Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21347413r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #474.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.429
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in Rosman, NC has been imaging 5 degrees of the sky surrounding Polaris since 2004 using a wide-angle lens and CCD camera. The images are used for differential photometry and to measure the variation in brightness of the Polaris itself. To enhance the quality of the measurements of Polaris a special robotic telescope mount was built to accommodate a narrow field-of-view telescope that focuses on Polaris alone. The movement of Polaris is a circle about 1 degree in radius every 24 hours which is 1 arcsecond every 8 seconds of clock time. The design team had to consider that the polar axis is on a 19-year cycle due to the changing lunar gravitational attractions upon the earth's equatorial bulge. There are several components to this effect. The lunar component amplitude is +/-9 arcseconds towards the ecliptic pole with a period of 18.6 years. The solar component is +/- 1.2 arcseconds over 0.5 years; there is a 'fortnightly nutation' of +/- 0.1 arcseconds per 5 days; there is also a seasonal variation caused by the movement of airm asses of +/- 0.18 arcseconds per year. Utilizing two CCD cameras, the SBIG STV and the SBIG ST7 we can capture the image of Polaris by following the path of the star in the sky with linear actuators set to the coordinates of its circular path.
Castelaz Michael
Cline Donald J.
Ritchie Justin
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