Dear CBAers,Here's the latest info concerning Brad Schaefer's attempt to cover the next U Sco outburst. Nothing to do till it outbursts, but it's nice to be ready. The most important photometry is likely to be in the first 2 days, since it's *extremely* fast.
joe -------- Original Message -------- Subject: USCO2009 Collaboration overview Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 14:33:36 -0500 (CDT) From: Brad Schaefer <schaefer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: Andrew Collazzi <acolla2@xxxxxxx>, Arne Henden <arne@xxxxxxxxx>, Ashley Pagnota <apagno1@xxxxxxx>, Ben Sugerman <ben.sugerman@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Bill Sparks <sparks@xxxxxxxxx>, Brad Schaefer <schaefer@xxxxxxx>, Brian Warner <warner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Christopher L. Gerardy" <gerardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Dan Green <dgreen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Dan Reichart <reichart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, David Buckley <dibnob@xxxxxxxxxx>, David K Lynch <David.K.Lynch@xxxxxxxx>, Eric Schlegel <eric.schlegel@xxxxxxxx>, Fred Ringwald <ringwald@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Fred Walter <fwalter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Howard E. Bond" <bond@xxxxxxxxx>, Howie Marion <hman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Joe Patterson <jop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Jonathan Kemp <jk@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Matthew Templeton <matthewt@xxxxxxxxx>, Patrick Woudt <Patrick.Woudt@xxxxxxxxx>, Rob Robinson <elr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi; The recurrent nova U Sco will soon be erupting, with the eruption being expected next spring, but it could go up any night now (2009.3+-1.0; Schaefer 2005, ApJLett, 621, L53). Here is an overview of current plans and capabilities for the USCO2009 Collaboration. We have a grand set of capabilities that cover everything. This email is so we all know the bigger picture. Here is a summary of the capabilities that we already have in place: PHOTOMETRY SPECTROSCOPY POLARIMETRY Pre-eruption ROTSE 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d Pre-eruption AAVSO Pre-eruption CTIO 1.3m IR CTIO 1.3m IRTF Optical CTIO 1.3m CTIO 1.5m PROMPT Optical CBA (fast time-series) UV Swift Swift X-ray Swift Swift In all, we'll get great photometry and spectra all the way from 10 keV to 3 microns (with only a gap in the EUV) and with time resolutions from hourly to nightly. If circumstances are good, this eruption of U Sco will be by far the best observed nova event ever. And this is all because we know *which* star will have a nova eruption and an approximate time for that eruption. For the pre-eruption time interval, we have the four ROTSE telescopes worldwide (Australia, Texas, Namibia, and Turkey) each checking once an hour. For example, in the last week (with average cloudiness and such), we are getting an average of 17 images per day well-spaced around the clock with most images just barely showing U Sco in quiescence. We also have the CTIO 1.3m getting accurate photometry every 5 days. But these images are not being automatically checked, so the real discovery will almost certainly come from AAVSO observers. Notification that U Sco is up will go to AAVSO Headquarters (monitored roughly 24/7) or possibly the CBAT (with Dan Green and colleagues on fast checking). The full instructions for starting all our observing plans will be handled by myself and/or Ashley Pagnotta (or AAVSO Headquarters if we cannot be reached). I have attached to this email the instructions that we will be operating with. (Non-public phone numbers and such have been partially 'X'd out as appropriate.) The purpose of passing this along to everyone is to allow full knowledge of the bigger picture. Also, it is important that you look over the instructions relating to yourself and alert me to any changes or errors. I have also attached a WORD document that contains a set of finder charts for U Sco, with many specific comparison stars identified and BVRIJHK magnitudes for these. We had decided against an HST proposal as the calculations suggested that the shell would be too faint, and since a shallow image from 1999 showed no shell. We think that Chandra and GALEX are not a good data source due to its slowness for reaction and the small amount of time that anyone could get. (Swift is just so perfect for us.) We realize that there is no need to propose for big telescope time, as U Sco will be too bright, and as high spectral resolution is not needed due to the >5000 km/s expansion velocities smearing out all narrow features. A capability missing here is any radio measures, but for this I do not know either what to expect nor any reason to look in radio. Perhaps the joint experience of people on this email can suggest a good science expectation and the best way to proceed. Another need is that we have little redundancy, so clouds at CTIO or elsewhere could substantially hurt the coverage (especially in the first week). So I would welcome any further collaborators for USCO2009. In particular, I can imagine that MONET (a remotely controlled {possibly automated} 1.2m pair of telescopes in Texas and South Africa) and the CV group in South Africa would both relish the opportunity. As for the politics of the USCO2009 collaboration, there are only the normal imperatives. People are free to publish their data as they will, with whatever appropriate authors on the author list. We will have one-or-more omnibus papers for which I expect that all our data will be freely included. In the end, for a well-timed U Sco eruption date, we will have a WOW! set of data. Cheers, Brad
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USCO2009plans.doc
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UScoFinderCharts.doc
Description: MS-Word document