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IUE observations of the pulsation of RY SGR

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Albert V. Holm

Astronomy Programs

Computer Sciences Corporation

Space Telescope Science Institute

Baltimore, MD 21218

Presented at the 87th Annual Meeting of the AAVSO, October 31, 1998

Abstract

The correlation of the onsets of RY Sgr's deep minima with pulsational phase suggests that the formation of dust is somehow driven by the pulsation. Observations were obtained using the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) to investigate whether every pulsation cycle is accompanied by the condensation of small amounts of dust. During the 46-day interval covered by this data set, temperature and geometrical variations contributed 0.85 magnitude and 0.55 magnitude, respectively, to the visual light curve. Dust formation was a smaller effect, but may contribute 0.27 magnitude to the light curve. The phase of maximum extinction found here coincides with the phase at which the deep minima preferentially begin.

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