Announcement J62

To make the workshop worthwhile to do we need participants.

This forum I hope will muster up interest. If IFAS accept this proposed workshop event then this would have to be proposed to the SAC committee whom organise WSP.

We really need to hear from others to see if there is enough interest in this field. I am not convinced there is actual practical interest. I hope I am wrong. However, this could be by way of announcing a new post to poll the IFAS membership of such a proposed workshop.

If there is enough interested then Dave and I can work out a theme and see how long it will take.

You never know, this could open a whole new observing programme rather like the one discussed last year at WSP.



Eamonn A

Guys,

Bear in mind that the rest of us won't be nearly as up to speed with asteroid observations as you guys, so I reckon a two stage workshop is probably called for.

Stage 1 might go something like:
Whats out there - history and list and behaviour of asteroids
What equipment do I need.
Where do I look.
Astrometry for beginners.
maybe a simple practical (might be harder to organise).

Stage 2 (by now the hard core are the only ones left):
Advanced Astrometry (and anything else you can throw at us)
How do I get my observatory status.

Just my €0.02.

John,

I think your suggestions are good and doable.

Dave and I are well aware of the fact that extremely few of us here have undertaken this field. We are also aware that a workshop should be able to convey on a step by step approach the easiest route to enter this fascinating field of minor planet and make it enjoyable and rewarding in its many facets.

The question is are people interested in minor planets. If so, what do you want to do to observe them. The reason I mention this, is that it may not be as glamorous, like imaging galaxies and nebulae. However, out of all the different fields in astronomy, the minor planets are about the only field wide open in doing science, literally contributing to the scientific field. My own interest are minor planets beyond the Solar System within the Edgeworth Kuiper belt. The same principles apply as minor planets within the asteroid belt but are much brighter.

Once the above is fulfilled and we have a reasonable number of participants then we can follow your suggestions.

Eamonn A

Eamonn,

The point you are raising is an interesting one. It's all well and good obtaining an observatory code, but if one doesn't persue any scientific goals, then one could argue that there is little point in obtaining the code in the first place. Afterall, there is a legitimate purpose to getting the code in the first place - it's not done just for the sake of it.

Personally, what I would be interested in knowing is: what practical work can be done by amateurs in the astrometry/photometry/other fields from which one could develop real and practical scientific data? Perhaps mabey a Beginners Guide on each topic? If people develop an understanding and interest in these fields, they may want to then persue these goals. For the most part, mainstream amateur astronomy concentrates on the visual observing and "pretty pictures" fields, hence few people here have persued the scientific goal.

If one were to develop a taste for the aforementioned scientific fields, one may then wish to develop scientific data, a small part of which would involve obtaining an observatory code. These guides however would need to specify the level of equipment involved in order to place a note of realism on it and allow one to quantify the resources required to persue these objectives. Would yourself and Dave be interesting in persuing this?

Regards & Thanks,

Good points John and Michael.

Personally, I am intersted in the science but accept that others are into the pretty pictures or visual.

That said, I still take the pretty pictures - as you all know I guess there's only so many times you can image M42 and there's only so many times people will goo at it.

You can actually do both! In fact, Brian Warner (Photometry expert) recommends you do this. Doing science alone will drive you mad.

And I'd totally agree with him.

The observatory code is of course just a medallion if science is not your real goal. So yes, its not to be taken on as a medal to be won and then have nothing more to do with the MPC. But equally, that doesn't mean you slavishly monitopr asteroids for the rest of your days. I like to aim for a 50:50 split.

A beginners guide is a great idea - lay out the stall and let folks pick whatever takes their fancy. They'll soon know if any of it isn't for them.

So, how's about that idea? Beginners guide to doing real science with you kit?




Dave

As someone who eventually aims to do some real science in a few years. I think this is an excellent idea. Personally speaking it would be great if this beginners guide could also cover spectroscopy and what contributions amateurs can make in this field.