2024 events

Sat 30th
14:00-14:30
Starlight Room

Interesting Insights from a Nova Hunting Program

Andrew Pearce

AAVSO, Variable Stars South

This presentation will describe a systematic nova hunting program that has been undertaken since 2021 using a simple DSLR camera from my backyard in Perth. The presentation will focus on the techniques used as well as discovery circumstances of the 5 galactic novae found so far. In addition, it will provide an insight into the professional astronomer interest in some of these discoveries and observations that have been made at other wavelengths and with space based and large terrestrial professional observatories as well as the effective collaboration with other amateur astronomers when initially confirming these discoveries.

Andrew has been an active amateur astronomer since 1980. For most of that time Andrew has undertaken systematic programs in the visual and CCD observations of comets and variable stars and reported these to the AAVSO, Variable Stars South and the ICQ. He has made over 3,000 observations of comets and over 170,000 observations of variable stars and contributed to a large number of professional campaigns. In recent times, he has undertaken a nova hunting program and has been successful with the discovery or co-discovery of 5 galactic novae at the time of writing. Andrew received the Berenice and Arthur Page Medal in 2000.