the CBA fall menu

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 08:08:55 -0400 (EDT) · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Dear CBAers,

The summer sky is mostly gone now, Pegasus and Perseus rule the night,
and some old friends have slipped back into the morning sky.
Definitely time for a CBA update.

The long-term (whole season) campaigns are limping along, with nobody
really charging ahead.  Jerry Gunn is keeping them alive, though, so
there will be some data tracing out cycle count for the year.  Just to
remind, these campaigns are on AO Psc, FO Aqr, V592 Cas, TT Ari.
Nice 'n easy targets.

MV Lyr is extremely tantalizing, but I'm afraid Lyra just doesn't do
well when the leaves fall off the trees.  Cease fire.  We'll resume
when the leaves get back up there.

Cap'n Bob is doing a seasonal project on RW Tri, a 12.7 mag eclipsing
novalike variable.  Help 'im out!  Good light curves to hang over the
mantle.  And WX Ari, now there's an interesting star whose time has
finally come.  Fainter than the others, best for the dark of the Moon.
Gotta have long time series for mister WX.

In the far south, AH Men (=Men 1 = H0551-819 = H0616-818) is now back
as a fine target, and so is RR Pic.  Both quite bright.  Let 'em know
we know they're out there.  And we're about to start the season on TV
Col - a very good target for southern coverage, but watch out for its
nearby companion, which has to be cleanly excluded or included in the
data reduction.

There are stars which should be watched carefully for outburst, and
rocketed to the top of the list if they do erupt.  Namely:

KK Tel             RZ Leo              AO Oct
BR Lup             FS Aur              CP Eri (special attention!)
J2353-3851         BC UMa              VX For
V4140 Sgr          GD 552 = Cep 1      BZ UMa

Finally there's DI UMa.  Much excellent photometry last year, but the
actual outburst period was grossly discrepant (factor of two) from
what it was the previous year.  It's just a little bit too faint for
most visual observers, but frequent CCD snapshots should establish its
outburst cycle with certainty.  This is a really critical need,
doesn't take much time, and the season is just starting.

Jonathan and I are leaving for Kyoto in a few hours, will be gone 10
days.  When I left Japan 38 years ago, Saduharu Oh was a young first
baseman who had not yet discovered his power swing.  On the other
hand, the Yankees were winning everything in sight then too.  Plus
ca change.......

                              joe