Hi All
It appears to have been a busy time behind the Sun for the various RCB's located in Oph. 3 appear to have commenced fading whilst in conjunction with the Sun.
GV Oph only has observations in the AID dating back to 2012, however from observation this morning has shown a significant fade from its nominal maximum brightness of around 12-12.5 and it appears to be its first recorded fading event (although it was below this level for a short time when first observed back in 2012)
V532 Oph has observations dating back to 2008 when at maximum it hovers around mag 11.5-12. This also appears to be its first recorded fade. There is evidence that the fade commenced just before the star went into conjunction late last year.
V517 Oph is quite an active RCB with the last fading event in 2014. It appears to be undergoing another fade now.
So quite an active time in the RCB zoo at this time!
Regards
Andrew Pearce (PEX)
Andrew,
I've been anxiously awaiting V532 Oph's return. I was playing around with the new LCG app a few weeks and that it had started to fade right before it slipped behind the sun: I caught one last observation of it on 9/9 when it was down to 12.6. It should be clearing the trees before the sky gets too bright here in another week or so.
Shawn Dvorak (DKS)
Hi All, Here's a rundown on the RCBs in Oph so far this year: Big thanks to Andrew for initiating this thread. Plenty of activity for sure. The 6 number identifier in brackets is of course the abbreviated 2000.0 coordinates for the variable. I find it useful in observation planning. The 3 letter - 3 number star name is of course the VSX AUID for the variable (leaving out the '000-' prefix). I find it to be a simpler, more streamlined naming system than the various ASAS, EROS, 2MASS .........long digit names for RCBs not yet given an official GCVS-type name.
GV Oph (1705-26) Max=11.7V. **ACTIVE** fainter than 14.5v Feb 5 2017 PEX and fainter than 17.7V on Feb 6 2017 OCN.
V0517 Oph (1715-29) Max=11.0V. **ACTIVE** mag 13.6v on Feb 5 2017 PEX.
V0532 Oph (1732-21) VSX Max=126p. **ACTIVE** 13.4v on Feb 5 2017 PEX.
V2552 Oph (1723-22) Max=10.5V. Observed at 11.5v on Feb 5 2017 PEX.
V2902 Oph (1714-21) Max=12.6V. At mag 13.5v on Feb 5 2017 PEX.
BKS-407 Oph (1647-15) VSX Max=127CV (ASAS-3 suggests Max is near 13.3V). **ACTIVE** at 16.2V on Jan 29 2017 OCN.
BKN-176 Oph (1717-20) Max=11.4V. Currently at max, mag 11v/V PEX,OCN.
BKK-785 Oph (1719-30) VSX Max=141R. No observations
BKP-393 Oph (1717-29) VSX Max=138R. No observations
BKN-659 Oph (1735-26) Max=115 Ic: **ACTIVE** 13.4Ic Feb 6 2017 OCN. This star may be observable in the visual/V band.
BKK-787 Oph (1739-27) VSX Max=130R. No observations yet in 2017. 6 observations from March-July 2016 were all fainter than about 15.0v PEX.
Good observing to all !
Steve