From jop at astro.columbia.edu Tue Aug 8 21:17:16 2017 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2017 21:17:16 -0400 Subject: (cba:news) CBA stars for August In-Reply-To: <479bff1b-2023-457f-8d47-02e60e3d90b0@astro.columbia.edu> References: <479bff1b-2023-457f-8d47-02e60e3d90b0@astro.columbia.edu> Message-ID: Dear CBAers, We're finally finished with DQ Her for the year. Great, great coverage by Jim Jones and Lew Cook. Let's put V1974 Cyg and WZ Sge at the head of the class for (northern) August runs. For the latter, note there is a potential contaminant about 8 arcsec away. I presume that it's feasible for you to cleanly exclude this star; but if it's a threat, then better to use a big aperture and cleanly include it. V1494 Aql is also a very desirable target for August - near the equator, so a target for everyone. Other good targets: V4743 Sgr, HP Lib, and especially V Sge (latter two ideal for smallish scopes or mediocre conditions; no one has bit yet on V Sge). But as usual, we especially value LONG runs - not much beyond 2 airmasses, but long is highly desirable! joe previous message: > > 2. My fascination in recent years has been with (somewhat) recent > classical novae. Our data shows very rapid orbital period increases in > T Pyx and IM Nor, as well as some other close relatives of novae, the > supersofts (these are, roughly speaking, "permanent novae"). So I > strongly recommend DQ Her, V1974 Cyg, V1494 Aql, HR Del, V4743 Sgr, and > V Sge. It's best for you to adopt one of these stars and pursue it > relentlessly (until further notice). If the payoff subsides, I'll > notify you. > > 3. IGR1955+00. Enrique "insists" on this star, and with good reason. > Kind of a unique star, nature not yet known. That's why long runs and a > wide range of longitudes are essential. > > 4. WZ Sagittae. We've never done a really strong campaign on this star, > despite its great - and still unclarified - importance in CV evolution. > Let's remedy that oversight! There's a recent paper which claims that > its orbital period is decreasing... which would be very significant and > might be true, but needs careful checking (by us). Regular ol' > unfiltered photometry is just fine, but there is a contaminating star > about 8 arcsec away, so you have to be a little careful. Short > integrations really help on this star, as the eclipse is quite short (4 > minutes). > > 5. HP Lib. Still very interested in this quite bright target. Multiple > longitudes very helpful, since we have to study the weak orbital signal > amid the glare of the strong superhump (requiring accurate subtraction > of the latter). CR Boo, however, has reached the end of its observing > season. > > All for now. Write with any questions! > > joe p > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA) mailing lists > http://cbastro.org/communications/mailing-lists/ ____________________________________________________________ Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA) mailing lists http://cbastro.org/communications/mailing-lists/ From jop at astro.columbia.edu Sat Aug 12 06:34:07 2017 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2017 06:34:07 -0400 Subject: (cba:news) V407 Lupi (Nova 2016), and eclipses Message-ID: <014c1d2b-74e1-d310-a227-e0f2f5184df0@astro.columbia.edu> Hi CBAers, This is a long shot, but I was fascinated by a recent ATel (10632) reporting a period in the UV flux of this recent nova. Still available in the southern sky - can you see how bright it is, and what variability it shows: http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=9594 and Koji's info-packed listing of novae: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Koji.Mukai/novae/novae.html Some nice campaigns going on for WZ Sge and V1974 Cyg. Now's a good time to jump on these stars. Anyone want to mention eclipse plans? They've had a big role in my life; after the first, I bought my first telescope the next day. Which was difficult, because in those days it was *illegal* to buy a telescope on a Sunday ("blue laws"). Attached is the story I wrote the next day, and another by Annie Dillard. The last two USA eclipses. joe p -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: eclipse.1970.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 2531037 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: eclipse.1979.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 5094414 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- ____________________________________________________________ Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA) mailing lists http://cbastro.org/communications/mailing-lists/ From jop at astro.columbia.edu Sun Aug 20 09:03:49 2017 From: jop at astro.columbia.edu (Joe Patterson) Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2017 09:03:49 -0400 Subject: (cba:news) V407 Lupi and other southern targets Message-ID: <314f45e1-b15a-6bb6-6c0b-f3012a2b2c0e@astro.columbia.edu> Hi CBAers, Our first look at this 2016 nova, from Gordon and Berto, shows that the 15th magnitude remnant has a healthy and stable 9-minute pulsation in it. And also something around 3 hours. Thus it becomes our prime evening southern target. Let's get all suitable firepower on this star before the Sun takes it away. Here's Fred Walter's page on this star: http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/SMARTS/NovaAtlas/v407lup/v407lup.html For the south, good follow-on targets are CC Scl, ES Cet, and this star from Koji's webpage (one of the Thorstensen-Halpern IP candidates; sorry, it's 17.7) https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Koji.Mukai/iphome/systems/igr18308.html joe ____________________________________________________________ Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA) mailing lists http://cbastro.org/communications/mailing-lists/