Blogs / Dr.Bob's blog / Week one on the mountain pursuing eps Aur
Week one on the mountain pursuing eps Aur
At least we were able to point the telescope TOWARD eps Aur this afternoon - despite the snow flurries (yes, even in June). 40F high today. Now that classes are done, we've moved up to Denver University's high altitude observatory atop Mt. Evans, Colorado (http://www.du.edu/~rstencel/MtEvans ) for the purpose of attempting daytime observing of eps Aur. The observatory at 14,125 ft elevation is solar powered, but the recent run of cloudy, snowy weather has depleted our battery capacity. Thus, this week we've spent time digging out the doorways, chipping away ice, back-charging the battery system with a portable generator, confirming that the telescope drives and points correctly, removing the overwinter debris from last summer's miller moth invasion, etc. Once skies clear, we will attempt some near and mid-IR imaging and optical spectra IF the combination of pointing and daytime dark skies at elevation permit. Stay tuned.
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Observers have been reporting a brightening of the star system. Des Loughney of Edinburg, Scotland reported a V band estimate of 2.89 on 30 May 2009. He is using a DSLR camera for his photometry. A similar brightening was seen during the 1982/84 eclipse just prior to first contact and just after 4th contact. This may be due to a clear region being swept out by the secondary, just ahead of and just behind it. Normally epsilon Aurigae stays fainter than 3.0 in the V band out-of-eclipse. While the official prediction for the start (first contact) of the next eclipse is August of 2009, be aware that the eclipse has been shown to start at different times at different wavelengths. In fact it may start earlier in all bands. Predictions for the UBV bands are as follows:U - Friday, 21 August 2009, B - Tuesday, 11 August 2009, V - Thursday, 30 July 2009As can be seen the eclipse may be starting earlier in the longer wavelength bands.RI and JH data will be very valuable here.Last year at HPO we were able to get our first UBV photometry just before sunrise on 28 July. Weather permitting we plan to try even earlier this year.