[vsnet-chat 1624] Re: [AAVSO-DIS] Re: FASTT-2 variables

[bas@lowell.Lowell.Edu (Brian Skiff)]

     I'm guilty as charged with mis- (or over-)interpreting Dan's
original comments about variable-star discovery on plates/films.  However,
I do still wonder what one could do with digitally scanned and calibrated
photographs.  
     In re CCD surveys:  Pojmanski used a cheap 135mm telephoto and a (cheap)
bottom-of-the-line Meade Pictor CCD off-the-shelf.  All his variables were
brighter than 11th in V, and in the course of 40 days he discovered _90_ new
variables in only 140 square degrees.  The point is that one doesn't need a
big chip or other fancy hardware (you _do_ need good software, however!).
     Also, all-sky nightly CCD patrols are not in the future, but are
happening.  The ROTSE-I cameras are already doing that to mag. 15 or so from
southern New Mexico.  A Lowell visitor from Univ. of Michigan told me last
week that they are working on the software to extract the variable-star data
from this immense dataset.
     For details regarding Pojmanski's set-up, see:

http://vsnet.astrouw.edu.pl:80/~gp/asas/variables.html

For stuff about ROTSE-I (which is definitely expensive (see the photos of
the camera system!), see details starting at:

http://vsnet.umich.edu/~rotse

Your tax dollars at work!

\Brian

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