Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 02/12/2018 - 21:49
The type star of the UXORs seems to be undergoing a major fade - in fact the field looked unfamiliar UX was so faint, below 12.0m.
I'm getting B,V,R,I data on it now. Will submit as soon as I can.
Brad Vietje, VBPA
Newbury, VT
www.nkaf.org
May be on the rise again.
I was able to get B,V,R,I data on 2-13 and again last night (2-15), which suggest a pretty sharp drop off, and the beginnings of a recovery. I and R bands brightening a lot more than V or B. Thinning dust obscuration?
Interesting stuff -- will have to read up on UXOR's.
Clear skies,
Brad Vietje, VBPA
Newbury, VT
www.nkaf.org
Hi Brad,
Thanks for those obs. What there are would seem to show that the blueing associated with UXOR fades (from higher-energy light scattering off the CS environment) is actually NOT happening in this case, although V-R does seem to be increasing. Obviously more obs are needed. At the moment, here in the SE of the UK we've got brilliant sunshine and blue skies, but cloud is expected during the evening. Blast!
I could see UX Ori from my light polluted back yard with my 100mm binoculars. It was just visible, so I estimated it brighter than mag.12. My very first variable star observation since december 2016...!
Bringing up the past 5000 days of obs this is the faintest UX Ori has been, though the past 2 fades have been trending fainter. Obviously coverage of UX Ori is seasonal so some fades will have been missed. Be interesting to see how deep the next episode will be!
UX Ori is one of my favourite variables (only beaten by SS Cyg in numbers of observations), and I've never seen it fainter!
Yes, I believe that the official min is 12.8v (I stand to be corrected!). Interesting times for us YSO lot.