Astronomical Observatory Institute, Adam Mickiewicz University
Automatic calibration of photometric observations of asteroids with the PanSTARRS catalogue [Abstract] [Poster]
Alceste
Bonanos
Greece
National Observatory of Athens
The 1.2m Kryoneri Observatory: an ideal facility for science requiring high-cadence multicolor observations [Abstract] [Poster]
Spectrophotometry at Terskol Peak Observatory
The Observatory of the International Center for Astronomical and Medical and Ecological Research (ICAMER) is located in the mountains of the North Caucasus on Terskol Peak (Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, Russia, altitude 3150 m, international code B18). The observatory has the following observation complexes: - Zeiss-2000; - Zeiss-600. The Zeiss-2000 telescope is equipped with a position observation camera with BVRI filters, a Multi Mode Cassegrain Spectrometer (MMCS), a high-resolution MAESTRO spectrometer and a dual-channel polarimeter. The technical characteristics of the instruments are given and the observational capabilities of the tools are shown. Spectrophotometric observations of some small bodies of the solar system are presented.
Observing with the Faulkes Telescope Project Facilities
The Faulkes Telescope Project provides access to a global network of robotic telescopes via the Las Cumbres Observatory global network. Here we outline how to apply for observing time on the telescopes through the Europlanet Telescope Network, whether you are an amateur observer or a researcher, and we present an overview of the suitability of various observational targets given the available observing modes and the telescope aperture sizes (2m, 1m and 0.4m).
The Faulkes Telescope Project was conceived to inspire school children with the wonders of space and continues to have education as its main focus. We describe current educational projects using the telescopes and how you can get involved with your own observational programme.
“Il cielo in salotto” ("The sky in your living room" in english) is a series of live events organised by EduINAF (the online magazine for teaching and outreach of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics) dedicated to sky passionates and dealing with astronomical events and the observation of the sky (https://edu.inaf.it/diretta/). During the past year we hosted four live events on our YouTube channel with great response from the public. The help and support of the Europlanet Telescope Network proved crucial in some of these occasions. As an example, the solar eclipse that occurred on June the 10th was hardly visible from Italy but we successfully obtained beautiful live observations ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY3JyUf19lw) from the Moletai Observatory (Lituania) and from the Science Center AHHAA (Estonia), part of the Europlanet Telescope Network. This collaboration continues and will be able to enrich many of the events planned for the future, with the incredible possibility of educating and entertaining both live and at a later time, through recorded videos to be distributed to schools and the press.
[Poster]
We have photometry of Pluto spanning several decades. The amount of atmosphere and surface ice will affect its albedo. Since Pluto is no receding from the Sun, temperatures should begin to drop. This may cause more of its atmosphere to freeze out causing the surface to get brighter. This may also affect the light curve. This poster will give a brief review of Pluto's brightness and light curve. One objective of this presentation is to encourage further photometric studies.
Taurus Hill Observatory capabilities and exoplanet research work
Taurus Hill Observatory (THO), observatory code A95, is an amateur observatory located in Varkaus, Finland. The observatory is maintained by the local astronomical association Warkauden Kassiopeia. THO research team has observed and measured various stellar objects and phenomena. Observatory has mainly focused on exoplanet light curve measurements (over 180 measurements so far), observing the gamma rays burst, supernova discoveries and monitoring. We also do long term monitoring projects.
Observatory main equipment are 16″ Meade ACF LX800, f/8 and 14″ Celestron C14 XLT (CGE), 3910/355.6, f/11, both equipped with Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mounts. Both telescopes are also equipped with professional level CCD cameras (SBIG STT-8300M and ASI 2900 MM Pro).
Taurus Hill Observatory and other similar pro-amateur based observatories have a good record in field of astronomy and especially in the light curve measurements and photometric monitoring. The research teams have the knowledge for making a good and high quality photometric light curve measurements. The results and publications that pro-am based observatories, like THO, have contributed, clearly demonstrates that pro-amateurs are a significant resource for the professional astronomers now and even more in the future. In the future the THO research team aims for more challenging astronomical research projects with professional astronomers and observatories.
[Poster]
Investigating the star-planet interactions in a far-out planetary system: A parameter space study
Since the discovery of the first extrasolar planetary system, several efforts have been made to understand the interaction between exoplanets and their host stars. One can shed light on the several physical characteristics of an exoplanet by studying such interactions. In this work, we use the CESSI-Star Planet Interaction Module to perform rigorous parameter space study for a far-out star-planet system by varying the magnetic field strength of both the planetary magnetosphere and the stellar wind emanating from the host star. Our model self consistently gives rise to a magnetopause during this interaction process. The variation in the magnetopause stand-off distance for different combinations of the above parameters shows good agreement with the theoretical prediction. This work also reveals a specific trend in the relative behaviour of the planetary magnetosphere in response to stellar wind evolution. As the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field increases beyond 50nT, lobes of the magnetotail start to open up, and the stellar wind accumulates on the dayside of the planet. This study is relevant for exploring the exoplanetary atmosphere and calculating the auroral radio powers of different star-planet systems.
In the era of large sky photometric surveys, rapid and reliable processing of CCD images plays crucial role in characterising transient phenomena. The Black Hole Target Observation Manager (BHTOM) is a new tool based on Las Cumbres Observatory's TOM, developed under OPTICON RadioNet Pilot (ORP) H2020 programme for managing the observations of time-domain targets based on alerts from surveys like Gaia, ZTF or ASAS-SN. One of the most important features of BHTOM is an automatic calibration of photometric FITS images in order to obtain science-ready data points on light curves of observed targets. The system can be used to combine multiwavelength photometric data from multiple telescopes and instruments within minutes from observations. Therefore, the tool can be widely used for a variety of time-domain applications.
[Poster]
Photometry of super fast rotating, near-Earth asteroid 2022 AB
Near-Earth asteroid 2022 AB was first observed at GINOP-KHK, Piszkesteto on 2 January 2022. This ~ 70-m object passed the Earth at a distance of 3 700 000 km (9.6 lunar distance) on 20 January. Our campaign started on 4 January and we plan to continue our observations until 26 January. In our observations we use small (no larger than 2-m) telescopes located in USA, Canada, Spain, UK, Italy, South Africa, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, South Korea and Australia. We determined the asteroid's rotation period to be approximately 182 seconds. What distinguishes this object is the very favorable geometry of observation during this close-up. The phase angle changed in the range of 0.3° - 85.5°, which allows for accurate determination of the phase curve and absolute brightness H. We also collected photometric data in Johnson-Cousins B, V, R and I bands to determine colour indices and taxonomic type. We are currently analyzing the collected data. We are going to present the preliminary results at the Workshop.
Photometry of NASA Lucy Mission Targets: Jupiter Trojan Asteroids
The Lucy mission consists of five flybys of Trojan asteroids to investigate the differences in surface and internal properties across the population of Trojan asteroids. From these five encounters we will be able to observe seven Trojan asteroids: (3548) Eurybates and its small satellite Queta, (15094) Polymele, (11351) Leucus, (21900) Orus, (617) Patroclus, and Meneotius.
We made photometric observations of these targets with different ground-based telescopes, confirmed the taxonomy of asteroids, and obtained light and phase curves.
The 1.2m Kryoneri Observatory: an ideal facility for science requiring high-cadence multicolor observations
The 1.2 m telescope at Kryoneri Observatory is part of the Europlanet Telescope Network (EPN-TN). The facility is equipped with a wide-field twin imaging system, consisting of two fast-frame, sCMOS Andor Zyla 5.5 cameras at the prime focus. This system was developed in 2016, in the framework of the ESA-funded, lunar monitoring program NELIOTA, as described in Xilouris et al. (2018, A&A 619, 141), and has been performing lunar monitoring observations since 2017, resulting in over 130 NEO impact flash detections to date. The novelty of the NELIOTA system is the use of a large aperture telescope (larger than ever used before for this purpose) and the high-cadence achieved by two detectors observing simultaneously at a rate of 30 frames per second in two optical bands (R and I). The system provides a field of view of 17.0’x14.4’ and reaches limiting magnitudes of 18.7 mag in 10 s in both bands at a 2.5 signal-to-noise ratio level. The above characteristics make it a unique instrument that can be used not only for the detection of NEO impact flashes on the Moon, but also for any astronomy projects that demand high-cadence multicolor observations, e.g. asteroid occultations, variable source follow-up (e.g. microlensing events, contact binaries), and satellite tracking (e.g. the BepiColombo flyby).
Automatic calibration of photometric observations of asteroids with the PanSTARRS catalogue
For many decades, CCD observations of asteroids were usually limited to differential photometry. This was due to the difficulty of the "all sky" callibration. With the creation of the PanSTARRS catalogue, suddenly a single CCD frame became populated with photometric standards. They are so numerous, that one can even restrict the choice to solar analogue stars which makes it possible to use the unfiltered CCD observations of asteroids for callibration of their magnitudes to either Johnsons-Cousins, or Sloan SDSS bands. This in turn allows for studies of the asteroid magnitude-phase angle relation using small telescopes located in average astroclimate.
VESPA (Virtual European Solar & Planetary Access) : a Planetary Science Virtual Observatory cornerstone
The goal of VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access) is to build a
Virtual Observatory (VO) for Solar System Sciences. The infrastructure is
developed in the series of Europlanet programmes, reusing mechanisms which
have been developed for the Astronomy VO. In particular, the EPN-TAP is
currently a Proposed RecommendaCon at IVOA.