Proceedings for the 35th Annual Conference of the Society for Astronomical Sciences SAS-2016 The Symposium on Telescope Science Editors: Robert K. Buchheim Jerry L. Foote Dale Mais June 16-18, 2016 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: June 2016 Photo Credits: Front Cover: NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula) and B33 (Horsehead Nebula) Alson Wong, Center for Solar System Studies Back Cover: Center for Solar System Studies (CS3) site, Landers, CA Robert D. Stephens, Center for Solar System Studies ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE v SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS vi SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE vii PRESENTATION PAPERS THE ROLE OF AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS IN EXOPLANET RESEARCH 1 DENNIS M. CONTI AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR CITIZEN SEARCHES FOR EXOPLANETS 11 STEPHEN J. EDBERG A BESPOKE SPECTROPOLARIMETRIST 19 JOHN L. MENKE MEASURING STELLAR RADIAL VELOCITIES WITH A LISA SPECTROGRAPH 23 DAVID BOYD CROWD-SOURCED SPECTROSCOPY OF LONG PERIOD MIRA-TYPE VARIABLES 29 JOHN C. MARTIN, ET AL SMALL TELESCOPE SPECTROPOLARIMETRY: INSTRUMENTATION AND OBSERVATIONS 37 GARY M. COLE REPEATING THE EXPERIMENT THAT MADE EINSTEIN FAMOUS 49 DONALD G. BRUNS A STUDENT-CENTERED ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE 59 RUSSELL M. GENET, ET AL EMPIRICAL MEASUREMENTS OF FILTERED LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (FLED) 75 REPLACEMENTS ERIC R. CRAINE CLUES TO THE EVOLUTION OF W URSAE MAJORIS CONTACT BINARY STAR SYSTEMS 77 ROBERT M. GILL FOLLOW UP PHOTOMETRY ON MOTESS-GNAT VARIABLE STAR CANDIDATES 95 JOHN E HOOT NEW OBSERVATIONS OF THE VARIABLE STAR NGC 6779 V6 105 JERRY D. HORNE MIXED-MODEL REGRESSION FOR VARIABLE-STAR PHOTOMETRY 111 ERIC V. DOSE iii PREDICTING A LUMINOUS RED NOVAE 121 DANIEL M. VAN NOORD, ET AL WHITE DWARF WD-1145+17 “ZOMBIE STAR” CONSUMES ASTEROID 127 THOMAS G. KAYE, ET AL ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM MARKUP LANGUAGE (AISML) 131 JESSE M. GOLDBAUM M-DWARF DISCOVERY AND VARIABILITY FROM SERENDIPITOUS FIELD STAR 145 OBSERVATIONS. WAYNE L GREEN EARLY IMAGES OF SODIUM IN THE TAIL OF COMET HALE-BOPP 151 TOM BUCHANAN WHAT COLOR IS PG1302-102? 157 ROBERT K. BUCHHEIM POSTER PAPERS 163 THE DESERT FIREBALL NETWORK 165 BRIAN DAY, PHILLIP BLAND, YARA AL-RAJEH, GREGORY SCHMIDT THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MAGNITUDE OF RR LYR TO ITS TEMPERATURE 167 MATTHEW SANDOVAL A SLITLESS SPECTROGRAPH THAT PROVIDES REFERENCE MARKS 171 TOM BUCHANAN iv PREFACE Welcome to the 35th annual Symposium of the Society for Astronomical Sciences! This year’s agenda reflects the broad diversity of interests among SAS participants, with papers covering photometry, spectroscopy, interferometry and astrometry; instruments ranging from eyeballs to CCDs and spectrographs to radios; and projects ranging from education to citizen-science to a variety of astronomical research targets. It takes many people to have a successful conference, starting with the Program Committee. This year the regular committee members are: Robert Gill Robert D. Stephens Cindy Foote Jerry Foote Robert Buchheim Dale Mais Wayne Green We thank the staff and management of the Ontario Airport Hotel for their efforts to accommodate the Society and our activities. 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, Santa Barbara Instruments Group/Cyanogen, DC-3 Dreams; and Sierra Remote Observatories. Thank you! Finally, there would be no Symposium without the speakers and poster presenters, the attentive audience, and the community of researchers and educators who apply their small telescopes to research activities. We thank all of you for making the SAS Symposium one of the premiere events for professional-amateur collaboration in astronomy. Robert K. Buchheim Jerry L. Foote Dale Mais 2016 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 by 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 http://www.planewaveinstruments.com/ Woodland Hills Camera & Telescopes Providing the best prices in astronomical products for more than 50 years http://www.telescopes.net/ Sierra Remote Observatories http://www.sierra-remote.com/ SBIG Pioneers in the field of astronomical CCD imaging http://www.sbig.com/ vi Symposium Schedule Time Subject Presenter/Author Thursday June 16: Workshops 0800 - 0900 Registration 0900 - 1100 From Image to Spectrum Dale Mais & John Menke 1100 - 1330 lunch break 1330 - 1630 Science with Small-Telescope Spectrographs John Kenney & Russ Genet (moderators) Friday June 17: Technical Papers 8:00 Registration 8:45 Welcome Bob Buchheim 9:20 The Role of Amateur Astronomers in Exoplanet Dennis M. Conti Research 9:40 An Automated System for Citizen Searches for Stephen J. Edberg Exoplanets 10:00 A Bespoke Spectropolarimetrist John L. Menke 10:20 –10:40 Coffee Break 10:40 Measuring Stellar Radial Velocities with a LISA David Boyd Spectrograph 11:00 Crowd-Sourced Spectroscopy of Long Period John C. Martin Mira-Type Variables 11:20 Small telescope Spectropolarimetry: Gary M. Cole Instrumentation and Observations noon – 14:00 Lunch Break 12:30 lunch Discussion group (main hall): AAVSO spectroscopy data base + spectra “show and tell” 14:00 Repeating the Experiment that made Einstein Donald G. Bruns Famous 14:20 Small Telescope Research Communities of Russell M. Genet Practice 14:40 Empirical Measurements of Filtered Light Emitting Eric R. Craine Diode (FLED) Replacements 15:00 Sponsor Infomercials Dinner break 19:00 “Evening with the Pros” Saturday June 18: Technical Papers 8:15 Welcome Bob Buchheim 8:30 Clues to the Evolution of W Ursae Majoris Contact Robert M. Gill Binary Star Systems 9:00 Follow Up Photometry on MOTESS-GNAT John E Hoot Variable Star Candidates 9:20 New Observations of the Variable Star NGC 6779 Jerry D. Horne V6 9:40 Mixed-model Regression for Variable-star Eric V. Dose Photometry 10:00 Poster overviews (5-minute elevator talks) Brian Day, Tom Buchanon, Matthew Sandoval 10:20 –10:40 Coffee Break vii 10:40 Predicting a Luminous Red Novae Daniel M Van Noord 11:00 White Dwarf WD-1145 Thomas G. Kaye 11:20 Astronomical Instrumentation System Markup Jesse M. Goldbaum Language (AISML) 11:40 Group Photo noon – 14:00 Lunch Break 12:30 lunch Discussion group (main hall): Photometry topics 14:20 M-Dwarf discovery and variability from Wayne L Green serendipitous field star observations. 14:40 Early Images of Sodium in the Tail of Comet Hale- Tom Buchanan Bopp 15:00 What color is PG1302-102? Robert K. Buchheim 15:20 Good Night and Good Luck 17:30 Banquet (dinner service at 18:00) 19:00 Banquet Speaker viii The Role of Amateur Astronomers in Exoplanet Research Dennis M. Conti, PhD Chair, AAVSO Exoplanet Section Annapolis, MD 21403 [email protected] Abstract Because of recent technological advances in imaging equipment and processing software, research grade characterization of exoplanet transits is now within the realm of amateur astronomers. This paper will describe the current state of exoplanet observing by amateur astronomers and the best practices used for conducting such observations. In addition, a pipeline will be described that has proved successful in obtaining high quality, exoplanet science data from these observations. The paper will also describe a major collaboration currently underway between a world-wide network of amateur astronomers and a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) science team. Finally, the growing need for exoplanet observations by amateur astronomers will be discussed, as well as an example of their role in characterizing other “exo-objects.” 1. Introduction 2. Background With the recent availability of sensitive and low- In 1995, 51 Pegasi b was the first exoplanet noise, yet affordable, CCD detectors and detected around a main sequence star. Since then, sophisticated software processing, amateur over 3,200 exoplanets have been confirmed by astronomers are now able to conduct research-grade Kepler and other space and ground-based exoplanet science with amazing accuracy. This has observatories. therefore enabled amateur astronomers to work Amateur astronomers have been successfully closely with professional astronomers to detect new detecting exoplanets for at least a decade, and have exoplanets, to confirm candidate exoplanets, and to been doing so with amazing accuracy! Furthermore, provide refined ephemeris for the detailed study of they have been able to make such observations with known exoplanets. the same equipment that they use to create fabulous Although typically using the transit method to looking deep sky pictures or variable star light conduct such observations, a small number of curves. amateur astronomers have also successfully used Several examples exist of amateur astronomers Doppler spectroscopy to conduct radial velocity providing valuable data in support