|
Walter's LogBook |
| August 2003 |
Overview
The quest for an automated imaging setup began this month. I have FocusMax working and ACP successfully autofocused on a star of its choice.
Winchester was unaffected by this month's province-wide power blackout.
The MX916 is the imaging camera, with exposures for variable stars of 30 seconds at 2x2 binning (unguided). This month's session notes are below the overview section.
| Monthly Statistics, August 2003 | ||||||||
| Night | Imaging Time (s) |
Exposure Time (s) |
# Targets |
# Exposures |
Variable Star Outbursts/Activity |
|||
| 8/1/03 | 14286 | 7860 | 12 | 262 | CY Lyr | V344 Lyr | ||
| 8/13/03 | 157 | 0.2 | 1 | 40 | ||||
| 8/15/03 | 15096 | 8370 | 10 | 279 | CY Lyr | V344 Lyr | ||
| 8/16/03 | 23681 | 4440 | 7 | 148 | CY Lyr | V344 Lyr | IP Peg | |
| 8/17/03 | 22108 | 14670 | 16 | 489 | CY Lyr | V344 Lyr | IP Peg | |
| 8/18/03 | 24379 | 16140 | 26 | 538 | V344 Lyr | AR And | ||
| 8/19/03 | 7840 | 5700 | 6 | 190 | V344 Lyr | |||
| 8/27/03 | 28314 | 16980 | 23 | 566 | ||||
| 8/30/03 | 14018 | 9690 | 12 | 323 | ||||
| 9 nights | 149879 (41.63 hr) |
83850.2 (23.29 hr) |
113 | 2835 | Activity in 4 stars. | |||
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Session Notes
Fri/Sat, August 1/2, 2003
I did variables with the MX916 and a Johnson V filter. Session was from 22:40 to 02:40 when it clouded over.
Based on my observations, it would appear that CY Lyr and V344 Lyr are going into outburst! This was confirmed after the long weekend in AAVSO News Flash #1210. An animated GIF of the CY Lyrae outburst is shown below.
| CY Lyrae | 20 minutes (40 x 30s) |
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| Scope: 10" f/6.3 LX200 | Camera: MX916 binned 2x2. The blinking star was imaged on two nights at ~3h UT: 2003 July 31 and August 2. |
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Fri/Sat, August 13/14, 2003
The Quest for Automation Begins!
There was some cirrus across the sky tonight, so I took advantage of the opportunity to learn the FocusMax software and learn ACP & PinPoint. I managed to get FocusMax configured and working by itself, and eventually got it configured for use with ACP, although I wasn't able to get ACP to start a FocusMax autofocus from a script.
It turns out also that since 2x2 binning in the MX9 doesn't show any stars (camera driver problem?), PinPoint can't update the pointing. So I'll have to get that fixed or switch cameras.
I finished the session by imaging Mars. The images are rather low-res since I'm only shooting at 1600mm EFL. The polar cap is visible at the bottom of the disk.
Fri/Sat, August 15/16, 2003
I did variables with the MX916 and a Johnson V filter. Session was from 22:00 to 03:00 when clouds moved in. When I saw the clouds moving rapidly in from the north during a kitchen break (the computer was still imaging during my break, of course!), I decided to finish the star I was on (V368 Peg) and do a quick test of ACP. I successfully ran a script that autofocused the camera (ACP even picked the star to focus on!). So, it looks like the upgrade to ACP3.1 is now debugged! Full automation is getting closer...
I've Got the Power!
Fortunately Winchester was not affected at all by the massive power outages of the last couple of days, so there has been no disruption to the operation of the observatory. I guess I'll have to go out and buy a couple of UPS boxes just to be prepared for that sort of thing though...
Mon/Tue, August 18/19, 2003
More variables. Session was from 21:30 to 04:45. I setup my C8 outside and observed Mars, but the seeing wasn't very good.
Tue/Wed, August 19/20, 2003
Session was from 21:30 to 00:00 (fell asleep for about half an hour, then it clouded over shortly after I woke up). I imaged some variables in Lyra: CY, TY, SU, V344, RW, and V493.
Wed/Thu, August 27/28, 2003
More variables. Session was from 20:45 to 05:00.
Sat/Sun, August 30/31, 2003
More variables. Session was from 21:45 to 02:00 (it clouded over at 01:57).
