photometry + light curves

mathewb · #1 10-06-2014, 07:58 PM

Hi all..

This is the wrong part of the forum but after a quick look I couldn't see any posts on Photometry and light curves so I thought I would try here...

I'm doing some photometry producing lightcurves as a part of my masters and there are a lot of amateur sites dedicated to this kind of astronomy. I was wondering if there is anyone here on these forums that participates in that particular arcana? I'm thinking of trying it myself but I'm not sure my poor DSLR is going to be up to the task.

Cheers,
Matt.

tonybarry (Tony) · #2 10-06-2014, 08:02 PM

Hi Matt
Hristo Pavlov has done a lot of work in this area.

www.hristopavlov.net

And Dave Herald has also done a lot of work.

www.asteroidoccultation.com

Look for "Occult" software in the IOTA website.

Also AAVSO people may have info you need.

Regards
Tony Barry
WSAAG

mathewb · #3 10-06-2014, 09:07 PM

Thanks Tony,

I was really hoping there might be someone in Newcastle/Sydney who could show me their setup - I'm currently just processing data in AstroImageJ with all the files being shot from the Mt Wilson Observatory.. Sounds great except its for an assignment and I can't actually chose what variable I get to look at (currently its EH Librae)

Cheers,
Matt.

Blue Skies (Jacquie) · #4 10-06-2014, 11:05 PM

So I've written a post and deleted it on reflection...

Matt, can I ask that you be more specific, because I'm having trouble understanding exactly you want - what gear you would need to do this kind of work yourself at home? Because if it's variables you really should contact the variable star people such as AAVSO or Variable Stars South, which is the section in this region. They should be able to help you out to get started at home.

mathewb · #5 12-06-2014, 02:35 PM

Hi,

Yeah, I should have been a little more specific. I have an 8" newt on an NEQ6PRO mount. I've also got a fairly dodgy Canon DSLR that I have taken some (really bad) photos with and access to a decent Nikon D2.

I'm not so sure that either of these cameras is going to be capable of taking images that are timed with a nice ACCURATE clock so I can do some decent differential photometry.

I was hoping there might be someone on the forums that actually looks at variables and does differential photometry that might be able to help me get started.

Cheers,
Matt.

Terry B · #6 12-06-2014, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathewb

Hi,

Yeah, I should have been a little more specific. I have an 8" newt on an NEQ6PRO mount. I've also got a fairly dodgy Canon DSLR that I have taken some (really bad) photos with and access to a decent Nikon D2.

I'm not so sure that either of these cameras is going to be capable of taking images that are timed with a nice ACCURATE clock so I can do some decent differential photometry.

I was hoping there might be someone on the forums that actually looks at variables and does differential photometry that might be able to help me get started.

Cheers,
Matt.

Matt.
There certainly are some of us that do photometry. I use a CCD and UBVRI filters. There are others that use a DSLR and extract the green channel as V data.
Take a look at the VSS site and look at the Southern Eclipsing Binaries program under the "projects" tab.
As to accurate timing of measurements this is very easy to do with an inexpensive USB GPS receiver. I will find the specific info for you later.
Cheers

Terry

mathewb · #7 13-06-2014, 12:00 PM

Thanks Terry,

I have now added that website to my favourites list. Once I get some spare time I'll send them and email and see what I can do

I'm rather chuffed as it looks like I'll just need to get myself a V-band filter, the rest of the gear I have should be fine.

Cheers,
Matt.