[vsnet-chat 4478] 100,000 and counting ... - photometry of minor planet 1999 KW4

["Tonny Vanmunster" <Tonny.Vanmunster@advalvas.be>]

Hi CBA'ers,

I have just submitted my 100,000th photometric CCD observation to the CBA (a
CR Boo observation). The corresponding amount of observing hours equals 2214
hours. All data were acquired using a SBIG ST-7 CCD, coupled to either a
0.25-m f/6.3 or 0.35-m f/6.3 telescope. I'm not sure what the average life
time of an ST-7 is, but I'm hoping mine is still in a good shape ...

It's (again) extremely clear over Belgium, so I'm heading for another
observing campaign ... I'm usually only doing photometry on cataclysmic
variable stars, but last night and this night I'm making an exception. Some
of you will know that minor planet 1999 KW4 is dipping inside the orbit of
Earth for an extremely close flyby. The object is expected to reach mag 10.7
V. A recent IAU circular mentions that 1999 KW4 is a binary minor planet,
and in June 2000 some amateurs already detected brightness fluctuations in
1999 KW4's light curve of 0.1 to 0.2 magnitude, suggesting an orbital period
of about 3 hours.

Last night, the object was still extremely low in the morning sky, but I
managed to get a 30 minutes CCD run, built up of series of 30 sec exposures.
Each exposure shows the minor planet as a trail, due to the very fast motion
of the object. This night and the following nights, I'm planning longer
sessions, wondering what the resulting light curve will look like ...

There's humps and humps ...

Best regards,
Tonny Vanmunster
CBA Belgium

VSNET Home Page

Return to Daisaku Nogami

---

vsnet-adm@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp