At the NEAF astronomy conference this Spring, we had a drawing at the RSpec booth for a give-away of a Star Analsyer and a copy of the RSpec software. We were excited that the winner was Benjamin Palmer.
Benjamin lives near the NEAF conference site in New York State. He’s passionate about astronomy. And, although he’s only 16 years old, he’s already quite well-informed on astronomical topics. We really enjoyed meeting and chatting him. His excitement is contagious.
Benjamin enthusiastically says, “I can’t wait to undertake my newest research project, ‘A Spectroscopic Study of Alpha Cygni Variables’ using RSpec and my new Star Analyser grating.”
We’ve exchanged several emails with him since the NEAF conference and we’re happy to say that Ben remains very excited about his plans for the upcoming summer observing season.
Congratulations, Benjamin! We look forward to hearing more about your spectroscopic adventures!
We predict a bright future for Ben! He’s shown in the photo with his 4.5 EQ reflector.
By the way, this was great weekend for Benjamin. He also won Astronomy Magazine’s 2011 Youth Essay Contest. (Link)
Iain Petrie is an amateur astronomer who lives in the UK. He has blogged his experience getting started in spectroscopy. Click on this link to go to his first of many articles:
http://www.fouragesofsand.com/2011/01/betelgeuse.html
Iain’s entire series of posts on spectroscopy are a very valuable introduction for newcomers. Start at the bottom of each page to read in chronological order: Set one: link. Set two: link.
Our booth at NEAF was jammed with attendees fascinated to discover how easy it is for amateurs to do spectroscopy with RSpec. Below is a write-up by Nick Howes in the June issue of the UK-based Astronomy Now Magazine. (link)
The Seattle Astronomical Society invited RSpec’s Tom Field to speak at their club meeting, hosted at the University of Washington. Greg Scheiderer was there and wrote about his experience: link.
Alberto Villalobos is a chemist who lives in Costa Rica. He has a blog named “On the Shoulders of Giants.” (Isn’t that a great name for an astronomy blog?!) Alberto used RSpec with a home video camera to capture spectra. Here’s his review: link. (Translated from the original Spanish by Google.)
The University of Iowa’s Department of Physics and Astronomy has posted some nice comments about RSpec and spectra that they processed using the program. Link and link.
University of Iowa's Department of Physics and Astronomy
Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of presenting RSpec at the poster session of the AAS annual winter conference. This was a perfect crowd: thousands of professional astronomers and post secondary educators. And it was great fun to see the looks of initial disbelief followed by delight when we showed a spectrum that detected the red-shift of a quasar. (link) Neither the professional nor the amateur astronomy communities are aware of just how much amazing spectroscopy can be done with simple equipment.
Ken Hudson recently published this interview with Tom about RSpec and the world of spectroscopy: link.
Mark DeVito featured Tom in their daily astronomy podcast where they discussed how to get into spectroscopy and how RSpec fits into the big picture: link.
One exciting aspect of RSpec is that you can view spectra from a live video camera, including the astronomical cameras from The Imaging Source, who published this link.
The August 2011 issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine contained four-page article by Tom on spectroscopy:
Jeff Hopkins is an amateur astronomer who studies Be stars. He is part of a growing community of amateurs working with the pros. His Zeta Aurigae campaign site has some nice examples of RSpec being used to study Be eclipse data: link.
The August 2011 issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine contained four-page article by Tom on spectroscopy:
Have you posted an article on RSpec or some online spectral profiles that you processed in RSpec? If you’d like to share them with the RSpec community, send us the details and we’ll link to your site from here.