Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 16:15
AAVSO Alert Notice 754 announces an observing campaign on 15 VY Scl-type CVs in support of HST Target of Opportunity observations. Please see the notice for targets, details, and observing instructions.
There are threads for this campaign under the following forums:
- Campaigns and Observing Reports: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign
- Cataclysmic Variables: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign-01
- Spectroscopy: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign-02
Please subscribe to these threads if you are participating in the campaign so you can be updated by the astronomers and by HQ. Join in the discussion or ask questions there!
Many thanks, and Good observing,
Elizabeth O. Waagen, AAVSO HQ
I have uploaded the first observations of a part of the targets from the Southern hemisphere. Will continue as weather permits.
Josch
thank you for…
Hi Josch,
thank you for your first observations :)
Anna
A huge thanks in…
Dear All,
A huge thanks in advance for your help with this campaign over the next three years!
Feel free to reach out to us at any moment, we are happy to answer any questions/doubts related to this project. We are also preparing a web page with detailed information on the HST program, I'll share it here once it's ready.
Good luck to you all with the observations :)
Anna
Finally clear weather to start on your campaign!! Here in northern Tasmania lot's of great daytime sky - but then the clouds roll in for night time, not good for optical!!
cheers, Merv
Thanks for your…
Hi Merv,
Thanks for your contributions :)
Finger crossed for more clear night skies!
A few days ago I sent some observations of V704 And, but bad weather avoid me from continuing.
I would like to know if the list of objects has been published according to their priority, that is, the most urgent at the top, and the low priority at the bottom.
Thank you in advance.
Mario (MMAO)
Hi Mario,
The list has been ordered according to the targets' RA and there are only two classes of priorities (first and second). Within each class, targets have equal priority among each other. The only difference is that targets flagged as "first" have higher priority compared to those flagged as "second".
I hope this is helpful :)
Anna
Thank you very much for the answer Anna, I will do my best to collaborate.
V794 Aql has been fading slowly and is now around 16.5. I gather it will be too late in the season now if this trend continues.
Regards,
Rod.
Hi Rod,
Thanks for pointing this out!
I have been following the behaviour of this target over the last weeks and seems like it is oscillating between high and intermediate states. I will keep an eye on it in the hope that it will finally enter a stable low state during which the HST observations can be triggered.
Cheers,
Anna
I read that Alert 758 for November, CH UMa has been cancelled due to the HST issue above.
Does the same apply to this campaign or are all observations to continue?
Gary
I read that Alert 758 for November, CH UMa has been cancelled due to the HST issue above.
Does the same apply to this campaign or are all observations to continue?
Gary
Hi Gary,
The VY Scl campaign is not affected by the HST issue.
The reason for this is that the VY Scl observations will be executed as Target of Opportunity (ToO), i.e. they will be included in the HST schedule only when a low state is detected. For the moment, none of the VY Scl targets is expected to be observed by HST in the upcoming weeks.
Therefore, it would be very helpful if the monitoring of the VY Scl targets could continue as usual since I expect that Hubble will be operative soon again, well before a ToO on one of the VY Scl targets is triggered.
Thanks,
Anna
I'm probably late to notice this, but I didn't find any other comments related to V704 And's current fade. The fade started around 12/13 (JD 59562) and the star is currently at V ~ 16, down 3 magnitudes from its normal state.
Shawn (DKS)
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for posting about this.
Indeed I have been keeping an eye on V704 And as it does look like it is entering a low state. We should wait few days to see if it stabilises on this faint state (and hence it is safe to trigger the HST observations) or if it oscillates as, for example, V794 Aql is doing.
I wish all the best for the new year to you and all the AAVSO observes!
Anna
Dear All,
Since the low state of V704 And seems to be stable, we have triggered its HST observations, which have been scheduled for Feb 22nd (the exact time will be confirmed in the next few days).
It would be great if you could give the highest priority to the observations of V704 And and try to obtain at least one positive measurement per night, till Feb 23rd. These data will be used to confirm that the HST observations will indeed be obtained while the target is still in low state and it is safe to be observed with COS.
Thanks for your support and good luck with the observations!
Anna
I applied for and received telescope time observing this system on one of the Faint Star Monitor network stations barely two weeks ago. After three months of cold and cloudy skies at my site, I'm looking forward to finally submitting some data again. And just in time! :)
Dan (GDAG)
That's a great news Dan, and the timing is just perfect :)
Fingers crossed for more good weather over the next days!
Anna
AAVSO Alert Notice 769 announces that one of the campaign targets, V704 And, is in its low state and will be observed by HST. Please see the notice for details and observing instructions.
When the exact time of the observations is known, it will be announced in this forum thread.
There are threads for this campaign under the following forums:
- Campaigns and Observing Reports: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign
- Cataclysmic Variables: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign-01
- Spectroscopy: https://www.aavso.org/vy-scl-stars-too-campaign-02
Please subscribe to these threads if you are participating in the campaign so you can be updated by the astronomers and by HQ. Join in the discussion or ask questions there!
Many thanks, and Good observing,
Elizabeth O. Waagen, AAVSO HQ
Dear All,
Unfortunately the HST observations of V704 And couldn't be executed.
As you have seen, the system has been re-brightening in the last ~15 days and, being as bright as V~14 on February 22nd, it was too bright to be observed with COS without endangering the detectors.
Thanks a lot anyway for your prompt response to the Alert Notice and for providing us the necessary data to understand the behaviour of the system.
The observing season for V704 And is now over, but it remains among our target of interest. Please, keep it in your target list and resume the monitoring in early May, when the visibility will be optimal again.
Thanks a lot for all your work and support,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Been watching 1SWASP J022916.91-395901.4 for some months now and in the last few nights, it has faded dramatically to mag. 15.2. It's been bright for many months now up until this point so this is the first fading trend that has occurred. A few more nights will tell if the weather holds out.
Cheers,
Rod.
Hi Rod,
Thanks for pointing this out.
What a pity that this happened at the end of the visibility season for the target.
Let's hope for a similar behaviour when it will be visible again.
Best,
Anna
Hi Anna,
1SWASP J022916.91-395901.4 faded to 15.2 on March 30. I lost a week due to weather and on April 7 was back at 13.9. April 22 was still at 13.8 but last night's observation April 24 showed another quick fade at 15.2.
1SWASP J022916.91-395901.4 is only around 25 degrees above my horizon so I won't be able to get much deeper but should get a few more obs in. Let's see what happens in the new observing season.
Cheers,
Rod.
Hi Anna,
My observation last night May 3 showed 1SWASP J022916.91-395901.4 returned to its brighter state of around Mag. 13.0 from the recent two small fadings.
I think that is almost done for me as 1SWASP J022916.91-395901.4 is quite low now.
Cheers,
Rod.