that the object subtends in the sky• S = distance across the object
* Angle in radians
The Scale of Your Telescope• Scale in (seconds of arc)/mm found by:
• In the previous image a ED80 telescope was used so the scale is (206265)/(600 mm) = 343.8 “/mm
• The Atik 314L+ has 6.45 mm pixels, so each pixel has a scale of 342.8”/mm × 0.00645mm/px = 2.22 “/px when used with the ED80
• By measuring the number of pixels you can measure the angle that an object or feature subtends
scalefocal length206,265
850 px = 3457 km(0.5% error)
304 px = 1236 km
Some other images…
• Capuanus Crater:– December 26,2009– C14, f/11 – Imaging source DMK2104 – 2000 frames– Scale = 0.20”/px – Distance = 0.002523 AU
• Apennines (Eratsothenes, Archimedes)– March 1, 2012– C14, f/7– Atik 314L+– 20 frames (0.005 s)– Scale = 0.52”/px– Distance = 0.00262 AU
• Jupiter– November 5, 2011– C14, f/11– Imaging Source DMK2104– LRGB (~2000 frames each)– Scale = 0.26”/px
• M57– August 26, 2011– C14 f/7– ST7E– LRGB– Scale 1.49”/px– Distance = 2300 ly
• M15– August 21, 2011– C14 f/7– ST7E– LRGB– Scale 1.49”/px– Distance = 33 Kly
Photometry – Measuring Changes in Brightness
• Intrinsic Variables– d Scuti– SX Phe
• Novae and Supernovae• Cataclysmic Variables
Consumer grade CCD cameras…• Capable of doing excellent science!• Modest cost (< $2000)• Excellent software support• Monochrome with no anti-blooming is
preferred• Pixel size should be carefully matched
to image scale – need to oversample• Capable of milli-magnitude precision
photometry
Atik 314L+
SBIG ST7E
SX Phoenicis Variables
• BL Camelopardalis– Average mag 13.1 – Period
• 0.0389d• 56 minutes – this is
an exciting system to watch!!
40 s integration, C14 f/7ST7E camera – KAF400 detector
November 9, 2009
The Light-Curve…
November 9, 2009, s (C2-C1) = 0.007 mag
BL CamTeff 7730 KAge ~4GaMetal poorPeriod shows a Small change over time!