Proceedings for the Society for Astronomical Sciences 30th Annual Symposium on Telescope Science Editors: Brian D. Warner Jerry Foote Robert Buchheim May 24-26, 2011 Big Bear Lake, CA NOTICE The acceptance of a paper for the SAS proceedings can not be used to imply nor should it be inferred as an en- dorsement by the Society for Astronomical Sciences of any product, service, or method mentioned in the paper. Published by the Society for Astronomical Sciences, Inc. First printed: May 2011 Photo Credits: Front Cover: M45, Alson Wong Back Cover: Background, M105 Trio, Alson Wong Back Cover: Star Trails, Robert D. Stephens Back Cover: RIP Pluto, Robert D. Stephens Table of Contents Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS I PREFACE III CONFERENCE SPONSORS V SUBMITTED PAPERS 7 GOOD SCIENCE WITH MODEST INSTRUMENTS 1 R. JAY GABANY, DAVID MARTINEZ-DELGADO SPECTRAL COLOR MAPPING OF ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES 13 DEBRA CERAVOLO SAVE THE LIGHTCURVES! 19 BRIAN D. WARNER TELESCOPES FROM AFAR 25 RUSSELL M. GENET THE WIDE FIELD CASSEGRAIN: EXPLORING SOLUTION SPACE 39 PETER CERAVOLO THE SKY BRIGHTNESS DATA ARCHIVE (SBDA) 45 ERIC R. CRAINE, ERIN M. CRAINE, BRIAN L. CRAINE CONSTRUCTION OF AN INEXPENSIVE HIGH RESOLUTION LITTROW SPECTROGRAPH FOR BE STAR H ALPHA ANALYSIS 53 ROBERT M. GILL VISUAL BINARY STAR OBSERVATIONS 59 KODIAK DARLING, KRISTY DIAZ, ARRIZ LUCAS, TRAVIS SANTO- STUDENTS DOUGLAS WALKER-ADJUNCT FACULTY POINT AND SHOOT ASTRONOMY 67 JOHN E. HOOT i Table of Contents FINDING TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY 75 ROBERT A. KOFF THE PROPER MOTION AND PARALLAX OF BARNARD’S STAR: ERRORS AND PRECISION IN SMALL-TELESCOPE ASTROMETRY 79 RICHARD BERRY THE SILICON PHOTOMULTIPLIER FOR HIGH SPEED PHOTOMETRY 87 GARY A. VANDER HAAGEN KEPLER VARIABLES IN THE FIELD OF EV LYR 97 JERRY D. HORNE POLARIMETRY OF EPSILON AURIGAE FROM MID ECLIPSE TO THIRD CONTACT 103 GARY M. COLE, ROBERT E. STENCEL A MODERN INCARNATION OF TYCHO’S DIURNAL PARALLAX METHOD 109 ROBERT K. BUCHHEIM IMAGING M15 WITH A SMALL APERTURE TELESCOPE BY TREATING THE CORE AS A SINGLE STAR 115 RODNEY HOWE, STRIKIS IAKOVOS - MARIOS FLAT FIELD CALIBRATIONS FOR THE AAVSO PHOTOMETRIC ALL SKY SURVEY (APASS) 121 THOMAS C. SMITH, ARNE A. HENDEN, DONN R. STARKEY AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH FOR FINDING AND APPLYING EXTINCTION-CORRECTED MAGNITUDE TRANSFORMATIONS 127 DAVID BOYD ii Preface Preface Thirty years ago I could drive to and/from California from my Colorado home and stay in a motel overnight each way for about $150. Thirty years ago, my dream was to have a big telescope, maybe even a 10-inch New- tonian with clock drive so that I could try to take pictures of deep-sky objects using a 35-mm camera and Tri-X film. Thirty years ago, if I wanted to call home while driving, I had to stop at a phone booth. Thirty years ago, I was playing with a “Trash 80” from Radio Shack and was excited that it took only three and a half minutes to compute the orbit of an asteroid from three sky positions. Thirty years ago, the Chicago Cubs hadn’t won the World Series for decades. Today, that $150 might get me to California, but not back, or pay for motels or meals along the way, although I can now listen to satellite radio instead of 8-track or cassette tapes. Today I own five telescopes, one of them a 20-inch Ritchey-Chretien. The smallest is a 12-inch SCT. All of them have GoTo mounts, are controlled over a home network, and have scripting software that allows exotic CCD cameras to take images all night while I sleep. Today, I can use a portable device not only to make a call but “surf the Internet”, watch movies, listen to any one of thousands of songs, and still do that orbit calculation but in a fraction of second. Today, the Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series for decades. I guess some things really don’t change. This is the 30th anniversary of what has now become the Society for Astronomical Science’s Annual Sympo- sium on Telescope Science. If there is any evidence of how things have changed, this is a prime example. We’ve gone from simple reports on visual observations of variable stars and basic telescopes to detailed papers worthy of professional journals describing spectroscopic studies of exotic objects, discovery of planets beyond our solar system, modeling of asteroids, and much more. Some of these were within reach of only the most so- phisticated professional observatories when the first meeting took place and there were no planets beyond our Solar System of nine planets (Revolve in Peace, dear Pluto). While there is evidence of advancements over the years, there is also evidence of a sad and dangerous status quo. As the meeting has aged, so has the society’s membership. There are very few young people who attend regularly, those who will be around to write “Thirty years ago…”, maybe even “Only ten years ago…” We should use this special occasion to resolve that there will be a Society for Astronomical Sciences for years to come and do what we can to encourage younger people to become active members who will carry on the work of encouraging and establishing pro-am collaborations, of being actively involved in backyard astronomy, and of taking an active part in the Symposium by presenting papers. It will be through these efforts that the current members can honor the past and pass the torch to a new generation that will see even more advancements, and maybe even the Cubs win the World Series. Brian D. Warner Program Committee It takes many people to have a successful conference, starting with the Conference Committee. This year the regular committee members are: Lee Snyder Robert Stephens Robert Gill Jerry Foote Cindy Foote Margaret Miller Brian D. Warner Robert Buchheim Dale Mais There are many others involved in a successful conference. The editors take time to note the many volunteers 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. iii Preface Membership dues alone do not fully 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, PlaneWave Instruments, Apogee Instruments, Inc., and DC-3 Dreams. Please give them your support and thank them for theirs. Finally, there would be no conference without our speakers. We thank them for making the time to prepare and present the results of their research. Brian D. Warner Jerry Foote Robert Buccheim iv 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. Manufacturers of astronomical and scientific imaging cameras http://www.ccd.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 Santa Barbara Instruments Group Makers of astronomical instrumentation http://www.sbig.com PlaneWave Instruments Makers of the CDK line of telescopes http://www.planewaveinstruments.com:80/index.php DC-3 Dreams Software Developers of ACP Observatory Control Software http://www.dc3.com/ v vi Submitted Papers GaBany et al. – Good Science with Modest Instruments Good Science with Modest Instruments R. Jay GaBany Blackbird II Observatory, Alder Springs, California [email protected] David Martinez-Delgado Max Planck Institut fur Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany [email protected] Abstract An ongoing collaboration between the authors and an international team of professional astronomers has dem- onstrated the scientific potential of using modest aperture, commercially produced, semi-robotic telescopes situ- ated under steady dark skies and affordable off-the-shelf astronomical cameras to reveal extremely dim, diffuse structures on the outskirts of distant galaxies that sheds light on galactic evolution. In this paper, we share our techniques, experiences and highlights of our investigations thus far. 1. Introduction The survey is being performed with modest tele- scopes and off the shelf cameras that are readily Within the hierarchical framework for galaxy available from commercial and retail sources. formation, merging and tidal interactions are ex- This paper describes the initial results of our pi- pected to shape large galaxies up to the present day. lot study on several nearby spiral galaxies. These While major mergers are quite rare at present, minor systems were selected for the study because they mergers and satellite disruptions - that result in stellar were already suspected of being surrounded by dif- streams - should be common, and are indeed seen in fuse-light over-densities based on data collected from both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. available surveys (e.g., POSS-II; SDSS-I) and previ- As a pilot study, we have already carried out ul- ously published deep images posted on the Internet tra-deep, wide-field imaging of some spiral galaxies by amateur astronomers. in the Local Volume and revealed external views of While based on a biased sample of systems pre- such stellar tidal streams with unprecedented sensi- selected for substructures, our pilot study served as a tivity and detail based on data taken with modest proof of concept for the more systematic survey of robotic telescopes (0.1-0.5 m). halo substructure around spiral galaxies that we have We have since embarked on a project that under- already commenced. It also enabled us to resolve the takes the first systematic and comprehensive imaging required observing strategies and data reduction survey of stellar tidal streams from a sample of ~60 methodologies.