Solar wind blows at 50-year low Jun 27, 2009
The Sun is a variable star; activity rises and falls in cycles. "This is a whole Sun phenomenon," said Dave McComas, Ulysses solar wind instrument principal investigator, from Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, US.. (BBC News -- Science)
Building blocks: Author trails barn quilts to Iowa for book research Jun 22, 2009
Quilt patterns like "Variable Star," "Log Cabin," "Bachelor's Puzzle" and "Friendship Star" and others are painted on square boards and fastened to barns; some are painted directly on the buildings. Donna Sue Groves of Adams County, Ohio, is credited with establishing the barn quilt project. (Waterloo Courier, IO)
Betelgeuse, Red Supergiant In Constellation Orion, Has Shrunk By 15 Percent In 15 Years Jun 17, 2009
Despite Betelgeuse's diminished size, Wishnow pointed out that its visible brightness, or magnitude, which is monitored regularly by members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, has shown no significant dimming over the past 15 years. The ISI has been focusing on Betelgeuse for more than 15 years in an attempt to learn more about these giant massive stars and to discern features on the star's surface, Wishnow said. (Science Daily)
Famous Star Is Shrinking, Puzzling Astronomers Jun 16, 2009
Betelgeuse is a type of variable star, with slight dips in its brightness every few years. (Find out why. (National Geographic)
Watch as the moon eclipses the star Antares Jun 6, 2009
For more than a century, amateurs were almost the only people tracking most of the sky's variable stars ... The American Association of Variable Star Observers, based in Cambridge since 1911, has diligently compiled 16 ... And those variable stars. (Boston Globe)
Mystery supernova may revise star theory Mar 24, 2009
"LBVs are a bit like volcanoes in the sense that these eruptions can occur over and over again, and the star can sometimes be dormant for many years," said University of California at Berkeley astronomer Nathan Smith, who previously proposed that the well-known supernova 1987A was caused by a luminous blue variable star. "By actually detecting the progenitor star as an object that appears to have been an LBV before it exploded, (Gal-Yam and collaborators) provide direct evidence that LBVs can in... (MSNBC -- Technology)
> read more Mar 1, 2009
The bright eclipsing variable star Algol should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3. 4 instead of its usual 2. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Interactive Observing Tools Feb 8, 2009
Now you can calculate the dates and times (local and Universal Times) when the eclipsing variable star Algol should be at its dimmest (magnitude 3. 4 instead of its usual 2. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
This Week's Sky at a Glance Feb 8, 2009
The bright eclipsing variable star Algol should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3 ... The red long-period variable stars S Virginis and R Corvi should be at maximum light (7th magnitude) around now. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Remote Astronomical Society Observatory Feb 26, 2008
When Bill Dillon, past president of the AAVSO and RASO variable star coordinator, learned of the plans of Dr. Paula Szkody (University of Washington) to use the Hubble telescope to image the cataclysmic variable known as SDSS091908, he planned a campaign of observation that would insure that Dr. Szkody would avoid attempting to image the system uding an outburst, which could damage the Hubble sensors. Taking advantage of the 24/7 global capabilities of the GRAS system, he made round the clock... (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Martin Nicholson Feb 26, 2008
Since 2005 the majority of my observing time has been spent studying variable stars. Unlike many variable star observers I don't find monitoring cataclysmic variables particularly interesting and this is despite the many excellent web sites that exist ... Although I made a few variable star discoveries in 2005 - as reported in and a slightly larger number in the first half of 2006 - as reported in - I tended to drift between the different sub-sections of the hobby in a rather unstructured... (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Light echoes whisper the distance to a star Feb 11, 2008
Taking advantage of the presence of light echoes, a team of astronomers have used an ESO telescope to measure, at the 1% precision level, the distance of a Cepheid - a class of variable stars that constitutes one of the first steps in the cosmic distance ladder ... They are named after the star Delta Cephei in the constellation of Cepheus, the first known variable star of this particular type and bright enough to be easily seen with the unaided eye. (EurekAlert!)
Immortality in a glacier, an asteroid, even a snail Jan 28, 2008
" Asteroids immortalize everyone from sci-fi author Isaac Asimov to rocker Frank Zappa. The Astronomical Union's 11-member naming committee is likely to give the nod to almost any label proposed by an asteroid's discoverer, so long as it's not an obscenity, a pet, or a living politician - and, arbitrarily, doesn't contain more than 16 characters. Di Cicco so far has sought official names for only nine of his discoveries - he harbors a plan to eventually "nominate" little-recognized individuals... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Science)
What's in a name? Jan 21, 2008
"I've also [designated] the American Association of Variable Star Observers - 8900 AAVSO.". But a lot of the thrill has gone out of the search for asteroids, said di Cicco, who hasn't seriously scouted for new ones since 1997. (Boston Globe)
Monster Black Holes Soon to Collide? Jan 16, 2008
It was originally thought to be a faint variable star ... It was originally thought to be a faint variable star. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Lowest Frequency Radar Echo From The Moon Ever Detected Jan 11, 2008
1, 2006) Hubble has returned to the intriguing variable star V838 Monocerotis many times since its initial outburst in 2002, to follow the evolution of its light echo. Two new images provide the most. (Science Daily)
Lenses Search Deep Space for Changes Jan 9, 2008
Those things can be as simple as a variable star, which brightens and dims. They can be asteroids, which move from moment to moment against the background of the stars. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
That Was the Year that Was Dec 29, 2007
Astronomers using an orbiting ultraviolet telescope discovered that well-known variable star has one too. Comet McNaught dazzled the Southern Hemisphere. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Meteor showers, changing comets Nov 10, 2007
Observers can t be sure how exactly it s going to change from month to month, making Scheat a popular target for variable star studies. Above Markab and Scheat is an interesting collection of galaxies marked by the position of NGC 7331, a spiral galaxy that can be seen with binoculars from a dark viewing site. (Albany Democrat-Herald, OR)
Constant as the Northern Star Nov 10, 2007
Polaris isn't always the north star and Polaris is a variable star ... Polaris is also a Cepheid variable star ... The inconstant northern star is challenging our understanding about how Cepheid variable stars work. (Suite101.com)
Speeding Star: Johnny Appleseed Of The Cosmos Aug 17, 2007
Mira is also what's called a pulsating variable star ... Because it was the first variable star with a regular period ever discovered, other stars of this type are often referred to as "Miras.". (Science Daily)
Star unlike any seen before has comet-like tail Aug 16, 2007
Located about 350 light-years from Earth, Mira is a so-called variable star that pulsates from dim to bright over a period of about 330 days. At its brightest, Mira A is visible to the naked eye. (USA Today)
Dusty star sheds light on stellar brightness Aug 8, 2007
Some 6,000 light years from Earth, RY Sagittarii is the brightest R Cr B-type variable star in the Southern hemisphere and a good source for evidence supporting the Dust Puff Theory. In 2004, de Laverny's team established the existence of clouds several hundred radii from RY Sagittarii. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Variable Star Classifications Mar 3, 2007
What are some of the major types of variable stars. Any star that changes or varies in some way, usually brightness, is called a variable star ... Here are a few of the major types of variable stars. (Suite101.com)
The Brightest Stars Feb 10, 2007
It is a variable star, which means it changes in brightness, and therefore estimates of its magnitude ... Another variable star, its magnitude is around 0 ... It is a variable star with an approximate magnitude of 0. (Suite101.com)
Corot Telescope Sees First Light In Search Of Stellar Secrets Jan 26, 2007
(November 1, 2006) -- Hubble has returned to the intriguing variable star V838 Monocerotis many times since its initial outburst in 2002, to follow the evolution of its light echo. Two new images provide the most. (Science Daily)
Rethinking Last Century's Closest, Brightest Supernova Jan 11, 2007
A Luminous Blue Variable star named HD168625, located in our Milky Way Galaxy, is surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A, a supernova that exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and was the nearest supernova to Earth in 400 years. (Image credits: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Nathan Smith/UC Berkeley). (Science Daily)
A New Foundation for the AAVSO Jan 9, 2007
The American Association of Variable Star Observers is moving into Sky & Telescope's old headquarters at 49 Bay State Road, Cambridge, Massachusetts ... Margaret Mayall, AAVSO director 1949-1973 AAVSO The AAVSO formed in 1911 as a society of amateur astronomers dedicated to the study of variable stars ... Perhaps most importantly, the AAVSOs greatest resource, its archives of variable star data and historical documents, will be given a secure new home above ground. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
