Harvard Observing Project Allyson Bieryla & Elisabeth Newton
(Harvard University)
Abstract
Observa?ons
Clay Telescope
Observing Projects Pro-‐Am White Dwarf
Monitoring Project (PAWM) (Fall 2011)
Target Asteroids! (Fall 2013)
SN2014J in M82 (Spring 2014)
As part of the Pro-‐Am White Dwarf Monitoring (PAWM) project, we searched for Earth-‐sized planets transi?ng white dwarf (WD) stars in their habitable zones. Professional and amateur collaborators observed a list of bright WDs, maintaining a con?nuous baseline. • Harvard observed a total of 75.8hrs and contributed
16 lightcurves • No transits were detected but variability was no?ced
in some WDs. Below: a lightcurve observed with the Clay Telescope by HOP, processed with MaximDL and fit by Bruce Gary and PAWM
For more informa?on on PAWM: h_p://brucegary.net/WDE/index.htm
Target Asteroids! asks for the help of amateur astronomers to gather informa?on about asteroids. These observa?ons aid the NASA OSIRIS-‐REx mission which is going to return samples from astroid Bennu. • We monitored 2-‐3 asteroids at a ?me, doing
astrometry and photometry • Images were processed with MaximDL • For astrometry, we used MaximDL or Astrometrica • For photometry MaximDL
Below: images of the asteroid Aurora (marked in red) and taken ~1hr apart on UT2013.1023
For more informa?on on Target Asteroids!: h_p://wwworex.lpl.arizona.edu/?q=target_asteroids
Asteroids and Exoplanets (Fall 2012)
We joined the KELT (Kilodegree Extremely Li_le Telescope) follow-‐up team. KELT is searching for transi?ng exoplanets around bright (V<10) stars. • Many transit a_empts were aborted due to
bad weather. Candidates we successfully observed were false posi?ves (which is also helpful to the team)
We also began observing bright asteroids to refine orbital posi?ons (i.e. submit to the Minor Planets Center). • We were successfully able to to detect
asteroids as as faint V~17 and refined our techniques
For more informa?on on KELT: h_p://www.astronomy.ohio-‐state.edu/keltnorth/Home.html
Goals
Graduate Students • Experience mentoring and working
with undergraduates • Teaching experience • No prior telescope experience
required: gain skills in observa?onal astronomy
Undergraduate Students • No experience required: any student
can have an opportunity to learn about observa?onal astronomy
• Small groups (< 6 students): plenty of opportunity to engage in conversa?on with graduate students
We observed SN2014J from January to May in B, V, R, I and H-‐alpha. We used Maxim DL to make a mul?-‐color light curve of the supernova (see poster by M. McIntosh 121.17). Below: before and aler images of M82
• Know your telescope: learn the limita?ons of equipment and solware
• Plan ahead: research projects ahead of ?me and prac?ce observa?ons
• Rally the troops: student interest is high, many grad student volunteers needed
• Train: graduate volunteers may not be experiences
Lessons learned
The Clay Telescope • Located atop Harvard University’s Science Center • DFM 16” Equatorial Mounted Telescope • Apogee Alta U47 CCD camera (1024 x 1024 pixel)
• 13’ x 13’ FOV • Bessell UBVRI and H-‐alpha filters
• SBig SGS spectrograph with SBig ST7-‐XME CCD camera a_ached with 3 resolu?ons available
• Analysis and image processing done with MaximDL 5
Observing strategy • Open sign ups: any undergraduate can sign up for an evening’s
observa?on • Student-‐run observa?ons: undergraduate volunteers operate
telescope and do real-‐?me data reduc?on and analysis , under guidance of a graduate student
The Harvard Observing Project (HOP) engages undergraduate students in observa8onal astronomy and gives graduate students extra teaching experience beyond their required teaching fellowships. This project allows students to see if they are interested in astronomy, introduces them to scien?fic research, and provides an opportunity for them to interact with graduate students in an informal sepng. Observa?ons are made using the 16” Harvard Clay Telescope. Clay Telescope:
h_p://www.fas.harvard.edu/~astrolab/claytelescope.html
Projects and Observing Sites: Harvard Astronomy Lab and Clay Telescope -‐ h_p://www.fas.harvard.edu/~astrolab/ KELT North Transit Survey -‐ h_p://www.astronomy.ohio-‐state.edu/keltnorth/Home.html PAWM -‐ h_p://brucegary.net/WDE/index.htm Target Asteroids! -‐ h_p://wwworex.lpl.arizona.edu/?q=target_asteroids
References: Goobar, A.; Johansson, J.; Amanullah, R.; Fossey, S. J.; Cao, Y.; Perley, D. A.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Ferrep, R. et al. (2014). "The discovery of SN2014J in the nearby starburst galaxy M82". Nature News. doi:10.1038/nature.2014.14579. Pepper, et al., “The Kilodegree Extremely Li_le Telescope (KELT): A Small Robo?c Telescope for Large-‐Area Synop?c Surveys.” PASP (2007), 119, 923.
Hardware: DFM Engineering -‐ h_p://www.dfmengineering.com Apogee CCD -‐ h_p://www.ccd.com SBig spectrograph & CCDs -‐ h_p://www.sbig.com
SoEware: MaximDL -‐ h_p://www.cyanogen.com Astrometrica -‐ h_p://www.astrometrica.at