Interesting Low-Rez Target(s) Needed

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 12/27/2017 - 17:44

Hi All,

I will soon be working with a college student with an interest in spectroscopy, and I'm looking for suggestions for interesting targets.  I'd like to make sure she has exposure to differential photometry as well as a toe in the waters of spectroscopy, so the ideal target(s) would be interesting for both spectroscopy and photometry.

The instrumentation is a 17" f/6.8 reflector with Johnson-Cousins BVRI photometric filters and a Star Annalyzer-200 in the filter wheel.  Spectral resolution is quite low -- only 11.2 A/px, so a whole host of interesting targets are beyond our reach.  We can get pretty good photometry between about 8th and 16th magnitude, and spectra from about 6th mag to 12th, and with stacking to ~14th.

If anyone can light the fuse on a bright supernova at around 8hrs and +60 that would be really handy -- somewhere around January 20th would be ideal! wink  Lacking that, I've been searching for variables with cool spectra, or maybe eclipsing binaries with very differet components.  The AAVSO Target Tool suggests that there are even a few eclipsing binaries or CV's with Wolf-Rayet components (KT Per is one), which really pique my interest.  Does anyone here have experience with these?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions offered -- we'll look into them!

Clear skies,

Brad Vietje (VBPA)

Newbury, VT

www.nkaf.org