Affiliation
Association Francaise des Observateurs d'Etoiles Variables (AFOEV)
Sun, 10/30/2016 - 08:56
This morning I detected an outburst – probably a superoutburst that has just started – of the SU UMa-type dwarf nova BB Ari (= NSV 907): 2016 Oct. 30.160 UT, mv= 13.2.
Time-resolved photometry is urgently required.
BB Arietis in VSX: https://www.aavso.org/vsx/index.php?view=detail.top&oid=136051
Taking time series data now, ~ mag 13.7CV
Visual estimate: 13.3
Comps: 12.3, 13.5
Note: 13.5 and BB Ari barely glimpsed in 8" SCT at 200x
Chart: X16889AO
BB Ari has begun to show superhumps.
Just a quick message to say thank you for the heads up on this outburst. I'm a beginner in the field of photometry and this star is an easy and exciting way to start. Even with my modest setup (DSLR on a C8) I was able to detect the superhumps on both nights that I tried.
It was also great to see that my measures overlapped almost perfectly with measures submitted by a more experienced observer, which allowed me to gain confidence in my measures.
Now I have a cold and I'm exhausted from spending 2 nights at my dark site until 1.30am but it was totally worth it!
Do we know how long the superhumps are going to last? Is the total duration of the 'superhumps period' a valuable information? If yes, I guess I'll try to drive out to my dark site as often as I can in the upcoming days to help narrow the window of when the superhumps period ends.
jf