Astronomy Report
01/22/2015
Scott MacPhee
Renee Garifi
Sky Conditions:
Clear
Wind Conditions:
Calm
Observation Start Time:
22:00
Observation End Time:
03:30
Summary:
Observation of KC03C07670 egress was attempted yesterday evening, Jan 21st. Target ingress occurred during daylight hours. Target was acquired just before slated mid-transit time, however tracking stopped near the end of egress as the telescope reached a slewing limit. The telescope needed to be re-positioned and the target needed to be reacquired, which took longer than expected in order to sort out issues with the autoguider and dome tracking. Data from 10:20 – 10:50 (approx.) was lost. Luckily egress should have ended by 10:22 pm, and a long baseline was recorded post transit once the target was reacquired.
Tonight's KELT target is not an exoplanet, but will be a known visual binary, one of which is to be transited by a third smaller companion star. With a transit depth of 36.7mmag and a target Visual magnitude of 6.95, data should be easy to acquire. The entire transit is slated to be visible from 1111 hrs to 0235 hours this evening.
Initial processing of observations from January 16th (KC03C03248) has revealed an egress curve as expected, but more work will need to be done on processing all photometric data collected to date.
Find attached a timelapse of comet Lovejoy, as well as a picture of Betelgeuse which was snapped during a last alignment procedure.
Objects Viewed:
KC07C07047
Vmag: 6.95
Transit Depth: 36.7mmag
Problems Encountered:
N/A
Starry Skies,
Scott & Renee