From jop at astro.columbia.edu Wed Jan 5 07:38:45 2005 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 07:38:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: (cba:news) FS Aur Message-ID: Dear CBAers, We have a Chandra observation of FS Aur scheduled for today. Jerry Foote has been giving the star close attention for a few weeks, but we would benefit from very thorough round-the-world coverage for the next few days. See if you can help! Other targets stay in the hopper.... joe From jop at astro.columbia.edu Sun Jan 16 21:51:11 2005 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 21:51:11 -0500 (EST) Subject: (cba:news) BZ UMa erupts Message-ID: Dear CBAers, As many of you know, Patrick Schmeer reported BZ UMa in bright outburst at 11.something, and photometric campaigns are kicking in at various sites. It's a target of very, very high merit. Why? Well, it's a pretty bright star, erupting with what look pretty much like dwarf-nova outbursts, and it's orbital period of 0.068 d is smack dab where all dwarf novae are of the SU UMa type. Yet it has never displayed superhumps, and never shown a certifiable supermaximum. This could be because the star is not an SU UMa star... or not a dwarf nova at all... or maybe it's just that a really good campaign on the star has never been waged. I dunno the answer, but it is true that no one has yet put together a proper campaign - with long runs and multi-longitude collaboration. It's high time we do it - and with the star transiting decently close to midnight, the timing is mighty fine! The other northern star I wanted to mention is HS 0728+6738. This is an eclipsing SW Sex star with V~15.5 and Porb~3.2 hrs. This is also a very good target for a campaign, worth starting right now. I'll send a fuller CBA message, with less hemispheric chauvinism, tomorrow. joe From jop at astro.columbia.edu Fri Jan 21 17:48:46 2005 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:48:46 -0500 (EST) Subject: (cba:news) stars new and old Message-ID: Dear CBAers, Time to depart this cloudy mountain. And since I was so loopy as to schedule my connecting flight through Detroit, scene of an impending snowstorm, I have a pretty good chance of being stranded there tomorrow. Look for me there as CNN runs the inevitable pictures of glum, stranded travellers. BZ UMa has disappointed (me, anyway). Seems to be another short eruption, not inclined to show any superhumps. None so far. I'm inclined to stop coverage. Some of you are observing for the AAVSO, though - and their total coverage is so good as to be worth (maybe) extending for a complete documentary record of the outburst. Plus it may go back up again. I'm inclined to recommend BH Lyn as the new choice target (accompanying FS Aur) in the northern sky. Eclipsing "SW Sex" star. We found superhumps in it once, but the aliasing prevented us from establishing whether they were positive or negative. Let's figure it out for sure this time. Sorry about the moonlight! In the south, Greg Bolt, Bob Rea, and Jennie McCormick have covered RR Pic very nicely - and we have a great record of its 2005 light curve. Very well defined, but still showing only an orbital signal. Back in the box for RR Pic. I recommend AH Men and T Pyx as the prime southern targets. Both long-term CBA targets, and probably ready for unveiling in 2005. More details when I get back to the east coast... but you guys know the drill! The only extra catch is that AH Men has an unwanted companion 2-3 arcsec away, so you'll want to make some accomodation for that - probably using box photometry rather than psf fitting. joe p.s. it's been a cloudy 2 weeks on Kitt Peak - except for 4 straight nights in the middle. Very nice distribution of clear weather for time-series purposes, though. Accomplishment and frustration.