Thu, 09/12/2013 - 00:44
It's been a while now since we had an update on the various spectroscopic activities being organised by the AAVSO.
Can anyone supply some current info on the status of the telescopes and instruments previously announced???
It seems very strange that this post has had more than 100 views and still no comment from the AAVSO on their spectroscopy plans. I can only therefore assume that it has fallen into the "too hard basket" and will not be going ahead.......
Hi Ken,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Our limited staff are currently working to get the various AAVSOnet installations up and running, now that the southwestern monsoon is ending. Each of these sites has unique "issues" and so are taking time getting restarted (or newly commissioned).
We should have more time to devote to spectroscopy after the Fall meeting.
Arne
Thanks for
Arne,
Thanks for that.
Look forward to a positive outcome and update.
It's over three
Guys,
It's over three months now since the topic of future AAVSO spectroscopic work was raised.
Can we get an update???
Rebecca is the person in charge of the AAVSO spectroscopy forum. You might try contacting her directly. I have tried over the past few years to get the AAVSO moving with Spectroscopy, but it has been very slow to do much. At least they have a spectroscopy forum now. One thing I have noticed is the harder one pushes the higher the inertia.
The Orion Project is going well and we are helping several observers with their Star Analysers and ALPY 600s. The Orion Project is an experiment to gather data, both with photometry and spectroscopy. It is also giving me a chance to experiement with how to handle spectroscopy data and the archiving on a web site. My hope is if it is successful the AAVSO, may be more interested in opening the spectroscopy door further.
Jeff (187283)
HPO
Phoenix, AZ
Thanks, Ken and Jeff, for your posts!
We at AAVSO HQ agree that spectroscopy should be an active part of 2014. Your request for an update shows us that there is continuing interest out there in going beyond the spectroscopy forum and creating an actual AAVSO spectroscopy program. This interest is the first and most important ingredient.
I also agree that the beginning of the new year is a great time to take stock and plan for the year to come. Earlier this month I scheduled a beginning-of-the-year planning meeting for spectroscopy. The meeting will take place during the last week in January. Our goal will be to lay out a path for making an AAVSO spectroscopy program a reality, within the constraints of staffing and financial responsibility. In early February we will post an update in this forum.
Arne
Thanks for the post Arne. I sincerely hope the AAVSO can figure out a good way to migrate the spectroscopy into it. The Orion Project may be of interest in that I am trying to figure a good way to archive and display spectroscopy data supplied by multiple observers. So far it is working fine, but we have just a small set of data set. Please check the web site. See: http://www.hposoft.com/Orion/Orion.html
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Jeff (187283)
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
Thanks very much for
Arne,
Thanks very much for the feedback, really appreciated by the amateur spectroscopy community.
I hope the review meeting can map out a route to success.
Onwards and Upwards
We had a telecon at the end of January to discuss issues and plan an approach for the AAVSO. Action items from that meeting were to form a spectroscopy working group of professionals and amateurs (now done), create a mail-list for the working group, and to hold a virtual meeting in March to continue discussing concepts . John Martin has been asking basic questions on the spectroscopy forum to obtain community input.
We've purchased two of the SA200 gratings, and have placed one in the BSM_Berry filter wheel, and will be placing the other one in the TMO61 filter wheel. Those give the extreme conditions for the grating use: a small aperture telescope, and a camera with a filter wheel close to the sensor so that the dispersion is lessened.
Mt. John is building an instrument selector for OC61. That will be the first AAVSOnet telescope with a real spectrograph. I'd estimate July for its installation and testing. We have a second eShel that will go on a northern telescope in the same time frame.
In the meantime, once the basic framework for submitting spectra is designed, we will start providing a means for archiving spectra at the AAVSO. No time estimate can be given for this process until the design is finalized.
Arne
Thanks for posting
Arne,
Thanks for posting the update.
Hopefully things will move along this year....
What about conventional slit spectroscopes? I though there were a couple of LhiresIII avaibale?
Hi Ken,
We have two other spectrographs in the lab: a DSS-7, and an Optomechanics 10C. The 10C has lots of extra features, but is older and needs to be automated. I didn't mention either of these as they have no immediate home on an AAVSOnet telescope (at least until refurbishment is done). There will be a LISA going on another AAVSOnet telescope. So we have several future options for observers, but right now we are concentrating on commissioning the first set.
Arne
Hi: I live locally and there is a staff of about 4 people who have to get to the HQ. They are working on half a dozen different items every day. It has been SNOW SNOW AND MORE SNOW. Driving has been very difficult and so, just relax. Best HNL