Correlate observations with HST
Colleagues from The University of Tubingen (Tubingen, Germany)
and the Space Telescope European Coordination Facility (Garching,
Germany) request the close monitoring of V838 Mon on Saturday night,
February 9th. Observations are particularly needed starting at
23:00 UT and continuing for 1.5 hours. During this time the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) will be observing this peculiar variable.
Visual observers are encouraged to observe V838 Mon every 5 minutes.
CCD and PEP observers are encouraged to observe every 5 minutes with
V filters and also in additional wavelengths if possible. We will
be providing ground-based coverage for correlation with the HST data.
Our colleagues have used the AAVSO's V838 Mon web page extensively
in planning this observing run and wish to thank the AAVSO observers
for their excellent data!
03/27/02
 |
| Click image to enlarge. This spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 27 March 2002 2:03 UT by Doug West
in Mulvane, Kansas. Please see description below. |
The spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 27 March 2002 02:03 UT by Doug West in Mulvane, Kansas. The spectrum was produced by an non-objective slitless spectrometer with a 45 second exposure. The equipment used was a Meade LX200 8" SCT operating at f/6.3 with a ST-8 CCD camera.
The low-resolution spectrum (~75 Angstrom) has a signal-to-noise ratio that varies from 20 at 5000 Angstrom to 100 at 6700 Angstrom. Five spectra were taken during the evening and the spectrum presented here is the best of the five. The spectrum shows the Hydrogen Alpha (6562.8 Angstrom (A)) and Hydrogen Beta (4861.3 A) lines in emission but reduced from the February 8th spectrum. The emission features at 7770 and 8360 Angstrom have increased since the previous spectrum. The absorption feature at approximately 7620 Angstrom is a result of absorption by the earth's atmosphere and should be ignored. The wavelength calibration is +/- 20 Angstrom.
02/08/02
 |
| Click image to enlarge. This spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 08 February 2002 1:51 UT by Doug West
in Mulvane, Kansas. Please see description below. |
The spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 08 February 2002 1:51 UT by Doug West
in Mulvane, Kansas. The spectrum was produced by an non-objective slitless
spectrometer with a 45 second exposure. The equipment used was a Meade LX200
8" SCT operating at f/6.3 with a ST-8 CCD camera. The non-objective
spectrometer is formed when the Rainbow Optics grating is placed in front of
the CCD surface.
The low-resolution spectrum (~75 Angstrom) has a signal-to-noise ratio that
varies from 5 at 4500 Angstrom to 30 at 6000 Angstrom. Five spectra were
taken during the evening and the spectrum presented here is the best of the
five. The spectrum shows the Hydrogen Alpha (6562.8 Angstrom (A)) and Hydrogen Beta (4861.3 A) lines in emission. The emission peak at
approximately 6000 Angstrom is now more prominent than the 04 February
spectrum. The absorption feature at approximately 7620 Angstrom is a result
of absorption by the earth's atmosphere and should be ignored. The
wavelength calibration is +/- 20 Angstrom.
02/04/02
 |
| Click image to enlarge. The spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 02/04/02 1:13 UT by Doug West in Mulvane, Kansas. Please see description below. |
The spectrum of V838 Mon was taken on 04 February 2002 1:13 UT by Doug West in Mulvane, Kansas.
The spectrum was produced by an non-objective slitless spectrometer with a 45 second exposure.
The equipment used was a Meade LX200 8" SCT operating at f/6.3 with a ST-8 CCD camera. The
non-objective spectrometer is formed when the Rainbow Optics grating is placed in front of the
CCD surface.
The low-resolution spectrum (~75 Angstrom) has a signal-to-noise ratio that varies from 20 at
4500 Angstrom to 100 at 6700 Angstrom. Four spectra were taken during the evening and the
spectrum presented here is the best of the four. The spectrum shows the Hydrogen Alpha line
(6562.8 Angstrom (A)) and Hydrogen Beta (4861.3 A) lines in emission. This is typical for a
nova. The absorption feature at approximately 7620 Angstrom is a result of absorption by the
earth's atmosphere and should be ignored. The wavelength calibration is +/- 20 Angstrom.
01/18/02
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| Click image to enlarge. The spectrum of Var Mon 02 was taken on 01/18/02 3:18 UT by Doug West in Mulvane, Kansas. Please see description below. |
The spectrum of Var Mon 02 was taken on 01/18/02 3:18 UT by Doug West in
Mulvane, Kansas. The spectrum was produced by a non-objective slitless
spectrometer with a 60 second exposure. The equipment used was a Meade LX200
8" SCT operating at f/6.3 with a ST-8 CCD camera. The non-objective
spectrometer is formed when the Rainbow Optics grating is placed in front of
the CCD surface. The low-resolution spectrum (~75 Angstrom) is noisy due to
the faintness of the object (V ~ 10 mag). The signal to noise ratio varies
from 6 at 8500 Angstrom to 16 at 6700 Angstrom. The flux is calibrated against a standard spectrum of Vega and is in units of [erg/(cm^2 S
Angstrom)]. The "+C" term is present since there is an offset since the
difference in airmasses between Vega and Var Mon 02 have not been accounted
for. The wavelength calibration is +/- 20 Angstrom.
Five spectra were taken during evening, three were of which were useful. This
spectrum is typical of the three. Emission lines at 6604, 7087, 7464, 7926,
8286 Angstrom and an absorption band at 7795 Angstrom were common to all
three spectra. Emission or absorption lines at 6562.8 (H alpha), 7065 (He
I), 7773 (O I), 8807 (Mg I), 8232 (Mg II), 7452 (N I), and 7890 (Mg II) are
commonly seen stars and novae.
01/11/02
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| Click image to enlarge. The spectrum of Var Mon 02 was taken on 01/11/02 3:06 UT by Doug West in Mulvane, Kansas. Please see description below. |
The spectrum of Var Mon 02 was taken on 01/11/02 3:06 UT by Doug West in
Mulvane, Kansas. The spectrum was produced by a non-objective slitless
spectrometer with a 60 second exposure. The equipment used was a Meade LX200
8" SCT operating at f/6.3 with a ST-8 CCD camera. The non-objective
spectrometer is formed when the Rainbow Optics grating is placed in front of
the CCD surface.
The low-resolution spectrum (~75 Angstrom) is noisy due to the faintness of
the object (V ~ 10 mag). The signal to noise ratio varies from 6 at 5000
Angstrom to 16 at 6700 Angstrom. Multiple spectra were taken and reduced on
the same evening. Three emission peaks were present in all spectra: 5700,
6563, and 7225 Angstrom. The small peak at 6563 is associated with the
emission line H-alpha. The spectrum was calibrated in counts/second rather
than in energy units. This type of calibration, as opposed to energy units,
leads to broad peaks and valleys that result for the changes in quantum
efficiency of the CCD chip with wavelength. The wavelength calibration is
+/- 20 Angstrom.
