June 18, 2021
AAVSO Forum threads (scroll to the bottom of a thread for latest posts):
- Campaigns and Observation Reports: https://www.aavso.org/rho-cas-campaign
- Spectroscopy: https://www.aavso.org/rho-cas
Please subscribe to these threads if you are participating in the campaign so you can be updated by the astronomer and by HQ. Join in the discussion or ask questions there!
AAVSO ALERT NOTICE 301 (May 21, 2003)
SUBJECTS: 1041-59 ETA CAR; 2349+56 RHO CAS
OBSERVATIONS REQUESTED: 1041-59 ETA CAR and 2349+56 RHO CAS
EVENTS: Possible optical brightening of eta Car over next few months; Possible optical fading of rho Cas over next few months
Rho CasRho Cas (type semiregular) is a hypergiant star and one of the most luminous stars in our galaxy. Eruptions on these very rare, very massive stars produce huge mass ejections evidenced by dramatic spectral changes and optical dimming (an ejection in 2000 amounted to 10,000 Earths worth of material and caused a ~1.5-magnitude drop in visual brightness). |
