May 21, 2012: The R CrB star V854 Cen appears to be fading from maximum, according to recent observations reported to the AAVSO:
2012 May 17.1313 UT, 7.2 (B. Cudnik, Houston, TX);
17.380, 7.4 (P. Williams, Heathcote, NSW, Australia);
17.5069, 7.3 (D. Leys, Warrimoo, NSW, Australia);
17.5181, 7.4 (A. Plummer, Linden, NSW, Australia);
18.2125, 7.4 (Cudnik);
18.4917, 7.4 (Plummer);
19.1458, 7.5 (Cudnik);
19.3264, 7.35 (M. Linnolt, Ocean View, HI);
19.3972, 7.4 (H. Matsuyama, Kanimbla, QLD, Australia);
19.4188, 7.2 (Matsuyama);
19.4340, 7.4 (Leys);
20.2806, 7.1 (Linnolt);
20, 7.8 (Blown);
21.390, 8.0 (Williams);
21.400, 8.0 (Williams);
21.4375, 7.7 (Plummer);
21.9000, 7.7 (A. Amorim, Florianopolis, Brazil);
As announced in AAVSO Alert Notice 456, Bram Ochsendorf (Leiden Observatory, Netherlands) has requested monitoring by AAVSO observers of V854 Cen in support of observations to be made using the XSHOOTER instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile. Ochsendorf and colleagues have already observed V854 Cen at maximum and now need to observe it during a fading episode.
It is not certain whether V854 Cen will continue to fade or return to maximum, so close coverage and timely reporting are extremely important. Please monitor V854 Cen closely and submit your observations to the AAVSO International Database using the WebObs feature on the AAVSO website (http://www.aavso.org/webobs), and using the name V854 CEN.
Coordinates: RA 14 34 49.41 Dec -39 33 19.2 (2000.0)
Charts for V854 Cen may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (VSX) at http://www.aavso.org/vsp.
Many thanks for your contributions!
This AAVSO Special Notice was compiled by Elizabeth O. Waagen.
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