The Amateur Astronomer's Notebook
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Radio and IR Interferometry of Sio Maser Stars
Cosmic Masers - from OH to H0 Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 287, 2012 c International Astronomical Union 2012 R.S. Booth, E.M.L. Humphreys & W.H.T. Vlemmings, eds. doi:10.1017/S1743921312006989 Radio and IR interferometry of SiO maser stars Markus Wittkowski1, David A. Boboltz2,MalcolmD.Gray3, Elizabeth M. L. Humphreys1 Iva Karovicova4, and Michael Scholz5,6 1 ESO, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei M¨unchen, Germany 2 US Naval Observatory, 3450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20392-5420, USA 3 Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK 4 Max-Planck-Institut f¨ur Astronomie, K¨onigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany 5 Zentrum f¨ur Astronomie der Universit¨at Heidelberg (ZAH), Institut f¨ur Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany 6 Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia Abstract. Radio and infrared interferometry of SiO maser stars provide complementary infor- mation on the atmosphere and circumstellar environment at comparable spatial resolution. Here, we present the latest results on the atmospheric structure and the dust condensation region of AGB stars based on our recent infrared spectro-interferometric observations, which represent the environment of SiO masers. We discuss, as an example, new results from simultaneous VLTI and VLBA observations of the Mira variable AGB star R Cnc, including VLTI near- and mid- infrared interferometry, as well as VLBA observations of the SiO maser emission toward this source. We present preliminary results from a monitoring campaign of high-frequency SiO maser emission toward evolved stars obtained with the APEX telescope, which also serves as a pre- cursor of ALMA images of the SiO emitting region. -
Lurking in the Shadows: Wide-Separation Gas Giants As Tracers of Planet Formation
Lurking in the Shadows: Wide-Separation Gas Giants as Tracers of Planet Formation Thesis by Marta Levesque Bryan In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California 2018 Defended May 1, 2018 ii © 2018 Marta Levesque Bryan ORCID: [0000-0002-6076-5967] All rights reserved iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Heather Knutson, who I had the great privilege of working with as my thesis advisor. Her encouragement, guidance, and perspective helped me navigate many a challenging problem, and my conversations with her were a consistent source of positivity and learning throughout my time at Caltech. I leave graduate school a better scientist and person for having her as a role model. Heather fostered a wonderfully positive and supportive environment for her students, giving us the space to explore and grow - I could not have asked for a better advisor or research experience. I would also like to thank Konstantin Batygin for enthusiastic and illuminating discussions that always left me more excited to explore the result at hand. Thank you as well to Dimitri Mawet for providing both expertise and contagious optimism for some of my latest direct imaging endeavors. Thank you to the rest of my thesis committee, namely Geoff Blake, Evan Kirby, and Chuck Steidel for their support, helpful conversations, and insightful questions. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Brendan Bowler. His talk at Caltech my second year of graduate school introduced me to an unexpected population of massive wide-separation planetary-mass companions, and lead to a long-running collaboration from which several of my thesis projects were born. -
Evidence for Very Extended Gaseous Layers Around O-Rich Mira Variables and M Giants B
The Astrophysical Journal, 579:446–454, 2002 November 1 # 2002. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. EVIDENCE FOR VERY EXTENDED GASEOUS LAYERS AROUND O-RICH MIRA VARIABLES AND M GIANTS B. Mennesson,1 G. Perrin,2 G. Chagnon,2 V. Coude du Foresto,2 S. Ridgway,3 A. Merand,2 P. Salome,2 P. Borde,2 W. Cotton,4 S. Morel,5 P. Kervella,5 W. Traub,6 and M. Lacasse6 Received 2002 March 15; accepted 2002 July 3 ABSTRACT Nine bright O-rich Mira stars and five semiregular variable cool M giants have been observed with the Infrared and Optical Telescope Array (IOTA) interferometer in both K0 (2.15 lm) and L0 (3.8 lm) broad- band filters, in most cases at very close variability phases. All of the sample Mira stars and four of the semire- gular M giants show strong increases, from ’20% to ’100%, in measured uniform-disk (UD) diameters between the K0 and L0 bands. (A selection of hotter M stars does not show such a large increase.) There is no evidence that K0 and L0 broadband visibility measurements should be dominated by strong molecular bands, and cool expanding dust shells already detected around some of these objects are also found to be poor candi- dates for producing these large apparent diameter increases. Therefore, we propose that this must be a con- tinuum or pseudocontinuum opacity effect. Such an apparent enlargement can be reproduced using a simple two-component model consisting of a warm (1500–2000 K), extended (up to ’3 stellar radii), optically thin ( ’ 0:5) layer located above the classical photosphere. -
BRAS Newsletter August 2013
www.brastro.org August 2013 Next meeting Aug 12th 7:00PM at the HRPO Dark Site Observing Dates: Primary on Aug. 3rd, Secondary on Aug. 10th Photo credit: Saturn taken on 20” OGS + Orion Starshoot - Ben Toman 1 What's in this issue: PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE....................................................................................................................3 NOTES FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT ............................................................................................4 MESSAGE FROM THE HRPO …....................................................................................................5 MONTHLY OBSERVING NOTES ....................................................................................................6 OUTREACH CHAIRPERSON’S NOTES .........................................................................................13 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION .......................................................................................................14 2 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Hi Everyone, I hope you’ve been having a great Summer so far and had luck beating the heat as much as possible. The weather sure hasn’t been cooperative for observing, though! First I have a pretty cool announcement. Thanks to the efforts of club member Walt Cooney, there are 5 newly named asteroids in the sky. (53256) Sinitiere - Named for former BRAS Treasurer Bob Sinitiere (74439) Brenden - Named for founding member Craig Brenden (85878) Guzik - Named for LSU professor T. Greg Guzik (101722) Pursell - Named for founding member Wally Pursell -
Meeting Announcement Upcoming Star Parties And
CVAS Executive Committee Pres – Bruce Horrocks Night Sky Network Coordinator – [email protected] Garrett Smith – [email protected] Vice Pres- James Somers Past President – Dell Vance (435) 938-8328 [email protected] [email protected] Treasurer- Janice Bradshaw Public Relations – Lyle Johnson - [email protected] [email protected] Secretary – Wendell Waters (435) 213-9230 Webmaster, Librarian – Tom Westre [email protected] [email protected] Vol. 7 Number 6 February 2020 www.cvas-utahskies.org The President’s Corner Meeting Announcement By Bruce Horrocks – CVAS President Our next meeting will be held on Wed. I don’t know about most of you, but I for February 26th at 7 pm in the Lake Bonneville Room one would be glad to at least see a bit of sun and of the Logan City Library. Our presenter will be clear skies at least once this winter. I believe there Wendell Waters, and his presentation is called was just a couple of nights in the last 2 months that “Charles Messier and the ‘Not-Comet’ Catalogue”. I was able to get out and do some observing and so I The meeting is free and open to the public. am hoping to see some clear skies this spring. I Light refreshments will be served. COME AND have watched all the documentaries I can stand on JOIN US!! Netflix, so I am running out of other nighttime activities to do and I really want to get out and test my new little 72mm telescope. Upcoming Star Parties and CVAS Events We made a change to our club fees at our last meeting and if you happened to have missed We have four STEM Nights coming up in that I will just quickly explain it to you now. -
Winter Constellations
Winter Constellations *Orion *Canis Major *Monoceros *Canis Minor *Gemini *Auriga *Taurus *Eradinus *Lepus *Monoceros *Cancer *Lynx *Ursa Major *Ursa Minor *Draco *Camelopardalis *Cassiopeia *Cepheus *Andromeda *Perseus *Lacerta *Pegasus *Triangulum *Aries *Pisces *Cetus *Leo (rising) *Hydra (rising) *Canes Venatici (rising) Orion--Myth: Orion, the great hunter. In one myth, Orion boasted he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But, the earth goddess Gaia, who was the protector of all animals, produced a gigantic scorpion, whose body was so heavily encased that Orion was unable to pierce through the armour, and was himself stung to death. His companion Artemis was greatly saddened and arranged for Orion to be immortalised among the stars. Scorpius, the scorpion, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. To this day, Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. DSO’s ● ***M42 “Orion Nebula” (Neb) with Trapezium A stellar nursery where new stars are being born, perhaps a thousand stars. These are immense clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse inward to form stars, mainly of ionized hydrogen which gives off the red glow so dominant, and also ionized greenish oxygen gas. The youngest stars may be less than 300,000 years old, even as young as 10,000 years old (compared to the Sun, 4.6 billion years old). 1300 ly. 1 ● *M43--(Neb) “De Marin’s Nebula” The star-forming “comma-shaped” region connected to the Orion Nebula. ● *M78--(Neb) Hard to see. A star-forming region connected to the Orion Nebula. -
Multiple Star Systems Observed with Corot and Kepler
Multiple star systems observed with CoRoT and Kepler John Southworth Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, UK Abstract. The CoRoT and Kepler satellites were the first space platforms designed to perform high-precision photometry for a large number of stars. Multiple systems dis- play a wide variety of photometric variability, making them natural benefactors of these missions. I review the work arising from CoRoT and Kepler observations of multiple sys- tems, with particular emphasis on eclipsing binaries containing giant stars, pulsators, triple eclipses and/or low-mass stars. Many more results remain untapped in the data archives of these missions, and the future holds the promise of K2, TESS and PLATO. 1 Introduction The CoRoT and Kepler satellites represent the first generation of astronomical space missions capable of large-scale photometric surveys. The large quantity – and exquisite quality – of the data they pro- vided is in the process of revolutionising stellar and planetary astrophysics. In this review I highlight the immense variety of the scientific results from these concurrent missions, as well as the context provided by their precursors and implications for their successors. CoRoT was led by CNES and ESA, launched on 2006/12/27,and retired in June 2013 after an irre- trievable computer failure in November 2012. It performed 24 observing runs, each lasting between 21 and 152days, with a field of viewof 2×1.3◦ ×1.3◦, obtaining light curves of 163000 stars [42]. Kepler was a NASA mission, launched on 2009/03/07and suffering a critical pointing failure on 2013/05/11. It observed the same 105deg2 sky area for its full mission duration, obtaining high-precision light curves of approximately 191000 stars. -
August 13 2016 7:00Pm at the Herrett Center for Arts & Science College of Southern Idaho
Snake River Skies The Newsletter of the Magic Valley Astronomical Society www.mvastro.org Membership Meeting President’s Message Saturday, August 13th 2016 7:00pm at the Herrett Center for Arts & Science College of Southern Idaho. Public Star Party Follows at the Colleagues, Centennial Observatory Club Officers It's that time of year: The City of Rocks Star Party. Set for Friday, Aug. 5th, and Saturday, Aug. 6th, the event is the gem of the MVAS year. As we've done every Robert Mayer, President year, we will hold solar viewing at the Smoky Mountain Campground, followed by a [email protected] potluck there at the campground. Again, MVAS will provide the main course and 208-312-1203 beverages. Paul McClain, Vice President After the potluck, the party moves over to the corral by the bunkhouse over at [email protected] Castle Rocks, with deep sky viewing beginning sometime after 9 p.m. This is a chance to dig into some of the darkest skies in the west. Gary Leavitt, Secretary [email protected] Some members have already reserved campsites, but for those who are thinking of 208-731-7476 dropping by at the last minute, we have room for you at the bunkhouse, and would love to have to come by. Jim Tubbs, Treasurer / ALCOR [email protected] The following Saturday will be the regular MVAS meeting. Please check E-mail or 208-404-2999 Facebook for updates on our guest speaker that day. David Olsen, Newsletter Editor Until then, clear views, [email protected] Robert Mayer Rick Widmer, Webmaster [email protected] Magic Valley Astronomical Society is a member of the Astronomical League M-51 imaged by Rick Widmer & Ken Thomason Herrett Telescope Shotwell Camera https://herrett.csi.edu/astronomy/observatory/City_of_Rocks_Star_Party_2016.asp Calendars for August Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 New Moon City Rocks City Rocks Lunation 1158 Castle Rocks Castle Rocks Star Party Star Party Almo, ID Almo, ID 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 MVAS General Mtg. -
Exodata: a Python Package to Handle Large Exoplanet Catalogue Data
ExoData: A Python package to handle large exoplanet catalogue data Ryan Varley Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London 132 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 2PS, United Kingdom [email protected] Abstract Exoplanet science often involves using the system parameters of real exoplanets for tasks such as simulations, fitting routines, and target selection for proposals. Several exoplanet catalogues are already well established but often lack a version history and code friendly interfaces. Software that bridges the barrier between the catalogues and code enables users to improve the specific repeatability of results by facilitating the retrieval of exact system parameters used in an arti- cles results along with unifying the equations and software used. As exoplanet science moves towards large data, gone are the days where researchers can recall the current population from memory. An interface able to query the population now becomes invaluable for target selection and population analysis. ExoData is a Python interface and exploratory analysis tool for the Open Exoplanet Cata- logue. It allows the loading of exoplanet systems into Python as objects (Planet, Star, Binary etc) from which common orbital and system equations can be calculated and measured parame- ters retrieved. This allows researchers to use tested code of the common equations they require (with units) and provides a large science input catalogue of planets for easy plotting and use in research. Advanced querying of targets are possible using the database and Python programming language. ExoData is also able to parse spectral types and fill in missing parameters according to programmable specifications and equations. Examples of use cases are integration of equations into data reduction pipelines, selecting planets for observing proposals and as an input catalogue to large scale simulation and analysis of planets. -
10. Scientific Programme 10.1
10. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME 10.1. OVERVIEW (a) Invited Discourses Plenary Hall B 18:00-19:30 ID1 “The Zoo of Galaxies” Karen Masters, University of Portsmouth, UK Monday, 20 August ID2 “Supernovae, the Accelerating Cosmos, and Dark Energy” Brian Schmidt, ANU, Australia Wednesday, 22 August ID3 “The Herschel View of Star Formation” Philippe André, CEA Saclay, France Wednesday, 29 August ID4 “Past, Present and Future of Chinese Astronomy” Cheng Fang, Nanjing University, China Nanjing Thursday, 30 August (b) Plenary Symposium Review Talks Plenary Hall B (B) 8:30-10:00 Or Rooms 309A+B (3) IAUS 288 Astrophysics from Antarctica John Storey (3) Mon. 20 IAUS 289 The Cosmic Distance Scale: Past, Present and Future Wendy Freedman (3) Mon. 27 IAUS 290 Probing General Relativity using Accreting Black Holes Andy Fabian (B) Wed. 22 IAUS 291 Pulsars are Cool – seriously Scott Ransom (3) Thu. 23 Magnetars: neutron stars with magnetic storms Nanda Rea (3) Thu. 23 Probing Gravitation with Pulsars Michael Kremer (3) Thu. 23 IAUS 292 From Gas to Stars over Cosmic Time Mordacai-Mark Mac Low (B) Tue. 21 IAUS 293 The Kepler Mission: NASA’s ExoEarth Census Natalie Batalha (3) Tue. 28 IAUS 294 The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Magnetism Bryan Gaensler (B) Wed. 29 IAUS 295 Black Holes in Galaxies John Kormendy (B) Thu. 30 (c) Symposia - Week 1 IAUS 288 Astrophysics from Antartica IAUS 290 Accretion on all scales IAUS 291 Neutron Stars and Pulsars IAUS 292 Molecular gas, Dust, and Star Formation in Galaxies (d) Symposia –Week 2 IAUS 289 Advancing the Physics of Cosmic -
2014 Observers Challenge List
2014 TMSP Observer's Challenge Atlas page #s # Object Object Type Common Name RA, DEC Const Mag Mag.2 Size Sep. U2000 PSA 18h31m25s 1 IC 1287 Bright Nebula Scutum 20'.0 295 67 -10°47'45" 18h31m25s SAO 161569 Double Star 5.77 9.31 12.3” -10°47'45" Near center of IC 1287 18h33m28s NGC 6649 Open Cluster 8.9m Integrated 5' -10°24'10" Can be seen in 3/4d FOV with above. Brightest star is 13.2m. Approx 50 stars visible in Binos 18h28m 2 NGC 6633 Open Cluster Ophiuchus 4.6m integrated 27' 205 65 Visible in Binos and is about the size of a full Moon, brightest star is 7.6m +06°34' 17h46m18s 2x diameter of a full Moon. Try to view this cluster with your naked eye, binos, and a small scope. 3 IC 4665 Open Cluster Ophiuchus 4.2m Integrated 60' 203 65 +05º 43' Also check out “Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum to the east (IC 4756 and NGC 6633) A loose open cluster with a faint concentration of stars in a rich field, contains about 15-20 stars. 19h53m27s Brightest star is 9.8m, 5 stars 9-11m, remainder about 12-13m. This is a challenge obJect to 4 Harvard 20 Open Cluster Sagitta 7.7m integrated 6' 162 64 +18°19'12" improve your observation skills. Can you locate the miniature coathanger close by at 19h 37m 27s +19d? Constellation star Corona 5 Corona Borealis 55 Trace the 7 stars making up this constellation, observe and list the colors of each star asterism Borealis 15H 32' 55” Theta Corona Borealis Double Star 4.2m 6.6m .97” 55 Theta requires about 200x +31° 21' 32” The direction our Sun travels in our galaxy. -
121012-AAS-221 Program-14-ALL, Page 253 @ Preflight
221ST MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 6-10 January 2013 LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA Scientific sessions will be held at the: Long Beach Convention Center 300 E. Ocean Blvd. COUNCIL.......................... 2 Long Beach, CA 90802 AAS Paper Sorters EXHIBITORS..................... 4 Aubra Anthony ATTENDEE Alan Boss SERVICES.......................... 9 Blaise Canzian Joanna Corby SCHEDULE.....................12 Rupert Croft Shantanu Desai SATURDAY.....................28 Rick Fienberg Bernhard Fleck SUNDAY..........................30 Erika Grundstrom Nimish P. Hathi MONDAY........................37 Ann Hornschemeier Suzanne H. Jacoby TUESDAY........................98 Bethany Johns Sebastien Lepine WEDNESDAY.............. 158 Katharina Lodders Kevin Marvel THURSDAY.................. 213 Karen Masters Bryan Miller AUTHOR INDEX ........ 245 Nancy Morrison Judit Ries Michael Rutkowski Allyn Smith Joe Tenn Session Numbering Key 100’s Monday 200’s Tuesday 300’s Wednesday 400’s Thursday Sessions are numbered in the Program Book by day and time. Changes after 27 November 2012 are included only in the online program materials. 1 AAS Officers & Councilors Officers Councilors President (2012-2014) (2009-2012) David J. Helfand Quest Univ. Canada Edward F. Guinan Villanova Univ. [email protected] [email protected] PAST President (2012-2013) Patricia Knezek NOAO/WIYN Observatory Debra Elmegreen Vassar College [email protected] [email protected] Robert Mathieu Univ. of Wisconsin Vice President (2009-2015) [email protected] Paula Szkody University of Washington [email protected] (2011-2014) Bruce Balick Univ. of Washington Vice-President (2010-2013) [email protected] Nicholas B. Suntzeff Texas A&M Univ. suntzeff@aas.org Eileen D. Friel Boston Univ. [email protected] Vice President (2011-2014) Edward B. Churchwell Univ. of Wisconsin Angela Speck Univ. of Missouri [email protected] [email protected] Treasurer (2011-2014) (2012-2015) Hervey (Peter) Stockman STScI Nancy S.