From jk at cbastro.org Thu Oct 12 02:10:56 2000 From: jk at cbastro.org (Jonathan Kemp) Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 20:10:56 -1000 (HST) Subject: (cba:news) web weavings Message-ID: Hi CBAers, As some of you might have noticed, there have been some substantial changes to the CBA web site of late. Below, I outline the more important among them. (The ones with exclamation marks might be of specific interest to some of you.) - return of CBA web site to cbastro.org - transferring news and data addresses back to Columbia - CBA web site will again have a more consistence internet connection and will serve pages more consistently and more quickly - implementation of search engine page and quick-search box (!) - development and presentation of data submission guidelines (!) - implementation of feedback survey - development of specific CBA-written article section - modest revisions to CBA history - adding of current date and implementation of caching specifications to insure up-to-date pages are loaded by web browsers - updating of DV UMa and IY UMa preprints - addition of V751 Cyg to publications list - general updating of news and data set submission record pages Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! Aloha, Jonathan CBA Hilo (Center for Beachside Astrophysics) From jop at astro.columbia.edu Sat Oct 14 22:29:46 2000 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 22:29:46 -0400 (EDT) Subject: (cba:news) Stars for Mid-October Message-ID: Dear CBAers, OK I give up! Several of you have been murmuring about my suddenly deteriorated taste in stars - viz., HL Aqr. After the first week the star showed a hint of (low-amplitude) periodic activity, and I get very interested in such things at periods of 3.5 hours. But after further study I just can't vouch for anything in it. So HL Aqr is a loser, and let's abandon it. I also think we should abandon V1432 Aql - just too late in the season. We did get a few nice eclipses to tidy up the ephemeris. Paul Warhurst got a nice set of VY Scl runs, and it's a good time for australites (and southern USA observers) to build on this. The star is very bright (12.7) and you should be able to get very good data. We're maintaining steady vigils on Z And and Cep 1. But these are very flat stars - be warned, they're not rich in entertainment value! Now that the long nights have returned to Europe, it's high time to return to BZ Cam, a star that haunted us back in 1993 with its tantalizing, just- outside-our-grasp probable superhumps. Perfect for CBA-Finland and Denmark! joe From jop at astro.columbia.edu Fri Oct 27 17:47:27 2000 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 17:47:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: (cba:news) o ye of northern climes Message-ID: Dear CBAers, Well I've been studying the campaign targets recently, and here's my report. Z And.... that's a negatory. It is possible that the 28 minute signal that Jeno Sokoloski found in blue light at Lick is present, but it's very weak and I can't see that we can do much with it. This campaign should be ended. VY Scl. Good action from NZ (only). The present data from Paul Warhurst and Robert Rea, and Fred and Jennie, establish the period pretty well - not the "old" period of 0.1662 d, nor the "new" period of 0.23 d, but an in-between value of 0.1894 d. This is pretty solid, though it could always be firmed up a bit more. A little more baseline should give us sufficient accuracy to extend this far into the future. VY Scl still a good target for a couple more weeks. BZ Cam. One very long run from Tonny, too early to conclude anything. Cep 1. Whoa, now there's an unruly star! This star is not behaving like anything I've really seen before. It has 2-5 hr timescale flares, and then flashes some periods around 100 min, its purported Porb. This one's needed for the zoo, but I have no idea what cage to put it in. Cepheus Uniquus maybe. I would be thrilled to see some European contribution on this guy - I know it's faint and the light curve is not exactly entertaining, but we are definitely going to reap some knowledge about the last rites of CV evolution from this likely very ancient star. We're getting some significant help from John Stull at Alfred, plus the usual yeoman service from Dave East and the Captain, but need Europe with those deliciously long nights! Then there's RXJ2353-3851, a 16th mag dwarf nova that I hope some australites will observe. Zounds, have I not sent the description of this guy out yet? Methinks not. I'll get it in a sec. A tough, tough target, but very rewarding even though the light curves are likely to look trashy - unless it erupts, in which case we all celebrate! joe From jop at astro.columbia.edu Fri Oct 27 17:49:34 2000 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 17:49:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: (cba:news) Re: Stars for Mid-October (supplement) Message-ID: There are three far-southern objects coming up we want to do campaigns on: TW Pic (0534-58, I think about 13.5) AH Men (0611-81, about 13.0) RR Pic (0635-62, about 12.3) I haven't pushed them yet because I thought the observing seasons are not *quite* upon us. But maybe that's not so. (Sometimes it's hard for me to look through southern glasses at such things.) TW Pic is the more unknown quantity, and the most westerly so perhaps the target of choice. I dunno what your magnitude limit is, but there's a very exciting star at 2353-38 - more precisely 23 53 00.6 -38 51 45. It's about magnitude 16.5, and is the shortest-Porb CV in the sky (not counting the ones made of helium). It *should* be a dwarf nova, but no outbursts have ever been seen - so the search for outbursts is quite interesting by itself. Also, there are periodic signals in quiescence too. So it is very desirable to cover with all-night photometry, even though I guess your signal-to-noise per integration might be a little low. Six months ago I labelled this star "prime object for Sep-Nov", but then forgot about it! joe (fragment of note to Paul Warhurst)