Spectroscopic observations of novae V1065 CEN and V1280 SCO using 45 cm cassegrain telescope at Arthur C Clarke Institute

The spectroscopic observations of two novae namely V1065 CEN and V1280 SCO were made by 45 cm Cassegrain telescope in high resolution ($\lambda/\delta\lambda$=22000) at H$\alpha$ (6563 \r{A}) region. V1065 CEN is He/N-type spectra which characterize a broad (Gaussian FWHM 49 \r{A}), saddle shaped and asymmetric H$\alpha$ emission line without prominent P-Cyg absorption component. Completely different H$\alpha$ profile of V1280 SCO shows prominent P-Cyg absorption and narrow emission line (Gaussian FWHM 26 \r{A}) which can be classified as Fe II type nova. The expansion velocities of these two systems measured from the minima of the P-Cyg profiles are close to 2300 km/s for V1065 CEN, and 716 km/s for V1280 SCO. Based on the photometric analysis, the Nova V1065 CEN can be classified as fast (11$<$t${_2}$$<$25) nova. The derived absolute magnitudes at maximum for nova V1065 CEN to be M$_{o,V}$ = -7.58$\pm$0.18 and M$_{o,B}$= -7.75$\pm$0.25 correspond to a distance 8.51$\pm$0.33 kpc. The parameters t$_{2V}$=12 days and t$_{3V}$=14 days of nova V1280 SCO determine that the nova is in between very fast and fast nova. The mean absolute magnitude at maximum is calculated to be M$_{o,V}$=-8.7$\pm$0.1 and the estimated distance to the nova V1280 SCO is 3.2$\pm$0.2 kpc

Measuring the Solar Radius from Space during the 2003 and 2006 Mercury Transits

The Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory observed the transits of Mercury on 2003 May 7 and 2006 November 8. Contact times between Mercury and the solar limb have been used since the 17th century to derive the Sun's size but this is the first time that high-quality imagery from space, above the Earth's atmosphere, has been available. Unlike other measurements this technique is largely independent of optical distortion. The true solar radius is still a matter of debate in the literature as measured differences of several tenths of an arcsecond (i.e., about 500 km) are apparent. This is due mainly to systematic errors from different instruments and observers since the claimed uncertainties for a single instrument are typically an order of magnitude smaller. From the MDI transit data we find the solar radius to be 960".12 +/- 0".09 (696,342 +/- 65 km). This value is consistent between the transits and consistent between different MDI focus settings after accounting for systematic effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (2012 March 5

The Measurement of Solar Diameter and Limb Darkening Function with the Eclipse Observations

The Total Solar Irradiance varies over a solar cycle of 11 years and maybe over cycles with longer period. Is the solar diameter variable over time too? We introduce a new method to perform high resolution astrometry of the solar diameter from the ground, through the observations of eclipses by reconsidering the definition of the solar edge. A discussion of the solar diameter and its variations must be linked to the Limb Darkening Function (LDF) using the luminosity evolution of a Baily's Bead and the profile of the lunar limb available from satellite data. This approach unifies the definition of solar edge with LDF inflection point for eclipses and drift-scan or heliometric methods. The method proposed is applied for the videos of the eclipse in 15 January 2010 recorded in Uganda and in India. The result shows light at least 0.85 arcsec beyond the inflection point, and this suggests to reconsider the evaluations of the historical eclipses made with naked eye.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted in Solar Physics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:astro-ph/0601109 by other author

Asteroseismology of SZ Lyn using multiband high time resolution photometry from ground and space

We report the analysis of high temporal resolution ground- and space-based photometric observations of SZ Lyncis, a binary star one of whose components is a high amplitude d Scuti. UBVR photometric observations were obtained from Mt. Abu Infrared Observatory and Fairborn Observatory; archival observations from the WASP project were also included. Furthermore, the continuous, high-quality light curve from the TESS project was extensively used for the analysis. The well resolved light curve from TESS reveals the presence of 23 frequencies with four independent modes, 13 harmonics of the main pulsation frequency of 8.296943 ± 0.000002 d-1, and their combinations. The frequency 8.296 d-1 is identified as the fundamental radial mode by amplitude ratio method and using the estimated pulsation constant. The frequencies 14.535, 32.620, and 4.584 d-1 are newly discovered for SZ Lyn. Out of these three, 14.535 and 32.620 d-1 are identified as non-radial lower order p modes and 4.584 d-1 could be an indication of a g mode in a d Scuti star. As a result of frequency determination and mode identification, the physical parameters of SZ Lyn were revised by optimizations of stellar pulsation models with the observed frequencies. The theoretical models correspond to 7500 K = Teff = 7800 K and log(g) = 3.81 ± 0.06. The mass of SZ Lyn was estimated to be close to 1.7–2.0 M¿ using evolutionary sequences. The period–density relation estimates a mean density (¿) of 0.1054 ± 0.0016 g¿cm-3.This work is supported by the Department of Space, Govt. of India. GH gratefully acknowledges funding through NCN grant 2015/18/A/ST9/00578. ”This paper makes use of data from the first public release of the WASP data (Butters et al. 2010) as provided by the WASP consortium and services at the NASA Exoplanet Archive, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Exoplanet Exploration Program.” This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission. Funding for the TESS mission is provided by the NASA Explorer Program. Funding for the TESS Asteroseismic Science Operations Centre is provided by the Danish National Research Foundation (Grant agreement no.: DNRF106), ESA PRODEX (PEA 4000119301) and Stellar Astrophysics Centre (SAC) at Aarhus University. We thank the TESS team and staff and TASC/TASOC for their support of the present work. JG’s research has been partly supported by the Spanish project PID 2019-109363GB-100Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft