Variable Star Observing Using Orchestrate Software John Donovan Pomona College Astronomy November 20, 2002

The Goal To summarize the manual in 5 to 10 minutes Give you the resources to start scripting right away.

I. Scripting

Orchestrate Scripting A Software Bisque product Creates scripts for TheSky and CCDSoft Easy-to-Use interface Software Bisque Astronomy Suite

The Interface Each line gives one command and consists of: -| Command | Argument | Comment |- List of commands on p.9-11 of the Orchestrate manual. Check

Taking a Light Curve You’ll need: –Images of your object over time. –Images of a standard star to make sure that the “light curve” is real (vs. light pollution). –Sky flats taken at longer intervals. –Dark Frames because it’s easy to take them seperately. Note: if you don’t have a standard yet, you can pick from a list (also on the webpage).

Sky Flats BeforeAfter

Sample Try 3 cycles of: –Variable Star –Standard Star –Repeat x3 Sky Flats Dark Frame Take Image Take Standard Take Image Take Standard Take Image Take Standard Sky Flats Dark Frame {repeat}

Images with Orchestrate Take an odd # of images. Average them in IRAF/MIRA to get one data point.

Sky Flats in Orchestrate go North, take a pic go South, take a pic go East, take a pic go West, take a pic go N-W, take a pic Median combine them to get a flat

Script-lets (fragments)

Put It Together Try 3 cycles of: –Image (5 pics each) –Standard (3 pics each) –Repeat x3 Sky Flats (5 pics) Dark Frame (1 pic) [Initial Conditions] Take Image Take Standard Take Image Take Standard Take Image Take Standard Sky Flats Dark Frame {repeat}

II. Orchestrate

Orchestrate: the program Connect to Telescope (TheSky) and Camera (CCDSoft) Start Orchestrate Connect Orchestrate to: Orchestrate icon