April 15, 2012
It’s been 933 days since we launched the Z CamPaign.
The response from AAVSO observers has been amazing. In fact, I have been concerned at times that the Z CamPaign has had an undue influence on the observing habits of AAVSO observers. Many who used to monitor a more diverse list of objects have concentrated their efforts on the stars in the Z CamPaign in lieu of other stars since the launch of the campaign.
The result is that in 2 ½ years we have confirmed or determined, conclusively, the classification of 21 of the original 30 targets. 17 are definitively Z Cams, 4 are definitely not Z Cams, and the remaining 9 stars require further study to determine their type, although most are not likely to be Z Cams.
Of those nine, V426 Oph and V513 Cas have proved to be particularly enigmatic. There is plenty of data, but analysis has not led to a determination of type. MN Lac is simply so faint that even the best CCD observers with 25-60cm telescopes are barely able to detect it at minimum. We dropped it from the campaign in year two, so data remains scarce. The others are just going to take a more concerted effort to unmask.