Proceedings for the 24th Annual Conference of the Society for Astronomical Science Symposium on Telescope Science Editors: Brian D. Warner Dale Mais David A. Kenyon Jerry Foote May 25/26, 2005 Northwoods Resort, Big Bear Lake, CA 1 Reprints of Papers Distribution of reprints of papers by any author of a given paper, either before or after the publication of the proceedings is allowed under the following guidelines. 1. Papers published in these proceedings are the property of SAS, which becomes the exclusive copyright holder upon acceptance of the paper for publication. 2. Any reprint must clearly carry the copyright notice and publication information for the proceedings. 3. The reprint must appear in full. It may not be distributed in part. 4. The distribution to a third party is for the sole private use of that person. 5. 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Disclaimer The acceptance of a paper for the SAS proceedings can not be used to imply or infer an endorsement by the Society for Astronomical Science of any product or method mentioned in the paper. ©2005 Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc. All Rights Reserved Published by the Society for Astronomical Science, Inc. First printed: May 2005 ISBN: 0-9714693-4-2 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents PREFACE 5 CONFERENCE SPONSORS 7 Submitted Papers 9 THE ALL SKY CAMERA FIREBALL DETECTOR DAVID A. KENYON, WAYNE T. WATSON 11 DK CANUM VENATICORUM: A DYNAMIC ECLIPSING BINARY STAR ROBERT A. KOFF, DIRK TERRELL, ARNE A. HENDEN, TIMOTHY HAGER 17 HD23642 AND THE DISTANCE TO THE PLEIADES DIRK TERRELL 21 FUNDAMENTALS OF SOLVING ECLIPSING BINARY LIGHT CURVES USING BINARY MAKER 3 DAVID H. BRADSTREET 23 AUTOMATED PHOTOMETRY, PERIOD ANALYSIS AND FLARE-UP CONSTRAINTS FOR SELECTED MIRA VARIABLE STARS DALE E. MAIS, ROBERT E. STENCEL, DAVID RICHARDS 39 CCD OBSERVATIONS AND PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE “END-OF-THE-LINE” W UMA ECLIPSING BINARY V523 CAS RUSELL M. GENET, THOMAS C. SMITH, DIRK TERRELL, LAURANCE DOYLE 45 RESURRECTION OF A RESEARCH TELESCOPE GRAHAM E. BELL 55 PHOTOMETRIC SURVEY FOR ASYNCHRONOUS BINARY ASTEROIDS PETR PRAVEC 61 ASTEROID PHASE CURVES: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR AMATEUR OBSERVERS RICHARD MILES 69 ARCHIVING LIGHTCURVE DATA IN THE NASA PLANETARY DATA SYSTEM (PDS) MARK V. SYKES, DAVID TARICO, ROSE EARLY 79 USING A DISTRIBUTED OBSERVER NETWORK TO CHARACTERIZE TRANSIT LIGHT CURVES OF EXOPLANET TRES-1B RON BISSINGER 81 THE CENTER FOR BACKYARD ASTROPHYSICS: THEORY AND PRACTICE JERROLD L. FOOTE 91 3 Table of Contents SOLAR SAIL ORBIT DETERMINATION FROM GROUND OBSERVATIONS: A PROPOSED PROFESSIONAL - AMATEUR COLLABORATION| MARK S. WHORTON 97 AN EXPERIMENT IN RELATING CCD DIFFERENTIAL PHOTOMETRIC PRECISION TO VARYING DEGREES OF IMAGE FOCUS ERIC STURM 101 UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS IN PHOTOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS MICHAEL KOPPELMAN 107 THE MAGNITUDE AND CONSTANCY OF SECOND-ORDER EXTINCTION AT A LOW-ALTITUDE OBSERVATORY SITE BOB BUCHHEIM 111 ASTEROID PHOTOMETRY: TRICKY BUSINESS JOHN MENKE 121 SPECTROSCOPIC MONITORING OF BE TYPE STARS VALÉRIE DESNOUX, CHRISTIAN BUIL 129 IMPLEMENTATION OF A FULLY AUTOMATED FIBER SPECTROGRAPH THOMAS G. KAYE, MICHAEL SCHWARTZ 139 Submitted Abstracts 143 LOWELL OBSERVATORY’S DISCOVERY CHANNEL TELESCOPE EDWARD BOWELL 145 SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING UP ASTEROID LIGHTCURVE OBSERVATIONS FOR PUBLICATION ALAN W. HARRIS 146 RECENT ARECIBO AND GOLDSTONE RADAR IMAGING OF NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS LANCE A.M. BENNER 147 Poster Papers 149 ASTERIOD LIGHTCURVE RESULTS FROM FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY THOMAS BENNETT, MICHAEL FAUERBACH, MANUEL J. MON 151 4 Preface Preface The title says this is the 24th annual proceedings. The Society for Astronomical Sciences can trace its roots to the International Amateur-Professional Photoelectric Photometry (IAPPP), which was formed in June, 1980. The role of the IAPPP was to facilitate collaborative astronomical research between amateur, student, and pro- fessional astronomers, by providing a medium for the exchange of practical information not normally discussed at symposia or published in other journals. The Western IAPPP Symposium, was held annually in the Southern California area starting in 1982. The symposium is held in Big Bear, California in the days before the RTMC Astronomy Expo. In 1998, the Western Wing of the IAPPP. was formed. In 2002, the Western Wing incorporated and in 2003 renamed itself the Soci- ety for Astronomical Sciences (SAS). The Society for Astronomical Sciences is a non-profit corporation exempt under I.R.S. Code Section 501(c)(3). So, while under a new name, one thing that has not changed is the annual meeting, now called the Sympo- sium on Telescope Science. Through this two-day event, the Society hopes to foster new friendships and new collaborations among amateur and professional astronomers with the goals being the personal scientific ad- vancement of Society members, the development of the amateur-professional community, and promoting re- search that increases our understanding of the Universe. It takes many people to have a successful conference, starting with the Conference Committee. This year the committee members are: Lee Snyder Robert Stephens Robert Gill Dave Kenyon Dale Mais Brian D. Warner Jerry Foote There are many others involved in a successful conference. The editors take time to note the many volun- teers who put in considerable time and resources. We also thank the staff and management of the Northwoods Resort in Big Bear Lake, CA, for their efforts at accommodating the Society and our activities. Membership dues alone do not cover the costs of the Society and annual conference. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our corporate sponsors: Sky and Telescope, Software Bisque, Santa Barbara Instruments Group, and Apogee Instruments, Inc. Finally, there would be no conference without our speakers and poster presenters. We thank them for making the time to prepare and present the results of their research. Brian D. Warner Dale Mais Dave Kenyon Jerry Foote 5 Preface 6 Conference Sponsors Conference Sponsors The conference organizers thank the following companies for their significant contributions and financial support. Without them, this conference would not be possible. Apogee Instruments, Inc. Manufactures of astronomical and scientific imaging cameras http://www.ccd.com Santa Barbara Instruments Group Makers of astronomical instrumentation http://www.sbig.com Sky Publishing Corporation Publishers of Sky and Telescope Magazine http://skyandtelescope.com Software Bisque Developers of TheSky Astronomy Software and the Paramount Telescope Mount http://www.bisque.com 7 Conference Sponsors 8 Submitted Papers Submitted Papers 9 Submitted Papers 10 Fireball Detector - Kenyon The All Sky Camera Fireball Detector David A. Kenyon Professor of Astronomy, Sierra College 5000 Rocklin Rd. Rocklin, CA. 95677 [email protected] Wayne T. Watson Watson Laboratory And James Clerk Maxwell Observatory 11467 Lothlorien Lane Nevada City, CA 95959 [email protected] Abstract A fireball (or bolide) is another name for a very bright meteor due to atmospheric entry of space debris, both natural and man-made. This paper will discuss the technology, methods and results from an “All-Sky” video camera and custom electronics to record fireball events that occur over Northern California. Images and links to videos will also be presented. The data was captured with Sandia Fireball Network cameras. These systems are operated by the Sierra College Astronomy Dept. and a private observatory in Nevada City, CA. These cameras are automated system which operates from just before dusk to just after dawn. The systems are video cameras, which have a 180o field of view. There is a custom signal processor and memory system, called the Sentinel system, which buffers a few seconds of continuous sky video. The processor compares each video frame to the previous, and when it detects an event (fireball), a few seconds of video (before and after the event) are sent to a host UNIX system. Only data relevant to motion is downloaded to the computer. The system provides a method of recording and study for meteor shower activity. Second, all events captured by both cameras provide the po- tential to compute the pre-earth-encounter orbit, but also to estimate the impact corridor of any meteorites the fireball might have produced. Our experience thus far shows that they occur about once a day and a very bright one every few weeks. The cameras began regular operation around mid-April 2004. To date, no fragments have been recovered from detected events. ©2005 Society for Astronomical Science. 1. Introduction There are 21 Canadian sites and 22 U.S. sites . The U.S. sites are west of the Rockies, mostly in A fireball (or bolide) is another name for a very Colorado, with others in Texas, New Mexico, bright meteor due to atmospheric entry of space de- Washington, and California. Canadian sites are bris, both natural (meteoroid) and man-made. spread from Newfoundland to British Columbia, i.e., Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque support a coast to coast. loosely connected network of meteor observers in the U.S. and Canada using video equipment provided to the observers. Sub-networks of individuals within the Sandia network work to coordinate visual, radio, and camera meteor data collected within the observer’s general geographic area.