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Research Committee
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The committee is responsible for conducting and encouraging projects in astronomical research. This committee conducts the program portion of the May General Meeting which showcases the results of members' projects of the last year.
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Latest Research Committee Reports
Research Meeting Schedule & Announcements
Research Projects
Research Materials
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Committee Chair:
Ed Carlos
Announcements:
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Research and Astrophotography Sessions are scheduled either Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or
Sunday nights, weather and schedule permitting. Announcements are made through the aaigroup in Yahoo Groups.
Committee Meetings:
Date:
TBD for 2007-2008
Time:
Location:
Sperry Observatory
(May vary, please
contact me prior to meetings for exact location, or subscribe to our aaigroup on Yahoo for announcements)
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Projects for 2007/2008
Active Projects
a. Technical Research
-
Galaxy Zoo
Participation - Assist professional astronomer in classifying galaxies
surveyed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
- Asteroid Hunting Series
- Asteroid Lightcurve Project - Use the 24 inch telescope and the
ST6 CCD equipment (as well as AAI member equipment) to locate known asteroids and collect their lightcurve information
in support of existing professional
and amateur projects.
- Hunting for Birth and Death of Stars* - Use the 24 inch telescope and the
ST6 CCD equipment to locate and record star births in the Milky Way's star forming
regions as well as supernovae in other galaxies.
- Light Pollution and CCD Imaging - Perform a study of CCD imaging with
light pollution and publish a tutorial on how amateur astronomers can compensate
for its impact.
- Telescope Control - Perform a study of telescope control using
mobile devices, including wireless access to the control device.
*This project was inspired by a recent article in
June 2004 Sky and Telescope titled "Unraveling the Mystery of McNeil's
Nebula" by Edwin L. Aguirre. Also, members who wish to
participate using their own equipment are welcome.
b. Facilities Upgrades
- Install digital setting circles on the 24 inch telescope
- Design and install a computer network at the observatory. Leverage
wireless technology where possible to integrate with future broadband
access.
c. Workshops
- Run CCD imaging workshops using the club's current ST8XME camera.
- Propose purchase of a Toucam Pro for webcam planetary imaging workshops.
- Run separate workshops for image processing using tools
such as Registax, MaximIDL, Adobe Photoshop.
d. Tutorials/Publications
- Publish at least one article in the AAI newsletter
- Provide web contents for the AAI website, e.g. tutorials, project reports,
etc.
e. Supported Projects
- Work with the Finance Committee to seek corporate funding for future
research projects.
- Identify and participate in established professional astronomy projects
such as "The NGC/IC Project", SETI@home, etc.
f. Collaboration (local or national)
- Organize projects with other clubs
- Connect to and support other established amateur astronomer projects
g. Work in Progress
- Work continues on restoring the Tuthill Trailer
Telescope.
Image
courtesy of Clif Ashcraft
If you would like to participate in this committee you can send a message
with your area of interest to Ed Carlos.
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All materials for this
committee are available in the aaigroup on Yahoo. Click here to access the Files
Section.
Click here if you need
a PowerPoint
Viewer or a
MS Word
Viewer
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