ASTRO - Astronomical Review of the Year 2007

Astronomical Review of the Year 2007


In terms of hours spent per week I must almost qualify as a full-time
astronomer. Twelve months ago I promised myself that I would attempt
to cut my workload down to a more sensible level - well I have
failed!

On the plus side I have managed to re-launch my website and my astro
blog and I have made real inroads into the backlog of astronomical
projects that needed to be written up. So it is not all doom and
gloom. Indeed I am getting an average of close to 300 hits per day on
the website with particular interest being shown in the short projects
I have been writing up (http://www.martin-nicholson.info/1/3fd.htm)

http://www.martin-nicholson.info/1/1a.htm
http://ukastronomy.livejournal.com


Comets

There was a time when I did quite a lot of astrometry on comets and I
would send results to the Minor Planet Center. This year I did far
less until Comet Holmes hit the headlines with its dramatic increase
in brightness and I managed to image it a number of times.

Comet Tuttle proved to be more of a problem - situated as it was in a
inconvenient part of the sky when it first came to my attention. It
was well into December before I got a decent view and even then it
seemed rather fainter than I had been led to expect..


Double Stars

I remain convinced that measuring binary or double stars does not
represent a sensible or productive use of my limited observing time.
This is because most of the wider pairs - such as those I can image
using my equipment - only change very, very slowly. With no reliable,
easily accessible and up-to-date catalogue that would enable me to see
what others are currently doing there is a real chance that anything I
did do would just be duplicating their work.

There is also the problem that many of the systems listed in the
Washington Double Star Catalogue (WDS) catalogue are known or at least
strongly suspected to be line-of-sight double stars of no astronomical
significance and again measuring these cannot be justified.


Meetings, Magazines and Societies

I don't go to many meetings. It is a sad fact that I don't like to
drive long distances, especially at night, so unless the programme on
offer is of particular relevance to me I tend not to bother. Fewer
meetings in the London area and more in the Midlands would be a great
help.

Astronomy Now continues to impress me and it will not be long before
it renders Sky and Telescope - which has shrunk dramatically -
"surplus to requirements". The Astronomer is also excellent but I do
wish their AGM was held in a more central location.

It is hard to imaging how anybody without Internet access would be
able to participate fully in AAVSO activities. This is not a
criticism, more an observation, since I do have this new technology
myself. The British Astronomical Association always produces a high
quality magazine and the website seem to have improved beyond
recognition in the last few years. However I am really starting to
struggle to see how the Webb Deep Sky Society will compete against the
vast range of, mainly free, astronomical resources now available to
amateur astronomers.


My Equipment

I am still using a Takahashi Epsilon 250mm F/3.8 astrograph and an
ST-8XE CCD camera mounted on a Paramount GT1100ME mount housed at an
Observatory near Mahill, New Mexico.


Variable Stars

I find imaging novae and supernovae enormous fun - not too many other
members of the AAVSO or BAA seem to have the facilities to do multi-
filter measurements so I feel that what I am doing has scientific
merit and events have shown that you can never be certain about the
final shape of the lightcurve.

I also find rapidly changing variables, particularly those where the
changes are unpredictable, particular fun to observe. I am mindful
that these seem to be out of favour with other variable star
observers, but then that is part of the attraction.

I have tried hard to get enthusiastic about cataclysmic variables but
with very little success. Spending lots of time obtaining negative
results, because the star is not in outburst, is just not how I would
want to spend my time. Once the star is in outburst it is moderately
appealing to take magnitude measurements in different pass-bands and I
am also quite attracted by creating a library of animated images
showing the different states of the star.

Martin Nicholson
Daventry UK