ty vul and fy per, mainly

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 17:23:47 -0500 (EST) · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Dear CBAers,

Dave Messier found freshly emergent superhumps in TY Vul last night -
checking in at 0.080+-0.002 days.  This is basically a virgin dwarf nova
(to the world that is) and it would be awfully nice to nail down the
period to four or so significant figures.  I think we'll need some
European or Uzbek help on that one!  Or at least Californian.

Sorry for the bad seasonal timing.

The moon's getting pretty bright, and it might be a good time to get a few
nights on FY Per.  This is a very bright star, and the light modulation is
pretty weak (just 0.05 mag or so).  But it occurs at a very weird period,
about 1.5 hours compared to a 6.2 hour orbital period.  We still don't
really understand what makes a variation like this - and never will unless
we get some good coverage of it.  Try to get long runs, and cluster 'em
together as tight as you can.

The other good northern campaign star is FS Aur.  The bright moon might
clobber it, though - best to do FY Per until the Moon's outa the way.

I think we should RETIRE Cam = RX0625+73 - we have *great* coverage of it
(from Tom, Tonny, and Dave Messier) over fifty days, so we can definitely
take a rest... possibly for the season.  HS0455+83 is worth continuing,
but will end soon as its campaign is approaching 50 days also.

In the south, the big stars are TV Col and AH Men, and these will remain
top-priority for at least another month.  The X-ray observation of TV Col
is continuing - so keep the faith!

joe