November 8, 1982
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS
187 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Tel. 617-354-0484
SPECIAL ALERT NOTICE ON CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES
Dear Observer:
From now until Thanksgiving is a busy observing time for cataclysmic variables. Five astronomers (Drs. H. Drechsel, E. Kamper, J. Krautter, J. Patterson, and P. Szkody) have requested our help during their observing runs either with ground-based telescopes at Kitt Peak, Louisiana State University Observatories, or the IUE Satellite. Drs. E. Kamper, J. Krautter, and J. Patterson wish to be informed of any outburst of dwarf novae, particularly SU UMa type. Drs. H. Drechsel and P. Szkody wish to be informed of the behavior of the following: [designations are 1900]
0058+40 RX And
0120+31 TY Psc
0130+50 KT Per
0139+37 AR And
0203+56a UV Per
0207-63 WX Hyi
0201+14 TT Ari
0324+58 AF Cam
0409-71 VW Hyi
0418-13 AH Eri
0518+00 BI Ori
0605+47 SS Aur
0611+15 CZ Ori
0641+28 IR Gem
0744-23 BV Pup
0803+62 SU UMa
0804+28 YZ Cnc
0809-76 Z Cha
0814+73 Z Cam
0854-41 CU Vel
0855+18 SY Cnc
0945+12 X Leo
0945-23 AG Hya
1109-37 V436 Cen
1133+03 T Leo
1140-03 TW Vir
1505-64 EK TrA
1805-14 UZ Ser
1841+37 AY Lyr
1848+26 CY Lyr
1911-00 FO Aql
1951-09 UU Aql
1953+77 AB Dra
1958+16 RZ Sge
2023+43 V503 Cyg
2209+12 RU Peg
Please monitor the stars listed above, and as many dwarf novae as you can between November 17-27, and inform me by phone (HQ - 617-354-0484 on weekdays; Home - 617-xxx-xxxx evenings until 11 pm and weekends) of their eruptions so that the astronomers can be informed. The astronomers will reimburse phone charges, so please call collect.
As always, your contributions are greatly appreciated, and are crucial to the success of these observing runs.
TY Psc: This suspected SU UMa star did have a supermax starting October 25, 1982. Thanks to my being alerted by Glenn Chaple, Tom Butler, Paul Goodwin, and Mark Heifner, the astronomical community was informed by telex and through IAU Circulars.
Dr. Edward Kamper informed us that he was able to observe superhumps of period of c. 100-105 min during the supermaximum. The data are still being reduced. This information confirms that TY Psc is a SU UMa star.
NOTE: I was informed by Paul Sventek that U Gem is at maximum (9.7 on November 13) and SS Cyg is still up (c. 8.6 on November 13).
Paul Goodwin informed us of fluctuations of a few tenths in SS Cygni around maximum.
Many thanks for all your efforts and continuing contributions to these "alert" needs.
Good observing!
Janet A. Mattei