Stuff going on in Crux, from Snake Valley

[Rob_K]

Took a widefield of the Crux area on the weekend at Snake Valley. 4 x 2 min, piggybacked Canon 400D, hand-guided on unmotorised EQ1 mount.

Larger & higher res version here:
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/w...11200adjsm.jpg

Yesterday I finally got around to 'blinking' the image against a reference image I took in May 2010. Three stars really stood out for their differences, and all turned out to be long-period Mira-type variables. They were U Centauri, BH Crucis and ST Crucis. BH Cru is also a carbon star.

Animations attached, along with 2000-day light curves obtained from AAVSO. In each animation, the first image (with marker lines) was taken 11 May 2010, and the second image 5 March 2011. The Crux widefields are taken to monitor recurrent nova CP Cru, and the blinking is a bit of fun afterwards!

Cheers -

[Hagar (Doug)]

Nice observations Rob. I wondered why you always seemed to be nose first in your laptop.

[Rob_K]

Ta Doug

Originally Posted by Hagar

I wondered why you always seemed to be nose first in your laptop.

Sleeping...

Cheers

[JohnG (John)]

Good one Rob, nice work

Cheers

[Liz]

Very interesting info and images Rob.
Great to see the blinking changes in the mag. of those stars, the little carbon star is a beauty.

[erick (Eric)]

Blinkin' stars!

[apaulo (Paul)]

Hi Rob

A really nice shot of the Coal sack and the Crux. Fantastic to see a different type of astrophotography and imaging on this forum. Refreshing to see some astronomy which is not only ascetically pleasing.
Regards Paul.

[Paul Haese]

With the kit you are using and your dogged determination you are a legend in my opinion. Like I continually say I marvel at what you are achieving. Incredible stuff again.

[Rob_K]

Thanks all, appreciated!

Cheers -

[mill (Martin)]

Very nice indeed
Looks like we have to call you blinky bill from now on

[Robh (Rob)]

Rob,

Nice work! A great triple catch. Interesting approach.
The carbon star was a real treat!

Regards, Rob

[byronpaul (Paul)]

Rob,

spewing I couldn't make the March Camp .... would have been good to catch-up.

Luv your work, this is amazing stuff for newbies like myself.

I'm up at Porepunkah again the first week of the school holidays in a few weeks time. Hopefully you're around and we can catch-up then.

Will touch bases a week or so beforehand.

[Rob_K]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by mill

Looks like we have to call you blinky bill from now on

Blinky Bob?

Originally Posted by byronpaul

Rob,

spewing I couldn't make the March Camp .... would have been good to catch-up.

Luv your work, this is amazing stuff for newbies like myself.

I'm up at Porepunkah again the first week of the school holidays in a few weeks time. Hopefully you're around and we can catch-up then.

Will touch bases a week or so beforehand.

Yeah it was a pity you couldn't make it Paul, would have been terrific to catch up. I've pmed you re Porepunkah.

Cheers -

[desler]

Quite remarkable Rob, Lovely work.


Darren

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by mill

Looks like we have to call you blinky bill from now on

Great piece of investigation Blinky..?..Robby have you done Pluto's movement?

Mike

[Rob_K]

Thanks Darren, Mike!

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Robby have you done Pluto's movement?

Mike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9_S1_-7igE

Cheers -

[danielsun]

Love your work Rob! Great stuff!!

And brilliant Pluto tracking! That's dedication!