SAS-2019 the Symposium on Telescope Science
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Proceedings for the 38th Annual Conference of the Society for Astronomical Sciences SAS-2019 The Symposium on Telescope Science Joint Meeting with the Center for Backyard Astrophysics Editors: Robert K. Buchheim Robert M. Gill Wayne Green John C. Martin John Menke Robert Stephens May, 2019 Ontario, CA i Disclaimer The acceptance of a paper for the SAS Proceedings does not imply nor should it be inferred as an endorsement by the Society for Astronomical Sciences of any product, service, method, or results mentioned in the paper. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and may not reflect those of the Society for Astronomical Sciences, its members, or symposium Sponsors Published by the Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc. Rancho Cucamonga, CA First printing: May 2019 Photo Credits: Front Cover: NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula) and B33 (Horsehead Nebula) Alson Wong, Center for Solar System Studies Back Cover: SA-200 Grism spectrum of Wolf-Rayet star HD214419 Forrest Sims, Desert Celestial Observatory ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE v SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS vi SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE viii PRESENTATION PAPERS Robert D. Stephens, Brian D. Warner THE SEARCH FOR VERY WIDE BINARY ASTEROIDS 1 Tom Polakis LESSONS LEARNED DURING THREE YEARS OF ASTEROID PHOTOMETRY 7 David Boyd SUDDEN CHANGE IN THE ORBITAL PERIOD OF HS 2325+8205 15 Tom Kaye EXOPLANET DETECTION USING BRUTE FORCE TECHNIQUES 21 Joe Patterson, et al FORTY YEARS OF AM CANUM VENATICORIUM 25 Robert Denny ASCOM – NOT JUST FOR WINDOWS ANY MORE 31 Kalee Tock HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOONING 33 William Rust MINIMIZING DISTORTION IN TIME EXPOSED CELESTIAL IMAGES 43 James Synge PROJECT PANOPTES 49 Steve Conard, et al THE USE OF FIXED OBSERVATORIES FOR FAINT HIGH VALUE OCCULTATIONS 51 John Martin, Logan Kimball UPDATE ON THE M31 AND M33 LUMINOUS STARS SURVEY 53 John Morris CURRENT STATUS OF “VISUAL” COMET PHOTOMETRY 55 Joe Patterson, et al ASASSN-18EY = MAXIJ1820+070 = “MAXIE”: KING OF THE BLACK HOLE 61 SUPERHUMPS Richard Berry IMAGING THE MOON AT THERMAL INFRARED WAVELENGTHS 67 iii Jerrold L. Foote, Forrest Sims, Anthony Rodda, Paul Gerlach, Thomas Smith, Clarke Yeager, Wayne Green, Robert Buchheim ROLE OF 3-D PRINTING IN SMALL TELESCOPE SCIENCE 73 Forrest Sims, Wayne Green, Robert Buchheim PHOTOMETRIC MONITORING OF M51 AT 2019ABN 87 Wayne Green, Forrest Sims PARALLACTIC ANGLE AND INSTRUMENTATION ISSUES FOR SMALL TELESCOPE SPECTROGRAPHY 97 John Menke INVESTIGATING AZ CAS USING HIGH-PRECISION MEDIUM-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY 109 PAPERS WITHOUT PRESENTATION Brian Cudnik, Mahmudur Rahman, Gary M. Erickson, S. Douglas Holland, Premkumar Saganti THE PRAIRIE VIEW OBSERVATORY & LUNAR METEOR OBSERVATIONS 117 Gerald R. Hubbell, Barton D. Billard, Dennis M. Conti, Myron E. Wasiuta, Shannon Morgan A COMPARISON OF THE DIFFUSER METHOD VERSUS THE DEFOCUS METHOD FOR PERFORMING HIGH-PRECISION PHOTOMETRY WITH SMALL TELESCOPE SYSTEMS 123 POSTER PAPERS Peyton Robertson, Connor Espenshade, Jay Sarva, Kalee Tock AUTOMATED APPROACH TO MODELING JUPITER’S SYNCHROTRON RADIATION FROM RADIO TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS 157 Jim Fox LOW RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY OF URANUS: APPARITION OF 2018-2019 159 Jonathan Kemp MITTELMAN OBSERVATORY AT MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE: ENGAGING AND INSPIRING LIBERAL ARTS STUDENTS TO INVESTIGATE THE UNIVERSE FROM VERMONT 165 Tol Wassman, Zachary Haarz, Morgan Watts, and Kalée Tock CLASSIFICATION OF WASHINGTON DOUBLE STAR SYSTEMS USING ESCAPE VELOCITIES BASED ON MEASUREMENTS FROM GAIA DR2 167 Elliott Chalcraft, Shiva Oswal, Andrew Overy, and Kalée Tock INVESTIGATING THE STATUS OF EPIC 201534540 WITH AUTOVAR 169 Emerson Tiller, Christopher Smithers, Via Niforatos, and Ivan Altunin INVESTIGATION OF 10 SHORT-ARC SYSTEMS IN THE WASHINGTON DOUBLE STAR CATALOGUE 171 Caroline Wiese, Alexander Jacobson, Alessandra Richardson-Beatty, Fay-Ling Laures, and Ryan Caputo REEVALUATING DOUBLE STAR STF 619 173 iv PREFACE Welcome to the joint meeting that combines the 38th annual Symposium of the Society for Astronomical Sciences, and the 2019 Meeting of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics! This year’s agenda reflects the broad diversity of interests among SAS and CBA participants, with papers covering photometry, spectroscopy, interferometry and astrometry; instruments ranging from eyeballs to CCDs and spectrographs; and projects ranging from education to citizen-science to a variety of astronomical research activities. It takes many people to have a successful conference. The SAS Program Committee members are: Robert Gill Robert D. Stephens John C. Martin Wayne Green Jerry Foote Robert Buchheim John Menke We thank the staff and management of the Ontario Gateway Hotel for their efforts to accommodate the Society and our activities. SAS Membership dues and Registration fees do not fully cover the costs of the Society and the annual Symposium. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our corporate sponsors: Sky and Telescope, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescopes, PlaneWave Instruments, Software Bisque, and DC-3 Dreams. Thank you! Finally, there would be no Symposium without the speakers and poster presenters, the attentive audience, and the community of practice in small-telescope research. We thank all of you for making the SAS Symposium one of the premiere events for professional-amateur collaboration in astronomy. 2019 May v Symposium Sponsors The Society for Astronomical Sciences thanks the following companies for their participation and financial support. Without them, this conference would not be possible. Sky & Telescope Magazine The Essential Magazine of Astronomy http://www.skyandtelescope.com/ DC3 Dreams Software Developers of ACP Observatory Control Software http://www.dc3.com/ PlaneWave Instruments Makers of the CDK line of telescopes and Ascension mounts http://www.planewaveinstruments.com/ vi Symposium Sponsors The Society for Astronomical Sciences thanks the following companies for their participation and financial support. Without them, this conference would not be possible. Woodland Hills Camera & Telescopes Providing the best prices in astronomical products for more than 50 years http://www.telescopes.net/ Software Bisque Enriching your astronomy experience since 1983 http://www.bisque.com/sc/ vii Symposium Schedule Time Subject Presenter/Author Thursday May 30: Workshops 0800 - 0900 Registration 0830 - 1130 Scientific Analysis of Amateur Spectra Dr. David Boyd Lunch Break 1330 - 1630 Paths to Precision Photometry Dr. Arne Henden Dinner Break 1900 - 2100 “Evening with the Pros” Dr. Joe Patterson D. Lance Benner Friday May 31: Technical Papers 8:00 Registration 8:30 Welcome Bob Buchheim and Joe Patterson 9:00 The Search for Very Wide Binary Asteroids Robert Stephens 9:25 Lessons Learned During Three Years of Asteroid Photometry Tom Polakis 9:50 Sudden change in the orbital period of HS 2325+8205 David Boyd 10:15 – 10:30 Coffee Break 10:30 Exoplanet Detection using Brute Force Techniques Tom Kaye 10:55 Forty Years of AM Canum Venaticorium Joe Patterson 11:20 ASCOM - Not Just for Windows Any More Robert Denny 11:45 Poster Paper “sparkler talks” 3-5 minutes per Poster 12:10 – 14:00 Lunch Break 12:30 lunch Discussion group #1 (photometry topics) moderator = John Martin 14:00 High-Altitude Ballooning Kalee Tock 14:25 Minimizing Distortion in Time Exposed Celestial Images William Rust 14:50 Project PANOPTES James Synge 15:15 Sponsor Infomercials 16:00 Panel Discussion: “Remote Observatories for small-telescope moderator = Wayne Green science 17:00 Evening break Saturday June 1: Technical Papers 8:00 Registration 8:15 Welcome 8:30 The Use of Fixed Observatories for Faint High Value Steve Conard, et al Occultations 8:55 Update on the M31 and M33 Luminous Stars Survey John Martin & Logan Kimball 9:20 Current Status of 'Visual' Comet Photometry Charles Morris 9:45-10:00 Coffee Break 10:00 ASASSN-18ey = MAXIJ1820+070 = "Maxie": King of the Black Joe Patterson Hole Superhumps 10:25 Imaging the Moon at Thermal Infrared Wavelengths Richard Berry 10:50 Role of 3-D printing in small telescope science Jerry Foote et al 11:15 Photometric monitoring of M51 AT 2019abn Sims, Green, Buchheim 11:40 Poster Paper “sparkler talks” 3-5 minutes per Poster noon Group photo in Atrium noon - 14:00 Lunch Break 12:30-14:00 lunch discussion group #2 (spectroscopy topics) moderator= Jerry Foote 14:00 Parallactic Angle and Instrumentation Issues for Small Wayne Green, Woody Sims Telescope Spectrography 14:25 Investigating AZ Cas using high precision medium resolution John Menke spectroscopy 14:50 Good Night and Good Luck Bob Buchheim 17:00 Banquet (dinner service at 18:00) 19:00 Banquet Speaker Emily Lakdawalla viii The Search for Very Wide Binary Asteroids Robert D. Stephens Center for Solar System Studies / MoreData! Inc. 11355 Mount Johnson Court, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737 USA [email protected] Brian D. Warner Center for Solar System Studies / MoreData! Inc. 446 Sycamore Ave. Eaton, CO 80615 USA [email protected] Abstract The asteroid lightcurve database (LCDB) currently lists more than 260 known binary or multiple asteroids and another 91 suspected binaries. Binary asteroids fall into three basic groups. Singly-asynchronous systems feature a primary with a short period and a satellite that is tidally locked to its orbital period. Fully-asynchronous systems feature different rotation periods for each body with neither tied to the orbital period. In Fully- synchronous systems, the rotation periods of the primary, satellite, and orbit of the satellite are all the same. Among the fully-asynchronous systems is a newly theorized subclass