David Swan

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Viewing 20 posts - 261 through 280 (of 307 total)
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  • in reply to: Mare Humboldtianum #579287
    David Swan
    Participant

    An amazing image. Consider posting it in the Observing Community area.

    in reply to: Ooops! #579242
    David Swan
    Participant

    This is hilarious. Thanks for pointing it out!

    in reply to: Psi Persei, emission lines in Fe II ? #579149
    David Swan
    Participant

    I am no expert, but according to the Spectral Atlas for Amateur Astronomers (Walker), you see Fe I/II emission lines in Be stars of classifications e3, e3+ and e4 – maybe weak in e2 class (psi Persei).

    in reply to: Psi Persei, emission lines in Fe II ? #579150
    David Swan
    Participant

    Tony Rodda has posted his spec of the star. He sees the Fe emission too. Click spec database on the right, type psi per into the box and click fetch spectra. David

    in reply to: Bright supernova in NGC 3941 #579143
    David Swan
    Participant

    So the weather there is no different to here then! I have my fingers crossed for a bright supernova (mag 11-13), well separated from the host galaxy nucleus, and present in a relatively sparse star field. I would like to try to get a spectrum using my slitless StarAnalyser. Is this too much to ask? 🙂

    in reply to: Bright supernova in NGC 3941 #579119
    David Swan
    Participant

    In-line image cropped

    in reply to: Bright supernova in NGC 3941 #579118
    David Swan
    Participant

    I managed to stack 20 x 10s frames. Midpoint of capture 21:09:25 UT. It’s bright! See also the attached png.

    in reply to: John Wall (1932-2018) #579065
    David Swan
    Participant

    He was clearly a talented and well-liked man. I have just read his obit in the Times – Nick is quoted directly from his forum post.

    in reply to: Videos from the 2018 January Ordinary Meeting #578991
    David Swan
    Participant

    Great talks; sorry I couldn’t make it in person due to commitments. David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578990
    David Swan
    Participant

    Yes, I think Hugh ‘saves’ the Bahtinov mask diffraction pattern after achieving a sharp spectrum on an A type star, and then targets that pattern on the next target star. Sorry, because I am new to it I am not including the pertinent info! David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578987
    David Swan
    Participant

    Thanks Robin. I think next on the shopping list is one of these Bahtinov masks – focusing is clearly one of the most tricky parts for a novice like me.

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578977
    David Swan
    Participant

    Yes, with the frames I look last night: for some, a two point calibration with zero and hydrogen beta seemed to work very nicely, with the alpha, beta, gamma and delta Balmer lines superimposing precisely on target in RSpec. In other frames this wasn’t the case. I guess it is just an effect of seeing? I am looking forward to seeing the spectra of SN2018gj that will appear over the next few days. I note you are discussing the uncertainty around the SNII subtype on the ARAS forum. David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578976
    David Swan
    Participant

    I’ll not do any sharpening. It was easy enough anyway to scan through the frames by eye and then select the best; no computer programme is required for that. The seeing yesterday was extremely bad – as unstable as I’ve ever seen it would not be an exaggeration.

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578971
    David Swan
    Participant

    I’ve posted a much better effort on my member’s page. With my first go, I thought stacking and sharpening a load of images (a la planetary imaging) would help things, but I think it actually blurred the spectrum – and the bit depth was 8 bit anyhow. This time I was careful with focusing and made sure the exposure wasn’t too high. I think the result is much better. Unfortunately the ADU of my camera is 14 rather than 16 bit, so there’s not quite as much data as there could be.

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578969
    David Swan
    Participant

    Yes, I think overexposure is likely. I’ll look into the brightness values. Vega of course is low in the evening, and with this being early days (in spec) for me, I thought I’d go for a convenient target from my backyard. Thanks Hugh – David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578966
    David Swan
    Participant

    I’ve carried out my first capture. Not an ideal target I gather, but the weather isn’t cooperating! I’ve done the wavelength calibration – with the star image and hydrogen alpha line. Focus is definitely something I’ll work on; and exposure time too. David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578960
    David Swan
    Participant

    I’ll keep you informed on how I get on. There was a 10min gap in the clouds yesterday… David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578955
    David Swan
    Participant

    Thanks Robin – David

    in reply to: Introduction to spectroscopy #578952
    David Swan
    Participant

    Thanks Andrew – I’ve had a quick look and indeed there’s lots there! David

    in reply to: passing of Thomas Bopp #578950
    David Swan
    Participant

    Thanks for pointing this out Denis. At the end of the Wiki article, Bopp is quoted as having said something I wholeheartedly agree with:

    “I’ll never give up looking at the skies. There’s so many beautiful things there. And I love to share that with people.”

Viewing 20 posts - 261 through 280 (of 307 total)