THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS 25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Tel. 617-354-0484 Fax 617-354-0665 http://www.aavso.org * * * AAVSO NEWS FLASH * * * Subject: 0324+43 GK PER 1049+30 SX LMI No. 927 0605+47 SS AUR March 7, 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0324+43 GK PERSEI As mentioned in News Flash 924, the 1901 nova GK Per is currently in outburst and will be observed the following three satellites - Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), X-ray Multi-Mirror Telescope (XMM) and Chandra X-ray satellite in the coming weeks. Astronomers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, with whom we are collaborating, have informed us that: 1. RXTE will be observing it every 3.5 to 5.5 days throughout the outburst, which generally lasts two months; 2. XMM will observe it once sometime between March 7 and 11. The exact date is uncertain. 3. Chandra will observe it twice, one in the week of March 25th, the second 2 to 3 weeks later. The exact date is not yet established. Please observe GK Per very closely. Those with CCDs are strongly urged to observe with CCD V filter, several times a night - every night if possible - from now until the end of the outburst so that we can provide thorough optical coverage to be used in the correlations of the x-ray data. For more information and AAVSO charts for GK Per please see AAVSO Alert Notices 293 and 294, which are posted on the AAVSO web site. Also, a new f scale CCD chart is in the works and will be posted on the AVSO web site shortly. During several previous outbursts GK Per has had a brief standstill (lasting about 1 week) on its way up to maximum. Recent observations are included below and indicate that GK Per may be experiencing such a standstill during this outburst. AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials MAR 04.8719 11.8 CCD MMN MAR 06.1971 12.1 CNT MAR 05.0729 12.0 HP MAR 06.2152 12.1 SRB MAR 05.1625 12.1 SRB MAR 06.2604 11.8 LMK MAR 05.8089 11.9 VJA MAR 06.8089 12.0 SSW MAR 05.8160 12.5 MGH MAR 07.0173 12.1 CGF MAR 06.0104 12.0 TSC MAR 07.0367 12.0 HP MAR 06.0243 12.0 MHI MAR 07.0451 12.0 GSR MAR 06.0347 12.2 CGF MAR 07.2631 11.7 LMK MAR 06.0416 12.1 HP MAR 07.8207 12.0 VJA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0605+47 SS AURIGAE The dwarf nova type cataclysmic variable SS AUR is in outburst, as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials MAR 05.1389 16.45 CCDV ZRE MAR 07.0125 13.6 CGF MAR 06.0 <14.5 CGF MAR 07.0520 12.4 GSR MAR 06.0690 15.72 CCDV MTK MAR 07.2700 12.4 LMK MAR 06.1540 15.38 CCDV ZRE MAR 07.3158 12.2 LMK ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1049+30 SX LEONIS MINORIS The dwarf nova type (SU UMA subclass) cataclysmic variable SX LMI may be in outburst, as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials MAR 02.0440 <14.4 PYG MAR 07.2289 15.53 CCDV ZRE MAR 03.9070 16.58 CCD DRG MAR 07.3259 15.10 CCDV ZRE MAR 05.2119 16.89 CCDV ZRE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We thank the following contributors for the data that they have provided for this News Flash: CGF - G. CHAPLE JR., USA MMN - M. MARTIGNONI, ITALY CNT - D. CHANTILES, USA MTK - T. MICHALIK, USA DRG - R. DIETHELM, SWITZERLAND PYG - G. POYNER, ENGLAND GSR - R. GESCHWIND, USA SRB - R. STINE, USA HP - W. HAMPTON, USA SSW - S. SWIERCZYNSKI, POLAND LMK - M. LINNOLT, USA TSC - S. TRACY, USA MGH - H. MCGEE, ENGLAND VJA - J. VIRTANEN, FINLAND MHI - H. MENALI, USA ZRE - R. ZISSELL, USA Please monitor these and other variable stars closely and phone-in, fax, or e-mail your observations to the AAVSO. Good observing! Janet A. Mattei, Director Rebecca Pellock, Technical Assistant ____________________________________________________________________________ Symbols may include: < = fainter than magnitude given (variable not seen) : = uncertain CCDV = Charge-coupled device with (V) filter If you would like to contribute to AAVSO NEWS FLASH, please send observations of unusual variable star activity to: observations@aavso.org Those who wish to subscribe (free of charge) or unsubscribe to NEWS FLASH may do so by visiting the following web page: http://www.aavso.org If you would like data from the AAVSO International Database for research purposes, please send your request to: Janet Mattei, AAVSO Director, at aavso@aavso.org An archive of past issues of the News Flash is available at the following web page: http://www.aavso.org/newsflash/ We look forward to including your observations in future editions of AAVSO NEWS FLASH! ____________________________________________________________________________