CCD Photometry of SN 1974G from Photographic Plates with a Kodak DCS200 Camera

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Session 6 -- Positional Astronomy
Display presentation, Monday, 9, 1995, 9:20am - 6:30pm

[6.07] CCD Photometry of SN 1974G from Photographic Plates with a Kodak DCS200 Camera

V. Burkholder, E.D. Friel (MMO)

We have investigated the use of a Kodak DCS200 camera, which mounts a 1024x1524 pixel uncooled CCD as the detector in a conventional Nikon 8008 camera, to digitize and obtain photographic photometry from typical plates in the Maria Mitchell Observatory plate collection. We tested the photographic stability of the camera system on photographic standard sequences in several fields, finding a linear correlation between instrumental aperture magnitudes and standard photographic magnitudes, with an rms deviation of 0.1 mag. We then applied the methods to digitize a 1.5 sq. cm area surrounding SN 1974G in NGC 4414 on a series of five plates taken within 20 days of maximum light. Derived photographic magnitudes of SN 1974G agree well with the published light curve, indicating that the major source of uncertainty in SN measurements is in determining the local background on the plates. We conclude that the Kodak DCS200 camera is an excellent, and economical device for digitizing small areas of plate collections for special study.

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