Pro-Am Spectroscopy in the Southern Hemisphere

Presenter(s): Bernard Heathcote

Affiliation(s): RASNZ, RAS

Session details: Saturday, 2016-03-26 00:30:00, LT101

Abstract

Scientifically useful spectroscopy by amateurs, which generally means medium/high resolution spectra taken with a slit spectrograph, has been well established in Europe for at least ten years but in the southern hemisphere, mainly Australia, it has only had a couple of active participants until recently. Increased internet coverage, the availability of more cost-effective instruments and a recent online collaborative ring (SASER) has seen a growth in southern participants and valuable pro-am collaborations leading to co-authored papers in leading international journals. This presentation will review the current situation and what is needed by those wishing to get on board the observational astrophysics train.

Biography

Bernard is a retired electronics engineer/technical manager who has been doing CCD astronomy for 20 years, initially BVRI photometry, but about 17 years ago he moved into spectroscopy. Starting with a simple filter grating he acquired a high-resolution spectrometer about 10 years ago and an echelle spectrometer six years ago. For the past decade he has only done spectroscopy, mainly for pro-am collaborations, and within the last two years set up an email ring (SASER) that brings together southern hemisphere amateurs and professional astronomers worldwide. He does his spectroscopy from inner city Melbourne and an observatory in central Victoria.