(cba:news) stars new and old

[Joe Patterson]

Dear CBAers,

Well the WZ Sge opus finally came out, on the PASP "early release"
website... plus the papers on HT Cam and RX2329+06.  They let me have my
cartoons and classical allusions, so I'm happy.  You can get there via the
"links" on the cba website.

V803 Cen came off its supermax and is now doing its cycling thing.  So
we've gone beyond a full cycle, and can quit for the year!  Time to retire
the old dame.  Likewise for V2051 Oph - although it's staying decently
bright, the superhumps have gone and the rate of information return has
declined a lot.  So let's retire 'em both!

Meanwhile, it's high time to take up the cause of V442 Oph.  Long runs,
densely spaced at all the terrestrial longitudes you can dream up
(including you naughty North Americans out there) - that's what we want to
properly subdue V442.

In the north, V795 Her is still an attractive target, but I warmly commend
LX Ser and V1494 Aql as alternatives.  V795 Her has a brilliant superhump
and is a seductively bright star, but the signal is pretty stable and
there is no aliasing... so it may be basically "steady as she goes" for
the rest of the season (but who knows, maybe not).  LX Ser and V1494 Aql
would be more valorous targets right now.

    joe