Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 11/09/2016 - 11:35
V603 Per is catalogued as a probable Mira star (M:). If that classification is correct, it has one of the longest periods known among Mira stars. Recent behaviour also shows it is then a humper: on the rising branch it faded from visual magnitud about 15 to visual magnitude about 16, and is now brightening again.
Is this really a Mira star or something else? I am not sure. Symbiotic? Even an RCB which just happened to show Mira-like activity? In any case, V603 Per is an unusual star that deserves many observations.
Kind regards,
Hans Bengtsson
(BHS)
Hi Hans,
interesting star. I checked its infrared colors (WISE and 2MASS) and it is not in the RCB domain. It has the colors of a red giant.
Certainly it will be interesting to see how the current maximum developes. With a second maximum completely covered we will be able to determine a provisional period.
Cheers,
Sebastian
V603 Per reached a maximum in mid December, about JD 2457740. The last maximum was 2 years ago, JD 2457000, which give a length of 740 days between the maxima. The recent maximum was a bit fainter, 13.2, compared to that 2 years ago that was 12.5.
In the attached phase diagram I combined our observations with observations from the discoverer of the star Kaeso Takamizawa made in 1994-1999 and used the period of 740 days. The black dots are from Takamizawa and the red from SAAF. I sat fainter than-observation from Takamizawa to 14.5 and 17.5 to fainter than from SAAF. One observation from Takamizawa does not fit, but the rest of the observations seems to agree to this period.
If this is a mira star, this one must be one of the longest known periods!
Thomas Karlsson
The record breaking mira V603 Per has recently passed its 4:th maximum since SAAF/V begun observing it in 2013. I have tried to find a period that best satisfies the observations of the discoverer Kesao Takamizawa and ours and have now got it to 744 days.
Lightcurve from SAAF/V
Thomas Karlsson