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Hi Jack,
To home in on the source of the problem I would check the following
Is the camera installed correctly ? As Tim said, check the Device Manager the camera should be listed under USB somewhere and should report that it is working properly. If not try reinstalling the driver
Once it is installed correctly, try the ATIK capture software. If it is working there then the problem lies with MAXIM DL somewhere.
Cheers
Robin
Then I am stumped I am afraid. If it pops up again you could perhaps try moving the micrometer a touch to see if it moves with the spectrum and/or move the spectrum along the slit a bit to see if it is a localised defect
Robin
Hi Kevin,
I suggest checking your flat image in this area. This double line effect looks typical of that produced by a dust donut. Take a profile across the flat at the location of the spectrum. I was discussing with Jack Martin the other day who saw something similar (at a different location). It turned out to be a defect visible in the flat which for some reason we don’t quite understand was not corrected by the flat (The defect was weaker in the flat than in the image)
Cheers
Robin
I used to work for a Swedish paper company and when discussing aurorae with a colleague who worked in forestry there he commented unprompted on hearing crackling during strong aurorae which I assumed was a local electrostatic effect.
The light curve of some of these objects bounces back though as they redden as the reference I posted shows so it would be interesting to take a comparison image in a few months time
I think we can agree though it has indeed turned out to be a “Potentially interesting transient in NGC 4631″
Indeed, as I already reported
https://britastro.org/comment/10041#comment-10041
I never said it was a supernova and posted the classification as soon as it became available
Cheers
Robin
My current observatory PC is showing signs of age. I normally use cheap refurbished desktops which last typically 3 years before expiring in the less than ideal conditions but this sounds an interesting alternative. How much space is left after a Win 10 pro installation? (I don’t need too much as I offload to a separate server at the end of each run and don’t have any huge megapixel cameras but 64gb sounds a bit tight ?
Thanks
Robin
I remember imaging that with my modified webcam and CCTV camera
http://www.threehillsobservatory.co.uk/astro/astro_image_37.htm
and the spectacular light echo images from the Hubble. I took over where the Hubble left off 🙂
http://www.threehillsobservatory.co.uk/astro/v838Mon_anim.gif
It has now been classified as a probable Luminous Red Nova.
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=14360
I have to confess I had to look up what that was. Fascinating !
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019A%26A…630A..75P/abstract
Robin
That’s a great shot Nick, particularly with that bright moon. (To much haze here. I could not even see the galaxy) It looks like it probably is a supernova then. It depends on extinction of course which could be high given where it is but this might end up being one of the brightest for quite a while.
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=14326
with what sounds like a better spectrum, confirms likely IIP with low luminosity (-14.5)
ZTF have now called it on TNS as a type II based on a spectrum they took 5 days ago. I would not say their spectrum is over convincing though (A hint of a broad H alpha emission at the galaxy redshift, perhaps with a P Cygni profile but not much else) and running it through SNID does not come up with any high confidence hits. It shows a blue continuum suggesting not much IS extinction so it seems to be very much at the low luminosity end
Cheers
Robin
Well the distance to NGC2268 is probably reasonably accurate as it based on Ia supernova 1982B (which was V mag 13.5 when discovered just past maximum) so assuming this object is say mag 17.5 at maximum this gives it an absolute magnitude of -14.8 There is then 0.2 mag extinction from our own galaxy giving abs mag v mag ~ -15 which is very much at the low end but not unknown for supernovae eg
https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0112051
but if there is a lot of extinction in the host galaxy it could be higher luminosity of course.
(It could also be a foreground CV of course. We need a spectrum)
It is interesting that there has been no published professional classification yet. Maybe it is something interesting and the classification is being withheld. (Not unknown. Classifications can be submitted to TNS with an embargo)
Cheers
Robin
It looks like it has levelled out, well (~5 mag) short of what a type Ia without extinction would reach
Does this ring preload the taper bearing? If so it should not really be that tight (Just enough to preload the taper bearing by the right amount, hence the use of the grub screws to lock it in place.) Has it been stripped down before and retightened? (These internet strip downs never seem to talk about torque settings which I would have though are pretty critical for precision engineered parts like these)
The slit is 23 microns or 3 arcsec. It normally runs in the Dec direction which is probably the best bet as the star and PSN will lie at different positions along the slit provided the seeing and guiding is good enough to split them. I could just pick up a weak spectrum of the pair with perhaps signs of a broad H alpha emission line which would indicate a type II, though there is quit a bit of that around in the galaxy background as well. No split though (and to be honest at mag 17.9 I would not stand much of a chance of getting a useable spectrum in any case)
This video suggests a conventional right hand thread. (Though it also shows it to be deceptively simple to remove !)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrvkKjgjbRY
(16 min 30 sec)
