Observation by Kevin Gurney: Spectroscopic observation of radial puls...    
    
                    Uploaded by
            
                
                    Kevin Gurney                
            
        
        Observer
Kevin Gurney
        Observed
        2023 Nov 28 - 23:05
        Uploaded
        2024 Mar 12 - 21:14
        Objects
Spectrum 
Variable star 
                    Planetarium overlay
            
        
        Constellation
Draco
                    Field centre
            
                RA: 19h02m                
                Dec: +48°12'                
                Position angle: -59°42'            
            Field size
            
                0°06' × 0°02'            
        
        Equipment
- Celestron C11
 - Lhires spectrograph
 - Atik460EX
 - MESU mount
 
Exposure
5 min subs
Location
Sheffield
Target name
SZ yn
Title
Spectroscopic observation of radial pulsation velocity in SZ Lyn 
     
    
    
                    
        
        
        About this image
Inspired by a BAA talk last year on short period pulsating variable
stars [1], I started a program of their observation using high
resolution spectroscopy. This aimed to measure Doppler shifts between
observations, and hence relative radial velocity of the pulsating
stellar mass. The image here shows results over a single night for SZ
Lyn. The 5 min sub exposures were stacked two at a time; further
stacking threatens to blur the Doppler shift as the period is only 2.9
hrs. Relative shifts were obtained  from cross correlation of the spectra
(using  Python with Astropy/Specutils) then combined in a method developed in
[2]. This uses all pairwise correlations to find a value which is most
self consistent across all of them. SZ Lyn is around magnitude 9
which, for high resolution spectroscopy is very faint. However, while
the individual spectra are quite noisy there is enough information for
the cross-correlation to work. The velocities have been shifted to
give zero mean.
[1] VSS Mtg 2023 Video 5 - Modelling Pulsating Stars by Phil Masding &
Robin Leadbeater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z865ow5BuTY.
[2] Prieto, Carlos Allende. 2007. Velocities from Cross-Correlation: A
Guide for Self-Improvement. The Astronomical Journal 134 (5):
1843–48.
 
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