Use of the Europlanet network by a group of amateur astronomers

Since 2021, a small group of amateurs from the Sabadell Astronomical Group have requested and obtained several observation projects to be carried out with the telescope network (ETN) that Europlanet has made available to the planetary observation community.

Our group has focused on the observation of Exoplanets, collaborating with the ExoClock project. A successful platform initiated and led by Anastasia Kokori and Angelos Tsiaras from the University of Thessaloniki, to monitor exoplanet transits that will be observed by the Ariel space mission, which will be launched in 2029, and will observe known exoplanets to obtain their spectrum and characterize their atmosphere. ExoClock is a platform with double scope: To monitor Ariel's goals to increase mission efficiency and open exoplanet science to diverse communities and facilitate collaborations.

For this project we have used three telescopes offered in Europlanet's ETN network. The most used telescope has been the IAC80 located at the Teide observatory in Canary Islands and equipped with the Camelot 2 CCD or, failing that, with the CARONTE camera. With this telescope we have made more than 27 observations as of January 31, 2024 and with 23 published transits. This telescope is used in service mode.

The second most used is the 1.23m telescope located in Calar Alto Observatory in Andalusia. It is equipped with the DLR-MKIII CCD camera. This telescope is used remotely and for this we have previously had to carry out in-person observations, to learn its subsequent use remotely. With this telescope we have made 10 observations, of which 8 have been published. All these observations have been funded by Europlanet.

In parallel, we have also used the Joan Oró telescope, located at the Montsec Observatory, in Catalonia. This telescope is used in robotic mode and its nights have been achieved through the relationship with the observatory manager who showed his interest in participating in the EcoClock project. In this case, Europlanet funding was not needed. With this telescope, 16 observations have been made, 11 published. It will be briefly explained how this experience has turned out and the current state of collaboration with these observatories. (10 minutes needed)

 

Mercè Correa is technical engineer in Food Industries. Vice-president of Sabadell Astronomical Group. Member of GEOS group, European Star Observing Group, and member of Europlanet Society. She is a member of the Advisory Commission of the FAAE (Spanish Federation of Astronomical amateurs’ groups). She is focused on observation and photometry of variable stars, mainly RR Lyrae stars type, and exoplanets.