Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 01/10/2015 - 09:07
Hi All
V854 Cen is currently in the initial stages of a fading event. V409 Nor is another newly recognised RCB which had a fade towards the end of last year's observing season. This has got me thinking as to whether there is any value in prompt notification of RCB fading events. Years ago, these fades were quite important and many observers were involved in following the small handful of RCB stars and reporting fades promptly. The question I have is whether that is still true today. Are these fading events of interest to professional and/or amateur astronomers and should prompt notifications continue to be made?
Regards
Andrew Pearce (PEX)
Hi Andrew,
Speaking from a personal point of view, I am always interested to hear when any RCB star fades, whether I can see it from England or not! I cover all northern RCB stars, and am keen to know what they are doing if I hit a long cloudy spell - which is often the case here, but I have an interest in all stars of this type. The same could be said for recoveries, especially if the star has been in low state for some time. Prompt notification in my opinion is still a good thing.
The place for such notifications is important too. Forums like this one are OK, but not ideal (can you have alerts from this forum delivered to your mailbox?). Alert lists like BAAVSS-alert or VSnet are the best places to announce such news I think.
I too would be interested to hear a professional astronomer comment on how they regard these fading events these days!
Gary [PYG]