TheSkySearchers

Hi! Can you believe it is October already? 2020 has somehow simultaneously figure out how to move really fast AND really slow.

Anyway, onto the October 2020 Carbon Star Hunt!

Every month I will present 3 carbon stars for anyone to “hunt”. I will try to mix it up so that there will be one more northerly, but the other two should be visible to both northern and southern hemispheres.

There are no restrictions on finding the objects - star charts, GoTo, PushTo - the main objective is to go out there, observe and have fun looking at what can be striking red stars against the black.

I will also try to provide some background on each target - usually from AAVSO, including most recent observed magnitudes - as (most of) these are variable stars. I saw something recently that stated not ALL Carbon's are variable - but I have not looked further into that.

For the time being, all targets are going to come from the Astronomy Leagues 100 Carbon Stars list.

For some basic information, here is the wikipedia entry on Carbon Stars.

October 2020 Targets:

RU Aqr - Data. I guess this is a boring star to observe as there are NO observations since at least 01/01/2020 in the AAVSO database. According to SkySafari and AAVSO, it ranges from 8.5 - 10.1, and is 9.09 currently.

19 Psc or TX Psc - This one has multiple names in the databases, so I used both, just in case whatever source you use doesn't have one or the other. Data. Observations. This is a fairly bright one and in dark skies is likely naked eye. It ranges from 4.79 - 5.2. it makes up one of the stars of the circlet of Pisces - I want to say the most eastern star - but I could be wrong in my directions!

UU Aur - Data. Observations. This looks like it is a fun one, as its a double star. The primary is the Carbon and sits in a mag range of 4.9 -7. The secondary is significantly dimmer - at 11.8, it should still be in the range of most scopes. According to SkySafari, it sits 116.9" away at 223 degrees. Can you spot it?

That's it for this month - feel free to tag me, reply in this thread, both or neither! There's no points, no scoring - just get out there and observe!

Good luck, good hunting and clear, dark skies to all!

(Remember, there are TWO full moons this month for some (all?) of us!)

I can hardly wait to get started!

Hopefully my weekend forecast of showers will go away so I can view these.
Thank you for the list Brett

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:30 pm Hopefully my weekend forecast of showers will go away so I can view these.
Thank you for the list Brett

I was looking at my forecast and thinking there's a good chance I'd be able to knock them out fairly quickly - Friday and Saturday night are both looking good here.

My extended forecast is still showing full cloud cover and to add insult the rain probability increases as it gets darker.

Hi Brett,

We (the Admins) have decided to move this post over to the TSS Monthly Challenges > Submission forum so it gets better exposure and won't get lost as quickly in the numerous postings this forum witnesses. I hope you'll continue to produce these monthly hunts for a while.

Cheers,
JT

JayTee wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 1:32 am Hi Brett,

We (the Admins) have decided to move this post over to the TSS Monthly Challenges > Submission forum so it gets better exposure and won't get lost as quickly in the numerous postings this forum witnesses. I hope you'll continue to produce these monthly hunts for a while.

Cheers,
JT

Sounds good - I will note for the future to put here! Thanks JT!

Brett, I though perhaps you and others might be interested in the linked presentation about carbons. What I have read mostly, and its also in the pdf below, is that the majority of "classical" carbon stars (giants) are variable.

https://ozsky.org/pdf/CarbonStarsPresentation.pdf

kt4hx wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:04 pm Brett, I though perhaps you and others might be interested in the linked presentation about carbons. What I have read mostly, and its also in the pdf below, is that the majority of "classical" carbon stars (giants) are variable.

https://ozsky.org/pdf/CarbonStarsPresentation.pdf

Thanks Alan! I'll check it out.

Still waiting for clear skies to view these Brett, have not forgotten.

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:11 pm Still waiting for clear skies to view these Brett, have not forgotten.

You are not the only one! Typical October here - cold, rainy and cloudy.

And when it is "clear" its not really clear.

There is a minor chance this coming Tuesday...

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:11 pm Still waiting for clear skies to view these Brett, have not forgotten.

Same as that!

Regards

Graeme

There's a sniff of an opportunity for gaps between clouds this week. I was going to save it for a visual go at Mars since my Martian imaging attempt last week was a bit of a flop! While I'm at it, I thought I might have a go at your carbon stars Brett.

RU Aqr will be sitting at about 20° in the murk of the LP of the Medway Towns so I'm not holding my breath for that one.

19 Psc or TX Psc is currently 30° to the West of Mars at 40° altitude, so above the orange dome all evening.

UU Aur will rise above my apple tree to the North East just after midnight. While I'm waiting, it might be a good idea to have a peep at M110 for the October Challenge!

I'll keep you posted.

Graeme1858 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:51 pm There's a sniff of an opportunity for gaps between clouds this week. I was going to save it for a visual go at Mars since my Martian imaging attempt last week was a bit of a flop! While I'm at it, I thought I might have a go at your carbon stars Brett.

RU Aqr will be sitting at about 20° in the murk of the LP of the Medway Towns so I'm not holding my breath for that one.

19 Psc or TX Psc is currently 30° to the West of Mars at 40° altitude, so above the orange dome all evening.

UU Aur will rise above my apple tree to the North East just after midnight. While I'm waiting, it might be a good idea to have a peep at M110 for the October Challenge!

I'll keep you posted.

Good luck Graeme! It's pretty well been solid clouds for me all month - and when it has been "Clear" it hasn't really been "Clear", and I've been busy anyway! Hopefully I will get this months targets this month. They are not going anywhere though so if I don't....well, it's not a big deal.

Thanks for the inspiration Brett. I need to do some carbon star observing. With another warm clear week ahead I should be able to get started. I also haven't observed many double stars recently. I have to admit that my main focus over the past few weeks has been Mars.

helicon wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:28 pm Thanks for the inspiration Brett. I need to do some carbon star observing. With another warm clear week ahead I should be able to get started. I also haven't observed many double stars recently. I have to admit that my main focus over the past few weeks has been Mars.

Nothing wrong with that! If I were able to get out, Mars would be at the top of my list!

Clear sky last night so I set up for visual session. Quite nostalgic really!

Had a good look at Mars and a long look at Saturn then went for 19PSC. The handset takes an input of an SAO number found from the data link above. The star is a lovely deep orange through the Celestron Plössl 25mm at 94x.

RU Aqr was behind next door's house. UU Aug was behind my apple tree but I did manage to see the colour of it between the swaying branches if not the clarity of the double star. 1.5 out of 3 ain't bad!

Then I couldn't help myself and put a camera in!

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=14263#p119896

Regards

Graeme