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Jeremy ShearsParticipant
A slightly better night last night: clear(ish) from 2115-0030 and 0210-0320.
The 2 cameras caught a total of 90 meteors, of which 34 appear to be Perseids.Hope others had some luck.
Go well!
JeremyJeremy ShearsParticipantA bit of a frustrating night here at Bunbury, with drifting cloud banks, although some breaks between 21.40-00.00 and 02.30-03.15 UT. I shouldn’t complain as the wx forecast was for complete cloud cover. In total, the 2 video cameras (3.8 mm f/0.8 pointing SSE and 12 mm f/0.8 pointing N) caught 61 meteors of which 19 were Perseids.
I fared a bit better the previous night (Aug 11/12), although again there were many cloud banks moving through. A total of 106 meteors, of which 25 were Perseids.
Go well!
Jeremy5 August 2014 at 9:05 pm in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576638Jeremy ShearsParticipantThanks for the tip Callum. I have fixed some of the links, but the page keeps crashing when I try to Edit – will try and fix the others soon.
In the meantime I can report that the current outburst of the dwarf nova was a normal outburst of ~3 days as Juan-Luis Gonzalez Carballo had it fading to mag 17.1 last night.
Go well!
Jeremy
5 August 2014 at 5:45 pm in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576616Jeremy ShearsParticipantThis dwarf nova was in bright outburst for about 13 days from July 1 – a light curve with observations by Ian Miller, Roger Pickard, Richard Sabo, Jeremy Shears can be seen on the VSS web site here: http://www.britastro.org/vss/css_121005.htm
At the peak of the outburst it was mag 15.9, ~4 to 4.5 mags above quiescence. Time series photometry revealed humps in the light curve, but the runs weren’t really long enough to draw definitive conclusions about their period. The humps certainly looked like superhumps, although intriguingly there appeared to be more complex structure in them towards the end of the outburst
The most recent observation was on Jul 19.957 when the star was at mag 19.2 (Ian Miller).
We are now eagerly awaiting the next outburst of this frequently outbursting dwarf nova. It will almost certainly be a short, or “normal”, outburst lasting a couple of days. Continued monitoring is needed to determine how often the system goes into outburst, so please feel free to join it (you can upload your data to the VSS and/or AAVSO databases – and do let me know how you get on). In addition, further time series photometry during future long outbursts will be required.
For more details go to: http://www.britastro.org/vss/CSS%202126%20campaign_20140511%20(1).pdf
Go well!
Jeremy
5 August 2014 at 5:45 pm in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576580Jeremy ShearsParticipantThanks Nick. Whenever I try and paste the link it cuts off the .pdf extension. Let’s try again in plain text: http://www.britastro.org/vss/CSS%202126%20campaign_20140511%20(1).pdf
…that doesn’t work either. So for those wanting to look at the doc I suggest either of the following options:
1. cut and paste the complete url (including the .pdf extension) into your browser, or
2. Use the link in my original posting to the BAA VSS web page and then click on the link to the campaign note that you will find there.
Go well!
Jeremy
4 August 2014 at 6:01 pm in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576636Jeremy ShearsParticipantThe dwarf nova CSS 121005:212625+201948 continues to be active. As previously reported, it was in bright outburst during the first half of July, fading towards quiescence on July 13. There was then a brief outburst (<3 days) around July 20. Recent data from Ian Miller and Juan-Luis Gonzalez Carballo have it currently in outburst (Aug 2, 3, 4) at ~16.4. It will be interesting to see how long this outburst lasts.
Further observations are welcome. For more details go to: http://www.britastro.org/vss/CSS%202126%20campaign_20140511%20(1).pdf
Go well!
JeremyJeremy ShearsParticipantI can watch all the videos online with good sound – Chrome, Vista
Great meeting, by the way. I was unable to attend this one, so have really appreciated the facility to be able to catch up via the videos.
Go well!
Jeremy
13 July 2014 at 6:12 pm in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576600Jeremy ShearsParticipantThis Dwarf Nova has been in outburst since last Sunday (6 July) and was still at 16.9C this morning (Richard Sabo, Bozeman, US).
Time-series photometry conducted on several nights this week by Ian Miller (Swansea, UK) and Richard Sabo has shown superhumps with superhump period, Psh ~ 0.088 d. There is some uncertainty on the period and significant aliasing associated with the short runs that are necessitated by the short nights at these 2 observatories at this time of year. These data are consistent with the dwarf nova being a member of the SU UMa family. The measured value of Psh suggests is is probably not an ER UMa system.
The campaign will continue as we still need to determine the outburst and superoutburst periods. In addition, further photometry during future superoutbursts will help to confirm the Psh of this frequently outbursting dwarf nova. Further info on the BAA VSS website.
Go well!
Jeremy
7 July 2014 at 8:13 am in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576597Jeremy ShearsParticipantThe star was once again in outburst last night (Jul 6.941 16.0C). Ian Miller carried out time series photometry which reveals what may be a (super)hump, although runs at this time of year are necessarily short. Further photometry encouraged.
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantGreat to hear the latest developments in your variable nebula project, Mike. (For some reason the image attached in your last Mr G posting didn’t come across, although the link to it you gave shows the image)
The short-term changes in NGC6729 are especially interesting.
Keep up the good work and sharing your results of this worthwhile venture.
Go well!
Jeremy28 June 2014 at 11:58 am in reply to: Campaign on a possible ER UMa Dwarf Nova from the Catalina Real Time Sky Survey #576584Jeremy ShearsParticipantThe observing campaign was launched at last week’s VSS meeting in York and there a write-up in the current Section Circular (VSSC 160).
On returning home from the meeting, I found the star rising to outburst (Jun 22.977) at 16.9C and 24 hours later was slightly brighter at 16.2. Since then I haven’t been able to obtain further obs.
Best of luck to anyone wanting to join in the observing fun. Do let me know how you get on.
Go well! Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantHello Mike,
it’s good to see this worthwhile project progressing.
I wonder if you have considered measuring the brightness of the nebula and the star, PV Cep. David Boyd had a paper on their variability in the 2012 June JBAA.
Keep up the imaging!
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantThat’s an interesting image, Mike. Do post some more showing the orbital motion. Good luck with the project!
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantHello Cameron,
That’s a really nice image of M27. Well done. It’s amazing what can be achieved in spite of light pollution – you should be very proud of your result. I do hope you will submit your image to the Deep Sky Section.
I trust there will be many more to come in the future.
Congratulations and go well!
Jeremy Shears
Jeremy ShearsParticipantThere’s a short report of NEMETODE efforts to capture the CAMs by video camera here: http://www.nemetode.org/
William Stewart and I had a clear spell for a couple of hours after 00h UT on the 24th, but not much doing.
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantSad news indeed and the end of an era. I always enjoyed the entertainment of meeting Dudley Fuller when I visited Telescope House in London. For several years as a teenager I owned a Fullerscopes 6-inch reflector with “A” grade optics in a shiny white tube on a MkIII mounting. And one of the best views of M13 I have had was with the 18-inch Fullerscopes Newtonian at Charterhouse (Nick, I didn’t break it – it was somebody else who grabbed hold of a massive tube counterweight which came off in his hand – I just had to stand there balancing the tube on my head whilst help was summoned!).
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantOh well, Bill – at least you have have an interesting spectrum of another visitor!
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantGreat to hear you are interested in visual variable star observations, Mike. There’s plenty of work to be done in this field. Best of luck with developing your technique – and don’t firget, if you have any questions, ask away. We’re here to help you!.
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantGood to see you progressing this pioneering work on meteor video spectroscopy, Bill. The Lyrids can be pretty sparse, so you did well to capture the spectrum of one.
Go well!
Jeremy
Jeremy ShearsParticipantWelcome to the BAA – I am sure you will enjoy your membership. I wish you success with your return to astronomy.
Glad to hear that you have an interest in variable stars – the Variable Star Section (http://www.britastro.org/vss/) is just the place to start. You are quite right that you can make a real scientific contribution in this field – the VSS has been contributing to science for 124 years! Feel free to ask any questions you might have – there are quite a few variable star observers who can help you. Are you interested in visual or CCD observing? Either way, you will have lots of targets accessible with your Celestron. You might also like to know that the Section is holding a meeting on June 21 in York – a bit of a hike for you, but worth considering.
Go well!
Jeremy
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