My colleagues and I have been awarded director's discretionary time on Chandra to observe FO Aqr. The observations are scheduled to begin at 7:26 UT on July 26, and they will last for 5 hours. It would be enormously helpful to us if we had simultaneous optical photometry of the system during this time. In particular, observers in the western US are well-positioned to provide this coverage. As described in AAVSO Alert Notice 545, we would like unfiltered time series of FO Aqr obtained at a fast cadence -- no more than 60 seconds per image, and preferably less.
On a related note, we would also ask that observers continue their excellent coverage in response to Alert Notice 545, in which we requested nightly time series until FO Aqr either (1) returns to its normal brightness or (2) gets too close to the Sun to be observed (whichever comes first).
Thanks!
Best Wishes,
Colin
Hi Colin,
I did observations from Chile of FO Aqr, maybe not at the time resolution you are looking for. Data have been sent to the AAVSO database. I keep observing this target every clear night.
Josch
... and many more Hambsch, many more ...
Hi,
I know of course but the timing is important (see Colin's reply).
Josch
Hi Josch and Velimir,
Thank you both for observing FO Aqr. Josch: your photometry coincided with the Chandra observations, which is particularly useful for us. By the way, I congratulate you on helping to identify AR Sco as an unusual object. What a fantastic discovery!
Best Wishes,
Colin
Thanks Colin,
actually it was because my observations showed strange flicker that we contacted Boris Gänsicke and then the ball started rolling.
Thanks also for mentioning that my data on FO Aqr are just coninciding with your Chandra observations.
I look forward to whatever is the outcome.
Regards,
Josch
I have posted CV data on a number of nights; typical observing runs are 150 - 200 images at 20 sec Lum. Including the download time, essentially 2 data points/min.
Brad Vietje, VBPA
Newbury, VT, USA