(cba:news) stars for Jan-Feb

[Joe Patterson]

Hi CBAers,

As you've probably noticed, my favorites have swung much more in the 
direction of old (and not so old) novae - and they dominate this list 
too.  A list of "well-studied" dwarf novae would probably now run 
100-200, so that's not so much where we're learning a lot of new things 
(IMHO).  So the novae dominate this list.

I've been laboring mightily over V598 Pup - and am finished!  Except 
maybe for a brief flurry near the end of the observing season.  I've 
found a stable 3.5 hour period - surely the orbit - and some signals 
around 1 hour which may or may not be stable.  Time to quit.

Strangely, the next southern mystery nova to tackle is V597 Pup.  It's 
around 17.7 and eclipsing, so only accessible to the bigger scopes and 
braver observers  Also with a few-minute signal which appears to be 
stable.  A *great* star, but alas, beyond reach for most of us.

I realize it's strange, but the list of Puppis novae goes on.  We 
haven't yet started the season on HZ Pup, and that's probably a very 
juicy CBA target - with fast and slow periodic signals which are of 
decent amplitude and still not properly published.  For australites out 
there, this would be a good prime target - *certain* to be rewarding.

Then there's CP Pup, an old favorite.  Big ongoing campaign.  Worth 
continuing if you've been covering it a lot.  If you haven't, switch to 
HZ Pup or one of the other seasonal stars.

I also strongly recommend V902 Mon, a deep-eclipsing star with a 
probable has a fast periodic signal.  Some of our data has already been 
published anonymously as "AAVSO data", but we have plenty more, and it's 
time to finish the study up.  A nice both-hemisphere star, ideal for 
period-finding in our global network.

Most people like the stars which are *solidly* in their hemisphere 
(since then you can get long runs).  The two good northern ones now are 
AT Cnc and AM CVn - both asking for long continuous runs, night after 
night.  The first is a new, unpublished IP... and the second of course 
is one of the mega-stars of the sky.

I'll get access to my 2018-9 notebook later today, and might have some 
other comments.

joe p

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