TV Col and RX2309+21

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 10:58:16 -0500 (EST) · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Dear CBAers,

I left out two stars from the last message.  One is TV Col, a
medium-famous DQ Her star with a whole messa periods.  At 0529-33 it's a
distinctly southern target... and absolutely the top southern priority for
November 28-Dec 5.  I surely hope our redoubtable forces in NZ, AU, and
RSA rise to the occasion!  But it would be AWFULLY NICE to finesse some
North American observations too; though they'll be very brief, they'll
help fill that long, long gap between South Africa heading westward to New
Zealand.  (Unfortunately we still have no regular CBA correspondent in
South America.)

The reason for the fuss is the simultaneous X-ray observation of RXTE.
Koji Mukai forwards the exact schedule of these observations, which I
present below.  The exact times are important, but the larger purpose of
the whole program is to study the periodic signals in this star - one at 4
days, several near the 5-hour orbital period, and one at 32 minutes.  To
separate and study all the complexities (esp. near Porb), we need a very
long optical time series - we're likely to stay with it through the end of
January.  We want to start as soon as possible (right now!), so as to
define the phase of the periodic signals as accurately as possible during
the week of X-ray observation.

So train your firepower on this star!  Watch for its unwanted companion,
however; depending on your telescope drive and reduction methods, this
could be a problem.  I believe that most people will not be much troubled
with this, though.

There's a northern star to promote, too.  That's RX2309+21, known as "Peg"
in CVcat.  Not much is known about this star, but it seems to have a
periodic wave... and recent literature shows some claims straight from The
Twilight Zone... so it's an attractive target for a period-finding
campaign in the evening sky.

Catch the finale of the President's Cup (that's golf, folks) yesterday?
It was *almost* unique in the annals of sport (changing the rules during
the competition), but *really* unique in that the chaos and acrimony
accompanying it was televised live from a camera just a few feet away, and
then followed 20 minutes later by public statements praising the decision
and announcing that everyone supported it - even though every single
viewer (millions all over the world!) knew it to be a lie.

Personally I thought it was a decision of great wisdom.  Over the
preceding three hours I had watched TV interviews with the winning
Americans as they came off the course.  They seemed in need of grief
counselling - and that was the WINNERS (they didn't interview the losers).
I can only imagine how the team captains (Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player)
must have felt about it.  But most of all, I was fascinated at being given
the opportunity to see directly how public relations can operate so
quickly on a set of facts and pronounce it to be something utterly
different from what every single viewer knew it to be.

joe

Here's the TV Col RXTE observation schedule:

>Day 333 is NOV 29 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 06:18:00 (312704284) to 07:21:00 (312708064)
>          07:52:00 (312709924) to 08:55:00 (312713704)
>TOTAL_GT: 7.56 ksec

>Day 333 is NOV 29 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 09:27:00 (312715624) to 10:29:00 (312719344)
>          11:02:00 (312721324) to 12:05:00 (312725104)
>          12:37:00 (312727024) to 13:39:00 (312730744)
>          14:17:00 (312733024) to 15:14:00 (312736444)
>          15:55:00 (312738904) to 16:49:00 (312742144)
>          17:34:00 (312744844) to 18:19:00 (312747544)
>TOTAL_GT: 20.58 ksec

>Day 334 is NOV 30 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 01:36:00 (312773764) to 02:17:00 (312776224)
>          02:48:00 (312778084) to 03:51:00 (312781864)
>          04:22:00 (312783724) to 05:26:00 (312787564)
>TOTAL_GT: 10.08 ksec

>Day 334 is NOV 30 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 05:57:00 (312789424) to 07:01:00 (312793264)
>          07:31:00 (312795064) to 08:35:00 (312798904)
>          09:06:00 (312800764) to 10:06:00 (312804364)
>          10:41:00 (312806464) to 11:42:00 (312810124)
>TOTAL_GT: 14.94 ksec

>Day 334 is NOV 30 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 23:42:00 (312853324) to 00:22:00 (312855724)
>TOTAL_GT: 2.4 ksec

>Day 335 is DEC 1 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 00:52:00 (312857524) to 00:58:00 (312857884)
>          01:12:00 (312858724) to 01:56:00 (312861364)
>          02:27:00 (312863224) to 03:31:00 (312867064)
>          04:01:00 (312868864) to 05:06:00 (312872764)
>          05:36:00 (312874564) to 06:40:00 (312878404)
>          07:11:00 (312880264) to 08:15:00 (312884104)
>TOTAL_GT: 18.42 ksec

>Day 335 is DEC 1 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 08:45:00 (312885904) to 09:43:00 (312889384)
>          10:20:00 (312891604) to 10:24:00 (312891844)
>TOTAL_GT: 3.72 ksec

>Day 336 is DEC 2 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 10:06:00 (312977164) to 10:56:00 (312980164)
>          11:34:00 (312982444) to 12:33:00 (312985984)
>          13:09:00 (312988144) to 14:11:00 (312991864)
>          14:48:00 (312994084) to 15:48:00 (312997684)
>          16:26:00 (312999964) to 17:23:00 (313003384)
>          18:04:00 (313005844) to 18:58:00 (313009084)
>          19:42:00 (313011724) to 20:18:00 (313013884)
>TOTAL_GT: 22.68 ksec

>Day 337 is DEC 3 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 04:55:00 (313044904) to 06:00:00 (313048804)
>          06:29:00 (313050544) to 07:35:00 (313054504)
>          08:04:00 (313056244) to 08:57:00 (313059424)
>TOTAL_GT: 11.04 ksec

>Day 337 is DEC 3 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 11:13:00 (313067584) to 12:11:00 (313071064)
>          12:48:00 (313073284) to 13:48:00 (313076884)
>          14:25:00 (313079104) to 15:26:00 (313082764)
>          16:03:00 (313084984) to 17:03:00 (313088584)
>TOTAL_GT: 14.34 ksec

>Day 338 is DEC 4 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 03:00:00 (313124404) to 04:05:00 (313128304)
>          04:34:00 (313130044) to 05:40:00 (313134004)
>          06:09:00 (313135744) to 07:15:00 (313139704)
>TOTAL_GT: 11.82 ksec

>Day 338 is DEC 4 (UT).
>GOODTIME: 07:43:00 (313141384) to 08:34:00 (313144444)
>          09:18:00 (313147084) to 10:11:00 (313150264)
>          10:53:00 (313152784) to 11:48:00 (313156084)
>TOTAL_GT: 9.54 ksec