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We used to silver the 14-inch mirror of the school telescope back in the 70s under the supervision of Commander Hatfield. This was followed by careful burnishing, a critical step, as Richard pointed out. It was a useful demonstration of chemistry in action. And more impressive than carrying out Tollen’s test for reducing sugars in a tiny test tube that we performed in the biology labs.
That would be very sad indeed. I recall a wonderful visit to the Mills Observatory during the BAA weekend meeting in Dundee in 2016.
This sounds an intriguing event, Tim. Thanks for flagging it.
I’m not familiar with RY CrB, so I looked it up.
The Variable Star Index lists it as a semi-regular variable with a range 8.8 to 10.0 in V band. The period is ~90 days.There are no observations of it in the BAA VSS database. There are very few in AAVSO, the most recent being last August at 9.4 visual.
I wonder if the mag 6.7 you cite is an R mag. It is a red star of spectral type M8 to 10 so will appear bright at longer wavelengths as discussed in the R Lyr thread on the Forum.
Hello Bill,
I looked at the BAA VSS and AAVSO data and R Lyr appears to be behaving “normally”, though the most recent data are from a week ago.
It is a semi-regular variable (SRB), spectral type M5, hence red as you found. The amplitude is small: 3.81 – 4.44 V.
The V-I is ~2.5 mag (brighter in IR than visual) – this varies a bit, in time with its overall brightness variations.
I can’t see any spectra in the BAA database.As you say, these meteor cameras can very red sensitive.
Whilst you have your binoculars out (you don’t need such large ones, though these are good to pick up the colour, and you might be able to use naked eye), why not have a go at estimating its brightness to check where its at now? Chart here: https://britastro.org/vss/xchartcat/R%20Lyr%20330%2001.gif
Finally, I note that R Lyr was discovered by the Mancunian, Joseph Baxendell in 1856.
JS
Where would we be without such helpful advice?
I was staying at a Texas ranch a mile off the main road and a local drove along an adjacent unmade track during totality, but at least they had their headlights on!There are several other choice publications on today’s ArXiv listing. I like:
“I’m in AGNi: A new standard for AGN pluralisation”
and
“Multi-Messenger Astrology“Hello Stewart,
I was looking at Mazin Younis’s fine image of the nova (https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20240316_060436_8e8e3dc829f92b9d) and noticed it was a busy field, yet the VSP chart shows no bright stars that might contaminate the photometry aperture. The nearest is 113, but that’s still a fair distance. What does a visual sense check of the image suggest relative to the comps: 12 or 13.5?
The most recent obs at 13.2V on March 16.792, though that observer seems to report almost a mag brighter than others. What is the time of your observation compare? And just to confirm you deployed a V filter (the nova is much brighter in R).
JS
Here is the relevant part of the painting, from the paper
Attachments:
yes, its a different painting. Apparently monkeys like optics.
Here’s a direct link to the paper: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2403/2403.02857.pdfCostantino Sigismondi reports Betelgeuse is dimming and is now as faint as it has been for two years:
https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=16501whilst nothing like as faint as it got during the great dimming of a few years ago, it’s worth keeping an eye on as Orion dips towards the west.
As part of the project, the organising team has prepared an educational package for children about Mary’s life and astronomical interest: https://outsidearts.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MB-Teaching-Resource-Final-Version.pdf
I note from the Historical Section newsletter that Mike Frost will be speaking at the Cheadle event on Friday March 29 at 4pm on “Cheadle Moon, BAA Pioneering Women”.
