On 13 September, 2011, we had the good fortune to have Dr. Michael Richmond, Physics Professor and Observatory Director for the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York chat with us about SN 2011fe and supernova photometry in general. Here is the transcript from that chat session.
September 10, 2011: Dr. Gregory Sivakoff (U. of Alberta) requests observations of the X-ray binary star MAXI J1836-194 as part of the JACPOT collaboration studying stellar radio jets from compact binaries. There is no predetermined duration for this campaign, but observations are requested now to coincide with ongoing X-ray and radio observations.
September 8, 2011:
Jeff Hopkins (Hopkins Phoenix Observatory, Phoenix, AZ) communicates regarding the upcoming eclipse of the 4th-magnitude binary system zeta Aurigae. He writes:
August 2, 2011: SV Ari, a suspected WZ Sge star, has gone into outburst. Rod Stubbings posted a 15.0 magnitude estimate on 110802.788 that has been confirmed by Gianluca Masi. Gary Poyner says:
"Discovered by M & G Wolf on Heidelberg plates taken in November 1905 at mag 12.0p. Kimpel & Jansch reported a possible sighting in September 1943, but this was not confirmed. Nothing has been seen since."
The late Bob Nelson developed over 5800 O-C (Observed - Computed) files for eclipsing binaries, all in Excel format, which we are hosting on our site. The purpose of this database is to provide information on period variation for selected eclipsing binaries (for astronomers interested in a particular star), as well as to determine the best elements for predicting future eclipses. These elements go into eclipse prediction software, like at Shawn Dvorak's site (Bob and others help provide updated elements for Shawn).
