Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory with co-organizers, which were the Section of Variable Stars and Exoplanets of the Slovak Astronomical Society of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak Union of Astronomers (hereinafter the Section), the Slovak Central Observatory and the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the UPJŠ in Košice. The event took place from July 25 to August 3, 2022 at the Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle. In keeping with its name, astrocamp is aimed at research of variable stars.

The subtitle of this year’s edition was “From Pictures to Spectrum”. The organizers responded to the fact that spectroscopy is now feasible even in amateur conditions. In addition to traditional photometric tasks, which participants usually solve, the astrocamp held a course of spectroscopy of variable stars led by RNDr. Theodor Pribulla, CSc., from the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i. in Tatranská Lomnica. The course consisted of theoretical lectures, but also practical exercises. The participants tried the processing of eshelet spectra in an IRAF environment step by step. Only at the end was presented a script that will perform the whole process at once. They also got acquainted with the iSpec software package and tried to determine the basic atmospheric parameters of the star from the supplied spectra. All exercises took place in a Linux operating system environment running from USB sticks that participants received at the start of the camp. The image of Linux with all software packages and necessary settings was prepared by another employee of the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., RNDr. Richard Komžík, CSc.

A total of 21 participants took part in the astrocamp, 6 of them from Ukraine, the rest from Slovakia. Unfortunately, not all Slovak participants were able to stay for the entire 9 days of astrocamp. The cause must be seen mainly in the conflict of terms. At the time of the summer new moon, many different astronomical events take place in Slovakia. The organizational head of the astrocamp was the chairman of the Section Pavol A. Dubovsky. The technical provision of the astrocamp was in charge of another employee of the Vihorlat Observatory, Tomáš Medulka. The participation of external lecturers from the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i. was crucial for the success of the event. Leading a group of diverse participants was challenging. For some, even the use of Linux OS itself was new. Together, however, all the goals were finally achieved.

In addition to the spectroscopic course, the usual astrocamp program took place. Night observations and solving basic tasks from the research of variable stars. The task of determining and applying transformation coefficients was solved by Stanislav Šúst and Matúš Kamenec. A group of students led by Dr. Marsaková solved the classic task of constructing an O-C diagram for selected eclipsing binary stars. Mykhailo Hontarenko, a student of Jagiellonian University, presented his statistical research on a selected sample of classical cepheids. The Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle is known for conducting long-term monitoring of spin variations of intermediate polars. Therefore, the task of adding additional points to the O-C diagrams and their interpretation is never missing during the astrocamp. This time, students Jana Markus and Inna Izvieková tackled it. In connection with the spectroscopic topic, the best Slovak amateur spectroscopist Ing. Martin Vrašťák presented his observations and methodological procedures in data collection and analysis.

Although much of the work an astronomer does on a computer, what astronomers like most is practical observation. There are excellent conditions for this at the Astronomical Observatory in Kolonica Saddle. For each task one suitable telescope can be allocated. This year there was a problem with the biggest one – the Vihorlat National Telescope. Electronics failed. The problem was solved only at the end of the astrocamp thanks to intuition T. Pribula. However, the current data for solving the task on intermediate polars was obtained through the Csere telescope in Hlohovec, which is remotely controllable. The exemplary cooperation of Slovak observatories was also spiced up by the presence of the director of the Observatory and Planetarium M. R. Štefánik in Hlohovec, Mgr. Karol Petrík.

The last evening at Variable includes the presentation of the final presentations of individual researchers and the Jindřich Šilhán Prize for an exemplary approach to observing variable stars. This time, a high school student from Odessa Lev Tartakovskyi was awarded.

Enriching Variable with a spectroscopic theme was certainly beneficial. Lecturers from the Astronomical Institute promised to participate in the future. It’s also a challenge for potential participants to suggest what exactly they’d like to learn from the Variable astrocamp. It will certainly be necessary to adjust the date of the event so that there is no collision with other events. For Variable astrocamp, it is not crucial in which phase of the Moon it takes place. The aesthetic experience of the dark colonial sky is interesting, but it is not the main goal of the event, which is increasingly taking on the character of a summer school.

Pavol A. Dubovsky

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory with co-organizers, which were the Slovak Central Observatory, the Slovak Astronomical Society of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Slovak Union of Astronomers, the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the UPJŠ in Košice and the Non-Investment Fund Teleskop. The event took place from July 31 to August 8, 2021 at the Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle. It was also the first action of the newly established Section of Variable Stars and Exoplanets SAS at SAS and SZA (hereinafter Section). In keeping with its name, astrocamp is aimed at observing variable stars. The observatory is excellently equipped for this purpose. There are a number of telescopes for visual observation, CCD photometry, and a low-resolution slit spectrograph LISA was also available for participants. After a long time, the participants were purely Slovaks. Traditional participants from Ukraine and Poland did not arrive due to travel restrictions in place. Eventually, a group of eleven enthusiasts gathered at Variable, four of whom are already members of the Section and the others will soon become them. The organizational leader of the astrocamp was RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc., director of the Vihorlat Observatory. The expert leader was the chairman of the Section himself, Pavol A. Dubovsky. The technical provision of the astrocamp was in charge of another employee of the Vihorlat Observatory, Tomáš Medulka.

In terms of content, Variable astrocamp consists in solving research tasks that participants choose from the offered list. The tasks are built in such a way that the solver should go through the whole process from theoretical preparation, through practical observation, data analysis to presentation of results. Astrocamp is thus actually a training camp in which participants increase their knowledge and skills and, on the other hand, provide their own experience to colleagues. In the end, each participant gained an overview of all solved tasks and thus a comprehensive overview of the methods of research of variable stars. The title of the astrocamp “From Argelander to Savanevych” was also written on the invitation. That is, from simple methods of visual observation to sophisticated processing of CCD photometry developed by a group of Ukrainian programmers led by prof. Savanevyč with the active help of astronomers from the Vihorlat Observatory.

This year, out of five tasks announced, participants chose four. So they formed four groups. The visual group consisted of a single participant, Peter Veress, who focused on visual estimates of cepheid brightness. It’s beautiful that anyone else is interested in observing with their own eyes at a time when everything takes place on computer monitors. Stanislav Šúst, Peter Cabuka and Tomáš Chrenko embarked on the routine task of determining the transformation coefficients for individual telescopes used for CCD photometry. The classic task of constructing O-C diagrams for eclipsing binaries was solved by Vladimír and Eva Popardovský. True only on archival data. Because they managed to get the whole light curve themselves only on the last night. They also tried to innovate. They compared the minima times obtained by various methods implemented in the MAVKA program with those obtained using a neural network created in the Matlab environment. An attractive topic about spectroscopy of variable stars attracted Robert Barsa and Martin Popardovský. Yes, the well-known Slovak astrophotographer devoted himself to spectroscopy. And he had the opportunity to experience how exciting this discipline is. It was during Variable that the so called P Cygni profile in the spectrum of Nova Vulpeculae 2021 (V606 Vul) appeared overnight in the emission lines.

Thus, the stars themselves wished astrocamp with their activity. In addition to the aforementioned nova, it was also possible to observe the extremely slow nova V1405 Cas and at the same time the extremely fast nova V1674 Her. It was worse with conditions in the Earth’s atmosphere. Only the last night was completely clear. Until then, every hole in the clouds had to be exploited.

The last evening at Variable includes the presentation of the final presentations of individual researchers and the Jindřich Šilhán Prize for an exemplary approach to observing variable stars. This time, Stanislav Šúst, a recent graduate of post-secondary studies in astronomy, was awarded. However, we are pinning our hopes on the whole group of astronomers – variable stars observers, that has formed here. With such people, the activity of the Section of Variable Stars and Exoplanets will certainly be full of amazing experiences.

Photo

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory with the support of the Slovak Central Observatory in Hurbanovo. Co-organizers were Podduklianske Educational Centre in Svidník, Gmina Wisniowa, Slovak Union of Astronomers, Faculty of Natural Sciences of UPJŠ in Košice, Non-investment fund Teleskop. The event took place from July 24 to August 2, 2019 at the Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle. In keeping with its name, astrocamp is aimed at observing variable stars. The observatory is excellently equipped for this purpose. There are plenty of telescopes for both visual and CCD observations, and this year, for the first time, the low-resolution slit spectrograph LISA was also available on Variable. Still, the low number of participants was disappointing. Three participants from Ukraine, two from Poland and, besides the organizers, only one amateur astronomer from Slovakia. Several traditional participants from abroad did not come for objective reasons (term collision with the International Olimpiad in astronomy and astrophysics). Why Slovak variable star observers are not interested in Variable is still unclear.

Since 2011, the content of the Variable astrocamp has been to solve research tasks that participants choose from the offered list. They solve the tasks with the help of supervisors who provide expert advice. Practical night observations are carried out under the supervision of observatory technicians. In addition to the observatory’s six telescopes, two private instruments of participants were also used. Observing conditions were variable. Most nights were only partially usable, observations were often interrupted by clouds. Nevertheless, we managed to gather enough data. 25 light curves, 11 spectra, and 45 visual brightness estimates of variable stars were recorded. Some tasks also required the use of archival data. There are also plenty of them available at the observatory. The last evening of the astrocamp belongs to the presentation of results of individual researchers. Their level was a pleasant surprise.

At the Variable astrocamp, it is customary to award the Jindřich Šilhán Prize for an exemplary approach to observing variable stars. It was not easy to choose one laureate. Finally, Dmytro Deordiiev, a student of an eleven-year school in Nikolaev, Ukraine, was honored. He convinced the organizers mainly by the quality of the final presentation.

The scientific program was diversified by tourist activities such as a trip to Morské oko and a visit to the Bejvoč recreation area in the nearby village of Kolonica. It took place by chance on the day of the folklore festivals organized here every year by the village of Kolonica.

RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc.

Director of the Vihorlat Observatory in Humenné

Presentation

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory with the support of the Slovak Central Observatory in Hurbanovo. The co-organizers were the Slovak Association of Astronomers, the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the UPJŠ in Košice, the Non-Investment Fund Teleskop, Podduklianske Educational Centre in Svidník, Gmina Wisniowa. The event took place from 09 to 18 July 2018. This year, a school youth hostel in the village of Stuposiany in the middle of the Biesczady Starry Sky Park in Poland was chosen as the location of the astrocamp. A group of young variable star observers from Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine intended to test observational conditions in a place where light pollution is virtually non-existent. They made sure that light pollution is really minimal, the sky shows only natural brightness. However, it only showed up for three nights. The rest of the astrocamp was characterized by wet and cloudy weather.

However, observing variable stars is no longer just night observation through binoculars. More time will be taken by the selection of the observation program, the technical preparation of the observation and the subsequent processing and analysis of the data. It was these activities that the participants of Variable 2018 could fully devote themselves to. From the formal point of view, the content of astrocamp is to solve research tasks that participants choose from the offered list. Of the six offered, participants dealt with the solution of five. The final day belonged to the presentation of results in the form of short lectures.

At the Variable astrocamp, it is customary to award the Jindřich Šilhán Prize for an exemplary approach to observing variable stars. The award went to Mateusz Windak from the Youth Astronomical Observatory in Niepolomice. Mateusz focuses mainly on astrophotography. But on astrocamp, in addition to a lot of nice pictures, he also made photometry of the dwarf planet Pluto.

Since astrocamp was more theoretical than practical, there was also room for theoretical lectures. They were carried out in the spirit of international cooperation. At their own request, the Ukrainian group received a lecture on transforming photometric data into a standard system. In return, the Polish part of the participants was trained on the use of MCV software in photometric data processing. The participants informed each other about the existence of associations of variable star observers in their countries. Pavol Dubovský supplied very up-to-date information about the joint meeting of AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) and BAA (British Astronomical Society) in Great Britain, from which he has just returned. RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc., talked to everyone about accretion processes in tight binary stars. The main theoretical contributions were two lectures by employees of the Vihorlat Observatory. Tomáš Medulka spoke on the topic “What to do when you discover a new variable star” and Pavol Dubovský had an overview paper on “Superhumps of cataclysmic variable stars”.

During the astrocamp, there were also several sightseeing trips to the attractions of the Biesczady region. Of course, they also included a visit to the astrotourist facility of Pavol Ďuriš in the village of Dwernik. The participants of the astrocamp toured the infrastructure of the observatory and were treated to sausages and vegetarian goulash. After dinner, they went to Mount Otryt, where there is a small astronomical observatory with a telescope with a diameter of 40 cm on Dobsonian GoTo mount. However, the stars showed themselves for a while only after descending down to Dwernik.

RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc.

Director of the Vihorlat Observatory in Humenné

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory with the support of the Slovak Central Observatory in Hurbanovo. Co-organizers were Podduklianske Educational Centre in Svidník, Gmina Wisniowa, Slovak Association of Astronomers, Faculty of Natural Sciences of UPJŠ in Košice, Non-investment fund Teleskop. The event took place from 17 to 26 July 2017. A diverse group of people from Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine met here, whose common interest is variable stars. The 20 participants included professional astronomers, astronomy students, but also amateur astronomers and members of astronomy clubs from high schools.

Since 2011, the content of the Variable astrocamp has been to solve research tasks that participants choose from the offered list. This format has been slightly modified. The role of technicians to provide researchers with observational material has been strengthened. Research tasks were predominantly tied to specific telescopes. The observatory at Kolonica Saddle provided 6 telescopes for astrocamp purposes, on which 6 research tasks were solved. In addition, two private devices of the participants themselves were used. The binoculars were really fully utilized. Of the nine nights of astrostasis, on seven some observations were done. The weather was really good for only four nights, but the hunt for data drove participants to take advantage of even short-term gaps in clouds. Observation and processing took a lot of time. There was not much time left for theoretical evaluation. Nevertheless, the level of final presentations by each team was high.

At the Variable astrocamp, it is customary to award the Jindřich Šilhán Prize for an exemplary approach to observing variable stars. It was not easy to choose one laureate. Finally, Dmytro Tvardovskyi, a student of the lyceum in Odessa, was awarded. The organizers especially appreciated the progress and personal growth he has seen since his last participation in Variable in 2015.

RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc.

Director of the Vihorlat Observatory in Humenné

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory in cooperation with the Podduklianske Educational Centre in Svidník and Gmina Wisniowa at the observatory in Roztoky. The event took place from 18 to 23 July 2016. Unusual at the time of the full moon. However, due to the specific nature of this year’s expedition, it did not bother at all. No observational or theoretical tasks were performed. The goal of the expedition was purely technical. To check the state of the equipment at the observatory in Roztoky, complete usable telescopes, suggest their use. In the case of the observatory’s main instrument, it was an assessment of the condition of the pillar under the installation of the telescope and a proposal for further action. These tasks were performed by an expeditionary line-up that was not numerous, but full of experts. From the Vihorlat Observatory director RNDr. Igor Kudzej and observer Pavol A. Dubovský, from the observatory at Lubomir Mgr. Marcin Cikala and domestic worker of the observatory Mgr. Ján Sadiv. Astronomers, amateurs Matúš Kamenec and Klaudia Zięba effectively assisted.

Participants

Report

The astrocamp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory in cooperation with Gmina Wisniowa at the Lubomir Observatory, from 13 to 19 July 2015. For the second time, a meeting of fans of variable star research was held at this place. At the top of the 900-meter-high mountain there is a newly built observatory on the site of the original one, which was destroyed in World War II.

Compared to the observatory in Roztoky or the Astronomical Observatory at Kolonica Saddle, there are not such comfortable conditions here. On the other hand, Lubomir is closer to the classical idea of an astronomical observatory far from civilization. The accommodation capacity is also enough only for a smaller group of participants. Specifically, there were 12 of them, but from three countries – Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. At the beginning of the astrocamp, it was agreed that out of the ten research tasks offered, three would be solved. Thus, the participants naturally split into three groups.

The first group around supervisor Marcin Cikala solved the task about flickering in the “maybe” symbiotic star StHA 190. It was observed for only a few hours. As much as the weather allowed. Flickering apparently didn’t show up. However, there is a theoretical assumption that during the 30-day period of precession of the accretion disk, it could appear on some day. As usual, the result of solving the task is the conclusion: “we need further observations”. A group from the MOA in Niepolomice, led by consultant Gregorz Sek, was to devote itself to the task on Cepheids. The weather did not allow them to complete the assigned tasks. With Gregorz, however, youngsters are never bored. The group developed varied activities ranging from photographing the sun to hiking around the observatory. They even combined the two activities when they went out to photograph the sunrise one morning. The third group from the Astronomical Observatory of the Odessa National University gathered practical experience from observations of variable stars. Two students and an employee of Observatory V. Marsakova arrived excellently theoretically and mathematically equipped. However, students have not yet got to practical observation by the method of differential photometry with the help of a CCD camera. During the astrocamp, they went through the entire process of preparing the observation instrument up to constructing the light curve and determining the time of the minimum of the eclipsing binary star.

The output of each group’s work was a final presentation. All of them were presented at a mini-seminar on the last day of astrocamp.

RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc.

Director of the Vihorlat Observatory in Humenné

Presentations

Participants

Presentation

Report

The astrocammp was organized by the Vihorlat Observatory in cooperation with the Podduklianske Educational Centre in Svidník at the observatory in Kolonica. Co-organizers were the Slovak Association of Astronomers, the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the UPJŠ in Košice, the Non-Investment Fund Teleskop. The event took place from 21 to 30 July 2014. A diverse group of people from Slovakia and Poland met here, whose common interest is variable stars. The 19 participants included professional astronomers, astronomy students, but also amateur astronomers and members of astronomy clubs from primary and secondary schools.

The content of the Variable astrocamp is to solve research tasks that participants choose from the offered list. Of the nine prepared assignments, 5 were finally solved: Semiregular variable stars, O-C diagram of eclipsing binary stars, Model of binary stars, Superhumps and Cepheids. In addition, a group from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of UPJŠ Košice worked on putting a new 0.5-meter telescope into operation. The research teams benefited from data they practically observed using telescopes at the observatory. However, they also had to resort to the use of archival data, because the weather was not very conducive to practical observations. Only 3 nights were usable. The output of each team was a final presentation. All of them were presented at a mini-seminar on the last evening of the astrocamp. The level of presentations was really high.

RNDr. Igor Kudzej, CSc.

Director of the Vihorlat Observatory in Humenné

Photo