List of campaigns?

[John Coffin]

is there an up to date campaign list on the BAA website? I know there is a section on the ARAS website http://www.spectro-aras.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=136acf7062160209125eba709553d834 but it is sometimes  difficult to see what is still current.

I also look at the eruptive stars news letter on ARAS http://www.astrosurf.com/aras/novae/InformationLetter/InformationLetter.html

It would help me if there was somewhere where the information was all in one place. Does anyone know if there is a list anywhere?

[Andy Wilson]

Hi John,

There aren’t any official BAA spectroscopy campaigns, though notifications of requests from researchers are sometimes posted to the BAA forum. See Robin’s recent posts for requested spectra on X Per from Dr Paul Roche.

https://www.britastro.org/node/15515

https://www.britastro.org/node/15540

The VSS also runs an Yahoo alert group where any targets of interest or requests for observations are posted, and this includes requests for spectroscopy.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/baavss-alert/info

I think a list of current targets is a great idea, though we’d need a volunteer to maintain a list.

Cheers,

Andy

[David Boyd]

The AAVSO maintains a list of observing campaigns at https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notices-for-observing-campaigns-and-discoveries

A recent example was the request from Dr Moritz Guenther at MIT for observations of Herbig Ae/Be stars which he and colleagues were planning to observer with the X-ray satellite Chandra. https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-658

These are practical opportunities for amateurs to make a useful contribution to the progress of science. Those of us who participated have received encouraging positive feedback from him.

David

[Jeremy Shears]

Hello John,

I’m running a campaign on a far northerly cataclysmic variable over the next 3 months. This is photometry, rather than spectroscopy, but you’d be welcome to join.

Jeremy 

[Robin Leadbeater]

I see campaign announcements and requests for spectra coming from many directions with varying degrees of formality. (The ARAS forum for example has specific areas for campaigns and alerts).  I have relayed details of  some of them on this forum that I have either received direct or seen elsewhere  but they can tend to get lost as they eventually scroll off the bottom of the page.

A sticky post which would stay at the top of the spectroscopy section of the forum that anyone could add to if they come across campaigns might work. (Andy and I did try this with my post on  target results for ALPY observing and data reduction but it seems to have come unstuck).  Adding information about a campaign announced elsewhere would not oblige the poster to coordinate it or follow it up unless they wanted to take on that responsibility.  It would be up to the individual contributor to do that with the PI concerned.

Here are a few examples from me on this forum

https://britastro.org/node/16683

https://britastro.org/node/15540

https://britastro.org/node/11637

https://britastro.org/node/11372

also some run by Ernst Pollman eg

https://britastro.org/node/10809

https://britastro.org/node/10613

https://britastro.org/node/10539

Cheers

Robin

[Andy Wilson]

Hi Robin,

Unfortunately the sticky posts is not working properly. I just tried removing and adding back the ‘sticky’. At first it was at the top of the Spectroscopy forum with the word sticky next to it, but as soon as another post was added the word ‘sticky’ vanished and it moved down the list.

I have added it to the list of Website Operations Team tasks, though it might need to wait until the next website upgrade to fix it.

Cheers,

Andy

[John Coffin]

Another idea would be to put an agreed key word or phrase in posts about spectroscopy campaigns so that they were searchable, and also a way of ordering search results by date. An alternative, though maybe messy idea, would be to have a forum just for campaigns. Thanks everyone for all the ideas, maybe it’s something to discuss at the forthcoming spectroscopy workshops. 

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