Proposal #70

Proposer	(15617) John Martin (jmart5@uis.edu) obscode: UIS01
Assigned To	(3663) Dirk Terrell
Date Submitted	June 16, 2017
Status	Accepted
Priority	Normal
Proposal	AF Andromeda in M31 is entering an S Doradus outburst phase (ATEL 10383 - http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=10383). The target is currently V ~ 16.7 and has just gotten far enough from the Sun to comfortably observe. Very little data exists for this star in the AAVSO IAD over the last twenty years. We'd like to use AAVSO net to supplement our own imaging and photometry (https://uisacad5.uis.edu/~jmart5/M31M33photcat/AF_And.html) with anything the network could provide. In parallel Roberta Humphreys will be using the LBT to request high-res spectroscopy. I'd like to propose to follow AF And weekly through the current observing season for it (through Feb 2018). After that we will see what we have and make additional proposals for future seasons as needed to cover this outburst. The minimum and maximum magnitudes listed for the target information are its brightness during the previous quiescence and its current brightness. It is unclear how much brighter it might get but it is unlikely to get brighter than V~15.5. I am waiving the proprietary period. I would also be happy to place the brightnesses measured using AAVSO-net into the IAD database.

Targets
Target	RA (H.HH)	Dec (D.DD)	Magnitude	Telescope	Observation Frequency	Expiration Date	Proprietary Term
AF And	0.725861	41.20289	17.1–16.4	—	—	—	No

Comments

(15617) John Martin — Aug. 4, 2017, 11:30 a.m.

Target AF And has leveled off in brightness. For the months of July and August it was measured at B~16.3, V~ 16.2, R~15.8, I~15.8.

Our spectroscopy of AF And with the LBV was postponed in July by the Mt Graham fire. The LBT is now shutdown for summer monsoon season (and fire repair). When it reopens after monsoons we are hopeful that our request for spectroscopy will quickly come up in the queue.

(15617) John Martin — Aug. 24, 2017, 8:32 p.m.

Any updates on when this target might be imaged?

(15617) John Martin — Nov. 5, 2018, 9:22 p.m.

Please discontinue imaging for this proposal until such a time as you have installed an auto-guider to aid in imaging on TMO61.
The images recently provided from September 2018 are terrible. They are completely unusable and it is a waste of AAVSO resources to continue to try as long as the exposures being done are NOT properly guided.

Comments on this proposal are closed.