vsots

Beta Lyrae

β Lyrae, known as Sheliak to the ancient Arabs and Tsan Tae to the ancient Chinese, was discovered to be a variable star by John Goodricke in 1784, about two years after his successful explanation of the light variations of Algol. In the more than two centuries since its discovery, β Lyrae has played a game of cat and mouse with astronomers attempting to unlock its secrets. Only slowly have some of those secrets been revealed.

U Monocerotis

At the Top of its Class

U Monocerotis is an interesting and bright RV Tauri-type variable. Fluctuating between visual magnitude of about 5.1 - 7.1, U Mon is seen to exhibit two periods: a short-term and a long-term period of about 92 and 2475 days, respectively (Percy et al. 1991). The first observations of U Mon date back to the 1870s (Percy et al. 1991), however, the variable has only been monitored continuously by AAVSO observers since 1945.

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