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(cba:news) stars for Dec-Jan 2018/9 (Joe Patterson) [2018-12-06T13:11:14Z]


Hi CBAers,

In the north, long nights. In the south, our juiciest targets. Great time for long time series of CVs.

Much of our recent work has been on novae (in particular, "old novae"). The reason is that we're testing the theory that classical novae may have a dominant effect on long-term CV evolution - basically by destabilizing (by heating) their secondaries. Our BK Lyn paper of 2013 explored this, and it needs to be tested by application to other stars. That's why I keep harping on T Pyx and CP Pup, where it's most likely to apply (because their secondaries are *feeble*).

These two stars are back in the night sky, and merit close observation. CP Pup merits INTENSE observation - round-the-world if possible. Why? Because its period structure - the key to measuring the mass ratio - appears to contain 2 significant, closely spaced periods. At least one of these periods has low coherence, and is possibly the rarest of superhumps - arising from the 2:1 orbital resonance, rather than the 3:1 as is common for superhumps. Testing that would be a coup!

The other well-placed old nova for coverage is V959 Mon. Its 7-hour orbital light curve should change as this 2012 nova fades. Let's find out how!

Our many-year campaigns on AM CVn stars are finally yielding dP_orb/dt, which has been the long-term goal. We published the results on ES Cet, which "confirmed" (i.e. were consistent with) the prediction from GR. But having produced a long-term ephemeris, we need to check if the star is now obeying it. (We need not only laws, but also police!)

And that brings us to AM CVn itself. Almost every year, I say "just one more year" to nail the long-term ephemeris. And, to my embarrassment, I'm back saying that again. But this time, I PROMISE to publish the long-term ephemeris no matter what. I've been bashful about it because its shape appears to signify negative dP/dt, which is incompatible with the commonly held theory that it's a double white dwarf. This year, I've decided to go with the data no matter what the "commonly held" theories say. But now that Can Ven has rolled around again, let's wrap it up with 2018-9 coverage. Unfiltered coverage *definitely* OK for this one.

There's an abundance of DQ Her stars filling the Dec-Jan northern sky.
V405 Aur, V418 Gem, DW Cnc, HT Cam, and AO Psc are all CBA program stars which need a season (at least a month, anyway) of coverage. Most are fairly easy targets; but HT Cam is faint... and DW Cnc requires LONG nightly coverage because the spin period is long.

And AT Cnc is a promising applicant to this club. Its credentials are still mixed. If you want to do it a favor, select it as your "star for the season".

We're JUST about to send the ASASSN-18ey paper off. Can anyone squeeze in a few V-band measures in the evening twilight? Just to nail it shut for the year... and bridge to the early-season observations next March.
No time-series needed - just a few points will be fine.

As usual, unfiltered light is generally OK, and slightly preferred, for CBA light curves. But if you have a lot of photons, pop in the V filter (better for archival purposes). Another good approach is: unfiltered time series plus a few V-band measures to establish the level of mean light in a calibrated system (V is calibrated, unlike unfiltered*).

Happy observing!

joe

*But watch out if your CCD has good UV response. UV light is mildly terrible, since its extinction coefficient is so high. Not welcome! The best variety of "unfiltered" system uses a glass filter to block the UV.

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