Astronomy Report
02/27/2014
Corentin Liber
Sky Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Winds: Slight
Time of Observation: 10pm - 11.30pm
Summary:
The sky was mostly cloudy and didn't present sufficient conditions for astrophotography but we could
do some spectroscopy. The data is lightly corrupted by the clouds but we needed less exposure time
than for a picture so it remained possible. We limited our observation to the brightest objects
that were in clear areas and obtained some results.
We are using some optic probes fixed to one of our own eyepieces to ensure correct alignment and use
the same focus than with only an eye piece. We first make sure the object is correctly aligned and
then record the spectrum using the optic probe linked to a laptop. We use SpectraSuite to record the
data. It's then sent back to Earth to be analyzed because it needs quite a big database.
We record two different kind of spectrum:
-the Sun and its reflection on planets and the Moon;
-Other stars and objects.
The Sun spectrum is put in comparison with the one from Jupiter or the Moon to determine the
composition of the objects. In the other case, we compare the Sun spectrum with the one from other
stars to analyze the differences directly at the sources.
We have yet to receive the results of the analysis from Earth but I'll join some of the spectrum to
this report. Those are not really pictures so I didn't follow the usual naming procedure, just the names and exposure times.
List of Objects Viewed:
-Jupiter
-Sirius
-Arcturus
-Dubhe
-Capella
Problems Encountered:
The sky was completely covered quite early and we didn't manage to record a lot of spectrum. We
hope to still have some occasions before the end of our rotation as it's less strict than
astrophotography.