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CCD Views
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THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS
25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Tel. 617-354-0484 Fax 617-354-0665
http://www.aavso.org
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C C D V I E W S
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Special Issue: March 7, 2002
1. GK Per - Monitoring Campaign With Multiple Satellites
2. SN 2002ap Update
This is our second special issue of CCD Views. The April issue
of CCD Views will be out soon. However, because of the timeliness of the
GK Per campaign we are issuing this special issue immediately.
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1. GK PER - MONITORING CAMPAIGN WITH MULTIPLE SATELLITES - FROM JAM
The 1901 nova GK Per, currently in outburst, will be observed with
three satellites - NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), ESA's
X-ray Multi-Mirror Telescope (XMM) and NASA's Chandra X-ray
satellites in the coming weeks. Astronomers from Lawrence Livermore
National Observatory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with whom
we are collaborating informed us that:
1. RXTE will be observing it every 3.5 to 5.5 days throughout the
outburst, which generally lasts two months;
2. XMM will observe it once sometime between March 7 and 11. The
exact date is uncertain.
3. Chandra will observe it twice, one in the week of March
25th, the second 2 to 3 weeks later. The exact date is not yet
established.
The purpose for these intensive x-ray observations is to find
answers to the many questions that were raised from earlier
spectroscopic satellite observations. The x-ray observations obtained
with the Japanese satellite ASCA during outburst and quiescent of GK
Per showed dramatic differences which could not be explained and
raised many questions. High resolution spectroscopic observations
from satellites such as Chandra are needed to help find the answers.
Please observe GK Per very closely with CCD V filter, several times
a night - every night if possible - from now until the end of the
outburst so that we can provide excellent optical coverage to be
used in the correlations of the x-ray data.
For more information on GK Per please see AAVSO Alert Notice 293
and 294, and News Flash 890 and 924.
A brand new AAVSO F-scale chart with .001 CCD and B-V values has
been posted at this URL:
http://www.aavso.org/charts/catalog/PER/GK_PER/
Good observing!
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2. SN 2002ap UPDATE
The light curve of SN 2002ap is starting to look *very* good. Recent
observations by Lew Cook (COO), Chuck Pullen (PCH), Bruce Gary (GBL),
Robert James (JM), Chris Jones (JCN), John Barentine (BVJ), Stephen
Brewster (SBS), Dan Kaiser (KDA), and James Williams (WJL) have produced
a beautiful light curve. We have updated the SN 2002ap light curve
at this URL so you can see it:
http://www.aavso.org/ccdviews/sn2002ap.shtml
Please keep observing this as long as possible. Professional
observatories will begin losing the ability to observe it now so this is
the chance to fill in the gaps of their data. Remember this supernova is
our test case, we want to push our observing skills to the limit and get
the best data possible.
For an interesting look at the spectra, visit this URL for an animated
spectra of SN 2002ap from Dunlop Observatory:
http://umi.astro.utoronto.ca/~detector/sn2002ap.gif
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CCD Views is published bimonthly and when circumstances warrant
via e-mail. An archive is available at http://www.aavso.org/ccdviews/ .
Please send comments and suggestions to aaronp@aavso.org.
To receive CCD Views via e-mail send a message to
majordomo@aavso.org with "subscribe ccdviews" in the body of the
e-mail. To unsubscribe, place "unsubscribe ccdviews" in the e-mail.
The AAVSO has many free online publications including "Eyepiece
Views", a similar newsletter intended for visual observers. To learn
more and subscribe visit: http://www.aavso.org/mailinglists.stm
Good observing!
Aaron Price, AAVSO Technical Assistant (PAH)
Gary Walker, Chairman of the AAVSO CCD Committee (WGR)
Copyright 2002, American Association of Variable Star Observers
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THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS
25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Tel. 617-354-0484 Fax 617-354-0665
http://www.aavso.org
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