deSitter
Still in Old School
Reged: 12/09/04
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5273290 - 06/15/12 05:25 PM
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There is available to the amateur these days, powerful enough equipment to do real work, essential work, such as quasar surveys. A big Dob and a spectroscope and lots of patience are all that is needed. The big professional scopes do not have time for this. In particular, quasar censuses in the neighborhoods of active galaxies are critically needed.
-drl
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great lesson
sage
Reged: 04/04/10
Loc: Canada
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: deSitter]
#5273401 - 06/15/12 06:33 PM
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Quote:
There is available to the amateur these days, powerful enough equipment to do real work, essential work, such as quasar surveys. A big Dob and a spectroscope and lots of patience are all that is needed. The big professional scopes do not have time for this. In particular, quasar censuses in the neighborhoods of active galaxies are critically needed.
-drl
I just starting reading "redshifts, cosomolgy, and academic science " by Halton Arp. That is the message that I am getting from the book - more looking is needed and if the professional can't do it then let the amateurs take a crack at it
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GlennLeDrew
Postmaster
Reged: 06/18/08
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: great lesson]
#5276410 - 06/18/12 12:29 AM
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In '98-'99 I found several open cluster candidates using 10X50 binos. I used the Hipparcos and Tycho data to construct color-magnitude diagrams and examine commonality of proper motions. These objects are listed in Archinal and Hynes' book, Star Clusters. Not long after I stumbled on these groups, Bruno Alessi found nearly all of the same ones after systematically searching the entire Tycho catalog, and subsequently published a paper in A&A. At that time I was preparing a paper of my own, regarding what is now officially known as Alessi 1.
This group is virtually certainly a true cluster, and fairly old at about 1 billion years. Of the 6 red giant candidates, 4 have essentially identical radial velocity, as measured by astronomer David Latham. (I was introduced to Latham by the referee who reviewed the first draft of my paper.) The other 2 are somewhat discrepant, but this could be due to binarity.
I noted that this group had a position on the sky, distance, proper motions and age that suggested that it could be related to the cluster NGC 752. Assuming the two groups were born from the same cloud complex, and utilizing the epicycle approximation of Galactic orbits, I predicted the then unknown radial velocity, which a couple of years later was the very value Latham measured. Of course, this could still be coincidental, but I *feel* the possibility of coevality is perhaps better than even.
One of the cluster candidates, in Vulpecula and not far from the Veil nebula on the sky, can be seen with the unaided eye in a dark sky.
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JKoelman
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/16/11
Loc: Bangalore, India
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: GlennLeDrew]
#5276481 - 06/18/12 01:39 AM
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Not long after I stumbled on these groups, Bruno Alessi found nearly all of the same ones after systematically searching the entire Tycho catalog, and subsequently published a paper in A&A. At that time I was preparing a paper of my own, regarding what is now officially known as Alessi 1.
Sometimes life is unfair! Did you still get your paper published? Can you maybe share a link?
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GlennLeDrew
Postmaster
Reged: 06/18/08
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: JKoelman]
#5276570 - 06/18/12 04:14 AM
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Johannes,
The paper (which I titled, "Discovery of an Old Open Cluster in Cassiopeia", didn't get far. The first draft was rejected, the referee suggesting that I obtain radial velocity measurements to buttress my case, hence the introduction to Dr. Latham. I should have re-worked it in spite of having been 'scooped.' The original version resides on one of my older computers as a Word doc, and has not been uploaded anywhere on the web.
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JKoelman
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/16/11
Loc: Bangalore, India
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: GlennLeDrew]
#5278079 - 06/19/12 12:23 AM
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Some quick googling reveals there is still some justice... ("Object: Alessi 1 / LeDrew 1")
In any case it is great to hear that even these days a serious amateur with a simple binocular can still make astronomy discoveries.
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: JKoelman]
#5334740 - 07/25/12 12:53 PM
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Hanny Van Arkel's interesting website: http://www.hannysvoorwerp.com/
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5481653 - 10/21/12 09:57 AM
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Exoplanet PH1 ( Planet Hunters 1 ) was discovered by volunteers Kian Jek of San Francisco - CA and Robert Gagliano of Cottonwood - AZ as they spotted the dimming in the lightcurve using the citizen science online PlanetHunters project. PH1 orbits a 4-star system:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/ExoUpClose.html
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Mister T
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/01/08
Loc: Upstate NY
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5482353 - 10/21/12 05:17 PM
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orbiting in a 4 star system...
I wonder what the analemma for those suns would look like on that planet 
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5533899 - 11/22/12 12:45 PM
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Amateur astronomer Tom Boles discovered his 150th supernova from his personal observatory at Coddenham, Suffolk in Great Britain.
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5668836 - 02/08/13 11:54 AM
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Of course we can't forget the Comet-chasers:
http://www.cometchaser.de/discoverystories/Comet-discoverers.html
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/14/05
Loc: coastline of Belgium
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5721948 - 03/09/13 10:17 AM
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Excellent documentary on amateur-astronomers
Time Shift Star Men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxPLBMygJeY
RefractorPhill
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ColoHank
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: western Colorado
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Re: Discoveries made by Amateur-astronomers
[Re: PhilCo126]
#5722084 - 03/09/13 11:18 AM
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How about that Italian amateur, Galileo Galilei? Credit him at least with discovering the phases of Venus, Jupiter's four largest satellites, a variety of features on the Moon, and the progression of sunspots on the rotating Sun. I made a functional replica of a Galileo scope in 2010, one fitted with store-bought and no doubt more precise and better optics, and I think it's a miracle that he was able to discover anything at all with the primitive instruments he fabricated in the early 17th century.
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