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Special Notice #267: HST observations of CH Cyg scheduled and monitoring urgently needed

March 15, 2012:  As announced in AAVSO Alert Notice 454 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-454), Dr. Margarita Karovska, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has requested multiband photometry (all possible bands), high-speed photometry, spectroscopy, and visual observations of the symbiotic variable CH Cyg in support of HST and Chandra observations. She is studying the central region of CH Cyg and its jet.

Charts and Sequences Update March 2012

New data released from the AAVSO Photometric All Sky Survey (APASS) has allowed us to revise, repair and update many reported chart errors as well as create new sequences for variable star sequence requests and regions of the sky previously lacking reliable photometry. As a result, the following stars have new or revised sequences, and you should update your records accordingly.

Special Notice #266: Possible Nova in Carina (TCP J10502000-6406480) [V834 Car]

3 March 2012:  John Seach, Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia, reports his discovery of a possible nova in Carina [V834 Car] on 2012 February 26.543 UT at magnitude 10.2 on 3 images with digital SLR, 50 mm f/1.0 lens. No object was seen at the location on survey images taken on February 23.424 UT 2012. A possible image of the nova was seen at magnitude 11 (limit of visibility) on an image taken on February 25.733 UT 2012. Seach reports no object was seen on the POSS2 red image, and no variable star, comet, or minor planet was reported at the position.

Special Notice #265: Bright Symbiotics in Sgr, Cyg, and Oph

March 3, 2012: Observer S. O'Connor reported late last week that the symbiotic stars V4018 Sgr, CH Cyg, and V2523 Oph all appeared to be in outburst or brighter than normal.  He reports: V4018 Sgr at V=11.59 on JD 2455981.021 (2012 Feb 23.521); CH Cyg at V=7.30 on 2455982.976 (Feb 25.476); and V2523 Oph at V=11.67 on 2455981.0 (Feb 23.5).  Other more recent visual observations of CH Cyg by G. Holmberg (vis=7.6 on 2455983.4993) and D. Barrett (vis=7.4 on 2455985.6013) confirm the star is well above magnitude 8.0 at this time.