Short Period Pulsators (SPP)

The paper "Caught in the Act: Observations of the Double-mode RR Lyrae V338 Boo During the Disappearance of a Pulsation Mode" by Kenneth Carrell et al. has been accepted by the Astrophysical Journal.  The paper should also be posted in arxiv before too long. Combining TESS and AAVSO photometry, the paper is a symbiosis of space and ground observations, and owes much to the AAVSO members who appear as authors and in the acknowledgements.

Hi all,

I was wondering if the SPP ephemeris (https://www.aavso.org/aavso-spp-program) and CV ephemeris were available anywhere via a web service or perhaps available in a parsable format.

Assuming I can also start with one of the published times and use the period to meet my needs, but thought I'd also check on the API in case there is more nuance I'm not aware of

Our second newsletter has now been posted in the SPP section area.  Thank you to those who sent comments on the first newsletter!  Our highlighted variables for the northern summer/southern winter are XZ Cyg and RV Cap.  Both are RR Lyrae stars with changing periods and both show the Blazhko effect. XZ Cyg at least may ring a bell with long-time observers.  It is one of the variables which Marvin Baldwin included in the fledgling AAVSO RR Lyrae program of the 1960s, and AAVSO observers have followed it ever since.

We have started a newsletter for the SPP section.  The first issue can be found under "SPP Newsletter" on the menu at the SPP section home page.  Let me know what you think (my email is in the newsletter).  What would you like to see in future SPP newsletters?  Would you like to have new newsletters emailed to you instead of posted?  If you have something to add to a future newsletter, please email me. The intent is to improve communications among those interested in the SPP section and spread word about interesting targets. -- Horace Smith 

I've been trying to collect data on TZ Aur and capture the entire light cure myself.  I have everything except for a couple of hours around its peak. I tried to get the final section last night using the 2024 RR Lyrae Ephemeris (https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/AAVSO_RR_Lyr_Ephemeris_2024.pdf).  Unfortunately, it appears I caught the downward section after the  peak.  I'm trying to understand where I went wrong.

There are two entries to consider in the February section for TZ Aur:

Day     Peak

1- 2     8.5 

2- 3     3.5

In work Periodic variable A-F spectral type stars in the northern TESS continuous viewing zone TESS data were investigated within circle R 15 deg around north ecliptic pole in Draco. Authors conclude:
We found clear signs of variability in 3025 of 5923 studied stars (51 %). For 1813 of these 3025 stars, we provide a classification. From the classified stars, 64.5 % are pulsating stars of GDOR and DSCT types and their hybrids. 

I've taken over 1400 B- and V-filter CCD photometric measurements of Tyc 3603-1124-1 beginning in September, 2021 and continuing within the last month.  The results look very strange to me.  VSX lists the star as a HADS variable, but the rise to brightness is slower than the fall.  PTD analysis yields a period, P=0.1359594542 d, very close to the value listed in VSX, P = 0.1359594542 d.  Fourier analysis results show only a fundamental f

     If anyone needs inspiration to observe (or continue observing) Polaris, a new paper by Willy Torres (Harvard) that appeared on astro-ph late last week may provide it:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.03257

Though this deals mainly with the radial velocities, it is clear that high-quality photometry remains useful, and is analyzed here in context with the rv's.  The introduction of the paper provides a comprehensive overview of the observational history of the star.  The writing, data analysis etc in this paper are fabulous, and characteristic of Torres' work.

I am studying CSS_J032404.3+211344 for my master's project and trying to find a clear classification for it.

I chose this target rather arbitrarily based on observability for the Liverpool Telescope (LT) over a period last year and have some limited observations (16 each in g and r band) from whch I have done some basic analysis.  I found out there is some good V-band photometry data in the ASA-SN catalogue: https://asas-sn.osu.edu/variables/b6fab4cc-5f1b-57b4-b5eb-75355d20a707