2024 events

Sun 31st
16:00-16:30
Starlight Room

Southern eclipsing binary light curves from TESS: a collaboration between the AAQ and VSS

Roy A Axelsen, Peter N Culshaw, and Brent A Joyce

Astronomical Association of Queensland; Variable Stars South; American Association of Variable Star Observers

This presentation describes a collaboration established in early 2023 between Variable Stars South (VSS) and three members of the Astronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ). The scientific aim was to survey the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) database for light curves of 192 southern eclipsing binary systems in the VSS database. Most of the stars are close eclipsing systems with periods of less than one day. The proposal was initiated by one of us (RAA) as a possible avenue for members of the AAQ who are not skilled in photometry to become involved in variable star research. At the time of writing, 167 of 192 VSS stars had been surveyed, light curve files had been identified and downloaded for many of them, and times of primary and secondary minima had been determined and uploaded to the VSS database. Future VSS publications will include the relevant TESS data. The presentation describes the Internet resources and software employed, the methods of analysis used, and some examples of interest. Amateur astronomers not versed in the knowledge and skills required to perform photometry can make valuable contributions to variable star research.

Roy Axelson

Roy Axelsen has been an amateur astronomer for 20 years and has a long term interest in variable star photometry. He has been an active member of the Astronomical Association of Queensland since his interest in astronomy commenced, and is also a member of Variable Stars South and the American Association of Variable Star Observers. He has published a number of papers on photometry of short period pulsating variable stars and techniques used to observe them, and for this work was awarded the Page Medal of the Astronomical Society of Australia in 2016. His current interest is in close eclipsing binary systems. He contributes personal observations of these stars to the eclipsing binary database of Variable Stars South.