October Stars

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 09:54:28 -0400 (EDT) · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Dear CBAers,

Finally WZ Sge is slinking back into the grass....  At about V=14.3,
it still shows some sign of its recent shock - a superhump that refuses to
quite to die.  But its faintness and proximity to that companion star has
made it a very tough target... and you usually don't get rich observing
Sagitta in mid-October.

So my advice is for most people (northerners; southerners quit a long time
ago) to wave goodbye to WZ Sge.  Some people are still able to get quite
nice light curves - Dave Skillman, Jerry Foote, Captain Bob, and Major Tom
(Krajci) are still doing very well.  So if you're getting those pretty
light curves, hang in there for 2 more weeks!  Otherwise, it's time to
shift.

The three DQ Her stars in the fall sky - AO Psc and FO Aqr especially -
remain good targets throughout October.  For long-term coverage, the
really good targets available now are V592 Cas and TT Ari - both very
bright (mag 11.7 and 10.7) and possessing a host of periodic signals.
Plus, their sky positions are (more or less) perfect for all-night
coverage.

Now for the south...

The best target now is BW Scl.  Aside from being one of those mysterious
WZ Sge clones up there, the star apparently - based on the coverage these
last 2 weeks by Bob Rea and (General) Jonathan - shows "quiescent
superhumps", one of only 2 or 3 stars to do so.  It's a superb target -
only problem being the brightness (about 16.5).  If you can work
reasonably at 16.5, make friends with this star and never let go!

If that's too faint - and it probably is for most CBAers - then I
recommend EC23593-6724 and EC05114-7955, with coords in the last "News"
message.  Two virginal CVs with a very happy dec.  Jonathan, can you send
chart info on these guys?

Patrick (Woudt), are you reading this?  If so, I smell a southern
telescope nearby, at an exotic longitude.  Jonathan is at Tololo for the
same dates as your run.  We'd love to get some SAAO coverage on BW Scl to
help us decipher the complex periodic signals... and we'd be happy to get
some Chilean coverage on your favorite targets, too!

        joe

(He's available at jk@cbastro.org, and I'm at jop@astro.
columbia.edu.  My email access will be primitive for the next 3 days
though, but his is fine)