The Astronomer Who Came in from the Cold: the Evolution of Observing Variable Stars Over Three Decades at Appalachian State's Dark Sky Observatory (Abstract)

Volume 41 number 2 (2013)

Dan Caton

133 Thompson Hollow Road, Vilas, NC 28692; catondb@appstate.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) Variable star research has been my main work from my Ph.D. dissertation work through three decades of research at our Appalachian State University Dark Sky Observatory. I will present a review of that work and the evolution of technology that took me from in situ observing with a photometer in a cold dome to remote and automatic CCD observing today. The research targets included RS CVn stars, apsidal motion eclipsing binaries, Trojan planets, and exoplanets in binaries.