M 29 NGC 6913

Here's an image I processed the other night of M 29 NGC 6913.

webtreatz.com/component/option,com_zoom/...ageNo,1/key,4/hit,1/

It was taken on 5 January 2008
Using 0.9m Wynne Newt.at f/4+ AP8p CCD
L 6 x 30 secs, RGB 6 x 30 secs each filter
Processed MIRA PRO 7.5

Eamonn A
MPC J62
www.kingslandobservatory.com

MOD: Fixed link

It looks just what you would see through the scope Eamonn. It's a good cluster to view in a crowded area.

Keith..

Hi Eamonn thanks for sharing that lovely little cluster, there's some real giants in there (spectral class B0).Have you preformed an active search in that area, and do you mind if i ask what type of method are you using for your exoplanet hunting.

Hi Dogstar,

I haven't specifically done a search in that area in question.

The method I use for monitoring transits of exoplanets is by photometry.
I use a CCD camera on the telescope. A predicted transit could be an hour to 1.5 hours. Selecting comparison stars of known magnitude that are similar to the target. The procedure is to take exposures of 20 seconds equidistant in time, this exposure time counteracts the scintillation problem. You could end up with 300 exposures. Because you want to achieve micro variability magnitudes, processing is important to be sensitive enough to detect this variation. I use Mira Pro for this task.

Exoplanets can be thought of as belonging to three catagories:

1. Bright transiting exoplanets (BTE)
2. Faint transiting exoplanets
3. Exoplanets not known to undergo transits.

The simplest catagory is the first one BTE. You observe it every clear night regardless of when it is expected to undergo transit (Out of transit observing or OOT).

This provides a wealth of data for assessing systematic errors affecting light curve behaviour with air mass and hour angle. It may also turn up an unexpected secondary transit produced by a second exoplanet in the far off solar system. This observing strategy could also produce the discovery of a Trojan exoplanet. This requires patience and interest in understanding your telescope system.

A slightly more demanding project would be to measure a bright transit exoplanet BTE mid transit times and adding them to the data base of similar observations by others. Eventually a new exoplanet in a resonant orbit could be found this way.

Measurements of transit depth versus filter band can be useful for newly discovered exoplanets since this could provide a solution for planet size.

You could observe nominally NTE exoplanets at times they're predicted to have possible transits in order to determine whether or not they really are an NTE instead of a BTE that is "waiting" to be discovered.

I hope this summary clarifies your question.

Eamonn A
MPC J62
www.kingslandobservatory.com

Hi Eamonn thanks thanks for that.Do you need to recalculate for the scintillation between summer and winter?

That looks like a very sparse open cluster, I am amazed it has an NGC designation at all! :shock: Still, that is a nice image Eamonn. I think the stars could be a tad sharper, but the colours look natural to me.