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Hi Paul,
Yes, you are missing something.
If we loaded the AAVSO data at a point in time, it would slowly become out of date. This would then generate errors rather than warnings for those charts during observation uploads. When you provide a chart recognised by the BAA database, it then checks the comparison stars match, their magnitudes, and checks the photometry calculation. So adding data that becomes out of date would cause bigger problems than just accepting a warning message.
The whole point of the charts in the BAA database is to allow checks and recalculations. As the AAVSO use numbered comparison stars based on the magnitude, this means star 102 in a chart at one point in time, can be replaced by a different star later. That would corrupt the calculations giving incorrect results. I would not implement a system that I know would give incorrect results under realistic scenarios.
It is much simpler to accept the explanation that you can ignore the chart warning if you don’t expect the chart to be present, as per the user guide for the database.
https://britastro.org/photdb/help/WarningAndErrorInvestigation_UserGuide.htm
Best wishes,
AndyHi Paul,
Sorry this is causing you hassle. The point is these ‘warning’ messages are very useful to a large number of our observers. A ‘warning’ simply means ‘can you take a quick look at this to make sure it is expected’. It allows you to proceed with adding the data as only the observer has the knowledge of whether to expect a recognised chart or the other warning messages that are generated. When the upload generates an ‘error’ message then that means something is wrong and it won’t let the upload proceed.
We do have some AAVSO charts in the database. These tend to be older charts before they implemented their latest chart system, or charts created at a specific point in time. When I created the database I had discussions with the AAVSO about getting a copy of their chart data to add to our database. The problem is their charts are not static. A chart ID is not guaranteed to generate the same chart when entered at a later date, as any changes to the AAVSO chart database will result in the same ID giving a slightly different chart.
The chart is particularly important to the visual observers as the BAA database can recalculate magnitudes to the latest sequence. It can actually do that for digital as well as visual observations where sufficient information is provided, though we currently only have it turned on for visual observations.
As a final note, I would point out the AAVSO charts are fantastic and used by many BAA observers. It is just the BAA database cannot use them for more detailed processing as their chart IDs do not uniquely identify the comparison stars and their magnitudes.
Best wishes,
AndyHi Paul,
I successfully use a Quark Chromosphere with a Williams Optics 66 and 81mm refractors for visual observing. I use a UV/IR filter.
While this works, it isn’t quite a quick grab and go setup as I have to wait for the Quark to reach the right temperature and sometimes tweak it to get the view at its best.
Best wishes,
AndyHi Paul,
I believe these charts are designed for use by visual observers. There the simplicity of a single decimal place is beneficial to the visual observer.
Cheers,
AndyFor those who are going, I have added some information about car parking sent to me by Hazel Collett.
https://britastro.org/event/baa-spring-meeting
Best wishes,
AndyHi Alex,
We are in discussions with the venue to try to get the talks recorded. I think this is likely but not completely guaranteed.
They are definitely not going to be on Zoom or livestreamed to YouTube. What we are working on is the venue making the recording, then sending this to us afterwards for editing and adding to the BAA YouTube channel.
Best wishes,
AndyThis has somewhat hi-jacked the Winchester thread, but it is good to discuss these matters.
I suspect there may now be easier ways we can record meetings. For example, since Windows 10 an inbuilt screen recorder comes as standard. I also expect that more venues will gain the ability to record meetings for us. At Elgin the university staff kindly recorded the meeting for us without charging us extra. However, they had to work this out on the fly and we did not know if the meeting would be successfully recorded until the actual day.
There are also occasions where the organisers as well as the presenters do not want the meeting recorded, to encourage in-person attendance.
Whatever we do, I think finding more volunteers would help to increase the number of meetings we record.
Hi Mike,
James has hit the proverbial nail on the head.
The BAA is lacking volunteers. With some venues we are fortunate enough that they already have the IT equipment and staff available to make the recordings, but this is not the case at Winchester. Even then it requires a BAA volunteer or paid staff to edit the videos and put them online. It could be argued that the BAA should pay contractors to record meetings around the country. That would need to be paid out of the reserves as our annual outgoings are about twice the subscription income.
This is a good opportunity to point out that we don’t yet have a volunteer to become the Meetings Secretary after Hazel Collett stands down a the end of this year. Noting Ann Davies rather than Hazel Collett organises the Winchester Weekend, with help from other BAA volunteers.
The 1972 recording is 3 minutes of people walking around the venue without sound. Interesting to see that for 50 years ago but the expectations for current meeting recordings are much higher.
Best wishes,
AndySorry but there are no videos of the Winchester talks as it is not straightforward to get them recorded. The year we had videos was when we held a webinar instead due to the lockdown.
AndyThis is on a list of changes that will be going to the BAA website developer. Unfortunately I do not have a time frame but I shall ask for this to be done sooner rather than later.
I’ve not delved sufficiently deeply into this aspect of spectroscopy to properly comment. However, I can see it is a detailed and interesting model.
Best wishes,
AndyJust to note, opting for a digital subscription doesn’t save the BAA money, as you pay more for the printed subscriptions to cover the printing and postage costs.
It was perfectly clear when I got up just after 4am. Then as I slid back the observatory roof the first bit of cloud touched the Moon. I caught a glimpse of the Moon and Mars about a minute before the occultation, but the rest was clouded out.
Attachments:
Hi Bill,
This is a known issue and is recorded in the bug log. Apologies I don’t have a timeframe but it is an issue I expect to be resolved.
Best wishes,
AndyHi Max,
Being logged out each time your browser closes is how the website currently works. It is on a list of bugs and potential changes that the website developer will look at in due course. Apologies, I don’t have a timeframe or if that behaviour will definitely be changed.
Ah, that is the first time we’ve been notified about that button. I’ve added it to the bug list for the developer to fix.
Best wishes,
AndyThis is the last chance to register for the Exoplanets Online Workshop. Registration closes on Eventbrite at 10am this morning (Saturday 12th November).
https://baa-exoplanets-2022.eventbrite.co.uk
Registration is required as we are holding this as a Zoom meeting, where attendees can talk or share their screen, so we will not be making the Zoom join link public.
Andy
Hi Adam,
Welcome to the BAA Forum! That sounds like an excellent telescope and those are great images.
I am not sure I understand your question, but I’ll have a go at an answer.
With colourising I would be surprised if the algorithm in Astroart does anything other than assign predetermined colour values in RGB based on intensity to make it look nice, rather than anything to do with velocities. It is possible it has a template for the Sun, and varies the colour based on the location on the solar disc. The key point is the monochrome pixel values contain no data that can be converted into a velocity. I expect the temperature has nothing to do with it, other than cooler parts of the Sun such as sunspots emit less light.
All this said, if you are able to tune the H-alpha pass band in your telescope, then you might be able to sample different velocities relative to the H-alpha rest wavelength.
Best wishes,
Andy
