(cba:news) Arise, ye of the nether regions

[Joe Patterson]

and behold the very bright outburst of V803 Cen reported by Andrew Pearce
and Rod Stubbings yesterday.  This is what we've been waiting for, a
probable - well, excellent candidate anyway - superoutburst.  We've only
gotten fragmentary coverage of the bright stages of superoutbursts, as you
can see from the in-press paper on the website.  You need to move fast, as
this star has much briefer supers than is the norm for the H-rich SU UMas.
The aftermath of the super is also worth close study.  In the paper we
merely speculated about the sequence of events, based on fragments spliced
together over 7 years.  Now we get to find out, with your help, what
fraction of our speculations is actually true!

OY Car has finally sunk into the grass, it gave us all some good times but
it's time to move on.  Long live V803!

For borealites, DW UMa is the choice star right now if you can tolerate
that ol' devil Moon.  If you can't, then AC Cancri or CR Boo.  (CR Boo is
good for southerners too, but V803 is much more important right now!)

joe