Targets for tonight (Nov 26)

From: Joe Patterson <*jop_at_astro.columbia.edu*> Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:17:47 -0500 · jop_at_astro.columbia.edu

Apologies to all the chatters not part of the TT Ari conversation (it 
must be getting irritating).  But just as it seemed safe to back off TT 
Ari somewhat, the light curve has appeared to settle to something pretty 
regular.  For the last 11 days the flares have occurred regularly, 1.5 d 
apart, with a sharp rise and fall separated by 0.31 d.  And the 
quiescence is flat at V=16.32, with a heating light curve.

The Vegas odds say that such "regularity" is probably just the result of 
mere human craving for patterns and periods.  Still, it sure does look 
interesting!  This should drive us to stay in high gear for a few more 
days (and possibly warm up that I filter for when the Moon comes 
calling).  Coverage from Europe and AU/NZ will again be critical, since 
we'd dearly like not to have gaps exceeding 0.31 d (so we don't entirely 
miss any of these flares).  Once the regularity collapses, we can all 
relax, switch targets, read a book, go to a movie, whatever.

There are other fine pulsing stars up there: IGR0023, V405 Aur, PQ Gem 
(filtered only), HT Cam (for a big scope), and especially XSS0056.

joe