BAA spectroscopy campaigns?

[Neil Oldham]

Dear all,

Does the BAA have any current spectroscopy campaigns running? I’ve been doing spectroscopy (LR and, most recently, HR) for about a year now and feel sufficiently confident and competent to take part.

Thanks!
Neil

[Andy Wilson]

Hi Neil,
Great to hear you are also doing spectroscopy. I too spent about a year practicing and refining my technique before I felt confident to contribute to databases.
There aren’t any formal BAA spectroscopy campaigns. A lot of the spectroscopy is connected to the Variable Star Section, in particular where targets of opportunities such as Nova and occasionally supernova are within reach of member’s equipment and location. Other variable stars can also be interesting to follow spectroscopically. Currently there are three interesting novas, a couple of which might be within your reach depending on your setup. I give very approximate V mags at the start of September 2026.
N Sge 2026 (V488 Sge) ~10V
N Tau 2026 (V1452 Tau) ~11V
N Aql 2026 (V2104 Aql) ~16V
Variable stars are not the only targets, with bright comets another frequent target when they come along. Nebulae and galaxies are also observed.
When it comes to submitting your spectra, here is a link to the page that explains the requirements.
https://britastro.org/specdb/submission_requirements.htm
Everyone submits at least one sample spectrum in the format detailed on the page. Depending on their availability, we may have experienced spectroscopists able to assist you if any parts of the spectrum reduction process are proving problematic.
Kind regards,
Andy Wilson (BAA Spectroscopy Database Manager)

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Andy Wilson.
• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Andy Wilson.

[Neil Oldham]

Thanks Andy, that’s very helpful. I have mainly been focussing on planetary nebulae, but am also planning long term monitoring of gamma Cassiopeiae at high resolution. Kind regards, Neil

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