Proceedings for the 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Astronomical Sciences Symposium on Telescope Science Editors: Brian D. Warner Jerry Foote David A. Kenyon Dale Mais May 23-25, 2006 Northwoods Resort, Big Bear Lake, CA 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 Sciences of any product or method mentioned in the paper. © 2006 Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc. All Rights Reserved Published by the Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc. First printed: May 2006 ISBN: 0-9714693-5-0 Table of Contents Table of Contents PREFACE 7 CONFERENCE SPONSORS 9 Submitted Papers 11 SINGLE CHANNEL UBV AND JH BAND PHOTOMETRY OF EPSILON AURIGAE JEFFREY L. HOPKINS, ROBERT E. STENCEL 13 LONG-PERIOD ECLIPSING BINARY SYSTEM EPSILON AURIGAE ECLIPSE CAMPAIGN GENE A. LUCAS, JEFFREY L. HOPKINS, ROBERT E. STENCEL 25 THREE YEARS OF MIRA VARIABLE PHOTOMETRY: WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED? DALE E. MAIS, DAVID RICHARDS, ROBERT E. STENCEL 31 UNC-CHAPEL HILL’S GAMMA-RAY BURST FOLLOW-UP PROGRAMS DR. DANIEL E. REICHART 39 THE INTERNATIONAL VARIABLE STAR INDEX (VSX) CHRISTOPHER L. WATSON, ARNE A. HENDEN, AARON PRICE 47 CCD PHOTOMETRY FROM A SMALL OBSERVATORY IN A LARGE CITY JENNIE MCCORMICK 57 FAINT CV MONITORING AT CBA PRETORIA L. A. G. BERTO MONARD 63 CLEANING UP THE GCVS ECLIPSING BINARY LISTINGS: STRATEGIES AND TOOLS TO MAXIMIZE SUCCESS TOM KRAJCI 71 THE DETECTION OF THE WZ SGE-TYPE NATURE OF THE DWARF NOVAE ASAS 023322-1047.0 AND ASAS 102522-1542.4 BY THE CENTER FOR BACKYARD ASTROPHYSICS TONNY VANMUNSTER, TOM KRAJCI, BERTO MONARD, LEWIS M. COOK, PIERRE DE PONTHIÈRE, DAVID BOYD, TIM R. CRAWFORD, MICHAEL J. ARMSTRONG, DIEGO RODRIGUEZ 77 A COMPACT, OFF-THE-SHELF, LOW-COST DUAL CHANNEL PHOTOMETER THOMAS C. SMITH, RUSSELL M. GENET, CHRISTINE L. HEATHER 87 EXTRASOLAR PLANETS AND THE RACE TO UNCOVER THE FIRST HABITABLE TERRESTRIAL PLANET AARON WOLF, GREGORY LAUGHLIN 91 Table of Contents DETECTING EXOPLANETS BY GRAVITATIONAL MICROLENSING USING A SMALL TELESCOPE GRANT CHRISTIE 97 SINGLE CHANNEL UBV PHOTOMETRY OF LONG PERIOD ECLIPSING BINARY VV CEPHEI JEFFREY L. HOPKINS, PHILIP D. BENNETT 105 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPES (GNAT): VARIABLE STAR RESEARCH E.R. CRAINE, R.A. TUCKER, A.L. KRAUS, R.B. CULVER, M.S. GIAMPAPA 111 RECENT ASTEROID LIGHTCURVE STUDIES AT THE PALMER DIVIDE OBSERVATORY BRIAN D. WARNER 117 FOLLOW-UP DATA FOR LARGE PHOTOMETRIC SURVEYS MIKKO KAASALAINEN 125 MONITORING CHANGES IN ECLIPSING BINARY ORBITS LEE F. SNYDER, JOHN LAPHAM 129 ANALYSIS OF GSC 2475-1587 AND GSC 841-277: TWO ECLIPSING BINARY STARS FOUND DURING ASTEROID LIGHTCURVE OBSERVATIONS ROBERT D. STEPHENS, BRIAN D. WARNER 141 SWITCHING TO INFRARED! A NEW METHOD FOR NON-PROFESSIONAL IMAGING IN THE MID-IR THOMAS G. KAYE 151 GROUND IMAGING FOR SOLAR SAIL ORBIT DETERMINATION: A PROOF OF CONCEPT JOHN E. HOOT, MARK S. WHORTON 157 Abstracts Only 166 SUPERHUMPS IN CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES JOE PATTERSON 168 ARECIBO AND GOLDSTONE RADAR IMAGING OF NEAR-EARTH AND MAIN-BELT ASTEROIDS IN 2005 LANCE A. M. BENNER 169 RADAR IMAGES AND SHAPE MODELS OF ASTEROIDS 10115 (1992 SK), 23187 (2000 PN9), AND 29075 (1950 DA) M.W. BUSCH, S.J. OSTRO, L.A.M BENNER, J.D. GIORGINI 170 Table of Contents Poster Papers 172 THE DISCOVERY AND INITIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW ECLIPSING BINARY WITH PECULIAR PROPERTIES DALE E. MAIS, DAVID RICHARDS 174 AN AMATEUR ASTRONOMER’S GROWTH INTO SCIENCE CINDY FOOTE 180 SERENDIPITOUS DISCOVERY OF VARIABLE STARS WHILE GATHERING ASTEROID LIGHTCURVES BOB BUCHHEIM 184 OBSERVING VISUAL DOUBLE STARS WITH A CCD CAMERA AT THE PALMER DIVIDE OBSERVATORY BRIAN D. WARNER 188 MAGNET LOADER FOR SCHMIDT-CASSEGRAIN MIRROR FLOP REDUCTION GARY A.VANDER HAAGEN 192 Table of Contents Preface Preface It’s said that “time flies when you’re having fun.” It seems not that long ago that the Symposium on Tele- scope Science started. This year we reach the milestone of our Silver Anniversary, 25 years. So long and yet so soon. It must mean we’re having LOTS of fun. Things certainly have changed during our first quarter century, except maybe some of Lee Snyder’s jokes. Some things never change – nor should they. We’ve gone from photometry using Photomultiplier Tubes (PMT) to CCD cameras and, as a review of these proceedings shows, back a little to PMT work. Automated telescopes were a dream. Now they are common. What an astronomer can do with his modest backyard telescope and CCD camera under good conditions rivals and even surpasses what the 200-inch at Palomar did with film during its halcyon days. The Symposium has been under the auspices of different groups and flags in its time, but is now guided, as it has been since 2003, by the steady hands of the Society for Astronomical Sciences. SAS, as it’s known for short, is a non-profit corporation exempt under I.R.S. Code Section 501(c)(3). The Symposium has been held in Southern California since 1982 but it wasn’t always in its current home in Big Bear Lake, California. Previously it’s been held in other locations, including Lake Arrowhead. The timing and location of the meeting is not by chance. It’s meant to be a lead-in to one of the biggest star parties in the world, the annual RTMC Astronomy Expo, held just “up the road” the weekend following the Symposium. Af- ter nearly a week of cameras, and telescopes, and stars (Oh! My!), those wanting their fill of astronomy leave more than satisfied. Through the three days of the Symposium on Telescope Science, the Society hopes to foster new friend- ships and new collaborations among amateur and professional astronomers. Our goals are the personal scientific advancement of Society members, the development of the amateur-professional community, and promoting research 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 mak- ing the time to prepare and present the results of their research. Brian D. Warner Jerry Foote Dale Mais Dave Kenyon 7 Preface 8 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 9 Conference Sponsors 10 Submitted Papers Submitted Papers 11 Submitted Papers 12 Hopkins – Epsilon Aurigae Single Channel UBV and JH Band Photometry of Epsilon Aurigae Jeffrey L. Hopkins Hopkins Phoenix Observatory 7812 West Clayton Drive Phoenix, Arizona 85033-2439 [email protected] Robert E. Stencel University of Denver Denver, Colorado [email protected] Abstract Epsilon Aurigae is the longest known eclipsing binary star system, with a 27.1 year period. The next eclipse begins in 2009. While many observatories make observations during the eclipse, few have maintained an observing program between eclipses. As seen with the last eclipse, there are some very interesting pre- and post-eclipse light variations. There is evidence for periodic variations be- tween eclipses, possibly pulsations of the primary F star.