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V694 Mon (MWC 560) campaign

weo
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Fri, 02/26/2016 - 21:36

AAVSO Alert Notice 538 announces an observing campaign on the symbiotic star V694 Mon (MWC 560), which is in outburst. Photometry and spectroscopy are requested. Please see the Alert Notice for details.

Good observing,

Elizabeth Waagen, AAVSO HQ

WGR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Fri, 02/26/2016 - 23:24
I am on it

Hello Jeno/all

Its 6:23pm in Nantucket and I am on V0694 Mon.  Its 9.5 in V and 10.2 in B--very rough not ff etc.  First image.  I wil keep you posted.

 

Gary

WGR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 02:36
Reduced Result

Hello

Just uploaded the first 24 images each in B and V on LCG.  Got B = 9.95 and V = 9.45 average.  Both Cycled +/- .025 mags in phase.  Period by eyeball 2 hours.  Continuing to observe.  All values transformed via TG and TA.

Just added another 24 images in each filter, for a total of 48 data points per filter.

Gary

jrfcomet
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 03:02
V0694 Mon Spectra

To:  Gary,

Nice work!  Here is some spectra I did on this star using my CDK17 with a JTW L-200 spectrascope with a 150 ln/mm grating;  spectra resolution of about 4.67 angstroms/pixel.  I shot 5 spectra images and 3 backround (blank slit) imaes of 120 seconds at 2x2 bin each night.  

http://www.astroimage.info/files/V0694%20MonSPECTRA15&21Feb16FJQ.jpg

The H-Beta line is decreasing in intensity with respect to the H-Alpha line btw the 15Feb16 and 21Feb16 observations and a prominent He abosoption line is seen around 5873 angstroms.  The "S" on these two H-lines shows radial velocity emissions.  Need to work with higher end spectra reduction software to get more info.....long learning curve!

James

WGR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 05:10
Last Plot

Hello Frank

Can't wait to see your data.  I have posted the images thru 120 in each band.  The light curve is attached. I am out of gas, going to bed.

Gary

FMT
Affiliation
None
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 06:06
Aras group obtained ~25

Aras group obtained ~25 spectra in 2016 and observations are ongoing

The spectra (fit files) , at resolution from 500 to 15000 can be downloaded from ARAS database

http://www.astrosurf.com/aras/Aras_DataBase/Symbiotics/V694Mon.htm

January observations are described in the Information Letter http://www.astrosurf.com/aras/novae/InformationLetter/ARAS_EruptiveStars_2016-01.pdf

Attached :

Comparison of H alpha profile 31-12-2015 (Peter Somogyi) and 21-01-2016 (Tim Lester)

Comparison of H alpha profile 2016-02-16 and 2016-02-23 (F Teyssier, eshel, R = 11000)

Spectra obtained at various resolution can be seen from : http://www.spectro-aras.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1357

François Teyssier
AAVSO, ARAS

 

 

 

 

 

jrfcomet
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 10:03
ARAS Group Images

To:  François,

Nice listing of spectra;  I'll be sure to post mine after reducing it into a spectral .fits format.  Btw,  I was unable to open 2 of these (asdb_v694mon_20160211_823.fit and asdb_v694mon_20160215_880.fit) in either MaximDL 5.23, Rspec, or VSpec without getting error messages.  

They did open in BASS Project software, so the photometry folks might need to download this program before viewing this great set of spectra going back to 2011 for V0694 Mon.

James

FMT
Affiliation
None
Sat, 02/27/2016 - 10:38
Hi James,
I opened the two

Hi James,

I opened the two files with vspec and ISIS without any issue

They can't be opened in Maxim as they are not images.

About the behavior of V694 Mon in 2011, I've low res spectra on my page, with velocity of 7000 km/s !

Of course, your spectra will be welcome as soon as they will be reduced

Best regards,

 

François

 

 

Tom Field
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 02/28/2016 - 15:00
Using RSpec to view spectral plots

A version of RSpec (1.0.8.14) has just been released that can read 1D FITS spectra of the sort that many on-line databases use.

For those here who aren't familiar with 1D spectra files:

  • The FITS format that most of us use regularly is for exchanging images.
     
  • However, the FITS standard also provides a way to store graphs. These files (which have the same file extension .fit) are simply a table listing x,y coordinates.
     
  • Sites like the BeSS database (link) and the A.R.A.S. Spectral Database (link) use this 1D format to store spectral plots. The x-values are wavelength and the y-values are flux intensity.

If you've got RSpec installed, you can download the latest update from the Tools, Check for Updates screen.

If you're not using RSpec today, you can download a free trial version from this link.

To load a 1D FITS image into the software, drag and drop the file onto the graphing window, or click the "Open" button on the graphing toolbar.  There's also new button on the tool bar (labeled "H") that will display the header of the FITS file.

Tom Field
Field Tested Systems
www.rspec-astro.com 

 

WGR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sun, 02/28/2016 - 19:24
Is V0694 Rebrightening?

Good Morning/Afternoon

I moved this post here, as its more germain.

I was fortunate to observe V0694 Mon again last night.  It appears to be both cycling and may have rebrightened by about a 0.1 mag in V and B last night, exclusive of the hourly variations.  Both JD7445 and JD7446 obsevations were backed up nicely by GFRB and HBB respectively.  I attached a plot from the LCG below.  

Did the spectra have any features to suggest a rebrightening?  It is forcast to clear tonight.  I plan to observe it again.  Its nicely placed, just East of Orion and only slightly South.  Its visible from dusk till midnight with air mass of 2 to 1.5 to 2 as it strattles the merridian.   Any feedback welcome.  

Forecast is for clear tonight (7447, ie Sunday) and I will observe again.  It would be great if someone could get spectra every 20 minutes, and see how that aligns with the variations.

 

Gary

WGR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 02/29/2016 - 15:43
V0694 Mon--Sunday Night

Hello All

Well 3 clear nights in a row.  I know I am going to pay for this.  I am observing it again now.  I will update with a lightcurve later.  I did download my first & second stint on the LCG if your curious.  Once again HBB has corroborated the light curve with observations of her own.  Hope you are observing also.

Updated with the Light Curve from Sunday nite.

Clear Skies

Gary

jeno
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 03/02/2016 - 15:35
Robust flickering

Hi Gary, Francois, and others.  Thanks so much for all your fabulous data!  Columbia graduate student Adrian Lucy and I have arranged for UV and X-ray monitoring of this target with the Swift satellite for the next 6 weeks or so.  All of your data will be extremely useful when we sit down to interpret those satellite observations.

As I just posted on the Campaigns forum thread for this target, it will be especially important to obtain intensive coverage of this target if it starts to drop out of the optical high state.  In the similar system CH Cyg, a jet was produced and the flickering was quenched when the optical brightness faded.  We are very interested in whether the same thing happens for V694 Mon.

Thanks again,

Jeno

fguenther
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 03/02/2016 - 18:35
Pattern?

Just curious.  It appears we are picking up a pattern repeating sligtly less than one day apart.  Are we seeing the star rotation, bring in a bright area into our vision repeatedly?  One that seems to be brightening?

 

Frank

Wed, 03/09/2016 - 00:43
patterns

Hi Frank- Adrian here (PI for the Chandra and Swift data) --- it's probably just random variability, tempting as it is to see patterns. But if we get enough reliable (having more than one observer taking data at the same time, at least occasionally, helps) light curves, we should be able to get some interesting information after converting from the time to frequency domain. This would help us look for any patterns, as well as examine the timescales of random variability.

Thanks for all your hard work! Sorry for the delayed response.

FMT
Affiliation
None
Wed, 03/09/2016 - 18:45
Last spectra in Aras data base

Here the last spectra in aras data base

H beta line 4-03-2016 by Peter Somogyi (Lhires III 600 l/mm R = 2500)

H alpha line 7-03-2016 by Andrew Wilson (Lhires III 2400 l/mm R = 14000)

H alpha line 7-03-2016 by David Boyd (LISA R = 1000)

No plateau bteween absorptio and emission - Maximum velocity ~ 2000 km/s

The botton of absorption shows interesting feature, especillay in Peter's spectruù

47 spectra in the database for 2016

Observations ongoing

http://www.astrosurf.com/aras/Aras_DataBase/Symbiotics/V694Mon.htm

François Teyssier
AAVSO, ARAS

 

 

 

 

 

oldfrankland
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 04/07/2016 - 17:13
V694 Mon spectroscopy

Have collected spectra on six nights now, my low resolution spectral plots are essentially identical.  Some variations can be seen in the absorption troughs at 4861 and 6563, though, at the resolution of my system, you can't read too much into the results.  Velocity tends to appear consistent in my plots at -2300....give or take some.  A fascinating object.

http://www.lafterhall.com/V0694-Mon_spec_06apr2016-0531ut_001.png

http://www.lafterhall.com/V0694-Mon_Doppler-4861A_comp6_001.png

http://www.lafterhall.com/V0694-Mon_Doppler-6563A_comp6_001.png

Jim Ferreira, Livermore CA
 

Mon, 09/12/2016 - 17:52
continued monitoring

Hi folks- PI for the X-ray/radio data here. If MWC 560 = V694 Mon is a nighttime object again for anyone, I'd love some photometry (e.g., V band, but any band observed during the early-2016 outburst is fine). Ideally we'd get to check if there's still flickering, but even just one observation would give us a hint as to whether MWC 560 is still in outburst, help us evaluate whether we should apply for more X-ray time and how important continued AAVSO-monitoring is, and aid in the interpretation of radio data still being taken every 1.5 months through January.

A spectrum of, e.g., H-alpha or H-beta would be nice too to check the status of the outflow.

Thanks!