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On 27 July, as part of my asteroid occultation work with my remote telescope in Galicia, Spain, I noted an interesting feature in the lightcurve of an occultation by asteroid (8007) of the star UCAC4 354-170588.
Following subsequent analysis and peer review, CBET 5730 has now been published, reporting the discovery of a satellite of the asteroid.
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005700/CBET005730.txt
I’ve attached figures illustrating the event.
Regards,
Michael O’ConnellExcellent work, Michael!
Jim Wild, RAS President, writes:
“The Royal Astronomical Society welcomes an upcoming debate at the Houses of Parliament about cuts impacting astronomy and encourages all Fellows to contact their MPs to urge them to attend.
It will take place on Tuesday 1 September from 1-1.30pm in Westminster Hall.
Last month it emerged that measures to address a devastating funding crisis will put a wide range of UK astronomy projects, facilities and international partnerships under severe pressure.
The recent warning that astronomy at Jodrell Bank Observatory could end has attracted significant public attention, but it is only one part of a much broader picture. Other internationally important programmes are also threatened, such as UK involvement in the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaiʻi, prompting serious concern from the RAS about the future strength and breadth of UK astronomy.
The consequences of the cuts are only just starting to emerge, and their impact will also extend well beyond astronomy, affecting other strategically important areas of UK science, including particle physics and nuclear research.
Intense lobbying from the RAS and leading scientists has undoubtedly helped soften the blow for UK astronomy, but the future is still bleak and the cuts so deep that more needs to be done to campaign for a re-think.
The latest analysis of the impact of the cuts across STFC-funded fundamental astronomy projects is 35 per cent, which sits uncomfortably against the headline figure of the 10 per cent budget reduction to projects quoted by UKRI and is much closer to the impacts originally feared at the beginning of the year.
RAS President Professor Jim Wild said: “The Westminster debate is a chance for us to continue to make our case.”
I have written to several of the Cheshire MPs, including the MP for Congleton where Jodrell Bank sits, about Jodrell and the cuts more broadly and have been assured of their support.
I urge others to write to their MPs.
Tampo-san (SAAO) writes:
“PNV J19450648+1822422 was originally discovered by the NMW-TexasTech
survey. Its position coincides with a known eclipsing binary candidate
in Gaia, with an orbital period of 9.9011 d. Thus, time-resolved
observations may reveal eclipses during its decline as the photosphere
recedes.”It turns out that there was a false signal and this is not eclipsing. Sebastian Otero has updated the VSX entry accordingly
Official name of N Sge 2026 is V488 Sge
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005700/CBET005729.txtI’ve just created an object entry for ‘Nova Sge 2026’ in the image gallery, and tagged last night’s images.
It can’t happen very often that there are two active novae at the same time, called ‘Nova Sge 2026’ and ‘Nova Sgr 2026’!
I haven’t created an entry for ‘Nova Sgr 2026’ yet as I don’t think any images have been uploaded, but I will add it if any observations appear.
Great idea, Dominic – thanks.
Yes, much going on in the field of novae right now, what with these two plus N Aql 2026 and N Tau 2026.Kevin,
Gaia measured the parallax of the precursor of the nova. The median geometric distance is 6255.57227 parsecs (ca 20,400 ly)
Jeremy
There is now a chart and sequence available from AAVSO VSP, though I had some difficulty downloading just now, so appending here (5 deg field).
The brightest star, left of centre) is delta Sagittae.
Attachments:
VSX details of precursor (g~20): https://vsx.aavso.org/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=10762522
Tampo-san (SAAO) writes:
“PNV J19450648+1822422 was originally discovered by the NMW-TexasTech
survey. Its position coincides with a known eclipsing binary candidate
in Gaia, with an orbital period of 9.9011 d. Thus, time-resolved
observations may reveal eclipses during its decline as the photosphere
recedes.”The official name is V8055 Sgr
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005700/CBET005724.txt
The official name has been announced: V1452 Tau
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005700/CBET005723.txt
I think Robin and Paul are right. Engaging via online fora is one of the best ways to show people the science side of astronomy. All 3 of us spend quite a bit of time on SGL. Robin is often posting about spectroscopy and Paul if often pointing out to imagers the interesting objects that are in the images of well known objects they post, like globulars in M31.I sometimes post about variable stars. It’s a matter of gently encouraging others to do more.
Welcome Connor! I wish you a very enjoyable time in the BAA.
Do get involved in our Observing Sections, which are the core of the BAA. I can see you are already interested in Deep Sky observin, so do look at their programmes. Plenty of other stuff to explore, too (like variable stars!).
Unfortunately the UKRI/ STFC continues to push its their “nothing to see here” message in its latest update: https://www.ukri.org/publications/what-stfc-is-investing-in/factsheet-jodrell-bank-e-merlin-and-ukri-funding/
Tim Roca MP’s social media post that Denis highlighted above chimes with that.
I do not see this as a positive message from the MP. It attempts to put a positive spin on the STFC announcements. But there is nothing new. STFC funding for e-Merlin, of which the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank is a critical component, will cease in April 2028.
University of Manchester note to staff: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=34224
MP for Tatton
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My MP has been responsive. We exchanged a couple of emails on Tuesday and she has written to the Secretary of State.
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My letter appears in The Times today
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