Bill Whitehead
member
Reged: 07/11/09
Posts: 12
Loc: Exit 135 - Garden St Parkway
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Friends,
I participate in Street Astronomy and Star Parties for the general public at my local club. I have been looking for Carbon stars to show people through my 80mm refractor. I've shown people Herschel's Garnet star and LaSuperba and they look pretty good. I've been looking for more, however I've been finding that Carbon stars don't always have color through my scope. Last night I found; T Lyrae, V Aquila and TX Piscium and they had no color. I even asked my wife to look, because I don't have the greatest color sensitivity and she agreed with me. Any ideas? Are these stars just in a poor color cycle, or should I buy a more expensive telescope? Maybe I should just give up and show people Jupiter?
Thanks for your help,
Bill
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2119
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Try V Cyg ... it's not very bright at the moment but it's the reddest star I know of.
Red stars usually show their colour best when they're about 5 mags above the threshold - more than that and there is a "washing out" caused by the glare. At least that's what I find.
I've been monitoring TX Psc recently by imaging it with a DSLR, it shows up very red in the images ....
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walt r
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/13/07
Posts: 3463
Loc: Doylestown, PA
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I have found that sometimes R Leo is very red and at other times a barely perceivable red. As Brian mentioned how bright they are makes a difference. But that is also the charm of visually observing these variables.
You could check a variable's light curve at the AAVSO web site to see how bright it currently is. Then you can tell everyone a little about how the star brightens and dims.
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Walt
Obsession 18" f/4.45 #1370 AN/SC
MK67 Deluxe 6" f/12 Mak-Cass, Super Polaris GEM, JMI MicroMax DSC
DIY 60mm f/6 Achromat
Cookbook 245 CCD
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RLTYS
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/18/04
Posts: 2159
Loc: New York (Long Island)
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Bill
What size scope are you using? Have you looked at WZ Cas, W Ori, UU Aur, U Cyg, SV Cyg, AW Cyg, RS Cyg? These are just some of the many carbon stars that you could observe. Most carbon stars are variables and you would want to observe then near maximum brightness. The Astronomical League is developeing a Carbon Star observing program but I'm not sure when it will be released.
Hope this helps.
Rich (RLTYS)
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10" F4.8 Refl.
4" F5 Refr. (Genesis)
3" F4 Celestron FirstScope
50mm F12 Refr. (Tasco #6TE-5)
12x63 and 10x50 Binoculars.
"I want to do more then just look."
Edited by RLTYS (11/04/09 06:11 AM)
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Bill Whitehead
member
Reged: 07/11/09
Posts: 12
Loc: Exit 135 - Garden St Parkway
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Brian, Rich and Walt,
Thanks for you help, guys. I'll be doing street astronomy next week and carbon stars will be on the program.
Peace,
Bill
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markan
super member
Reged: 07/13/09
Posts: 126
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I thought T Lyrae looked very red the first time I saw it
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/L_STORY/STARLIST/CARBON.HTM
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Sky-Watcher 100mm ED f/9 refractor
Sky-Watcher 200mm f/5 reflector
EQ5 mount, Orion SkyView AZ
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SabiaJD
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/20/05
Posts: 510
Loc: Clarks Summit, PA
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WZ Cass is showing a deep metalic red these last few week. Give that a try
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John D. Sabia
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Bill Whitehead
member
Reged: 07/11/09
Posts: 12
Loc: Exit 135 - Garden St Parkway
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Mark and John,
T Lyrae is on many lists for reddest of Carbon stars. So I was perplexed when even my wife didn't see any color. These are variable stars so they change all of the time.
WZ Cass is on my list, and I have had difficulty finding it. It is really faint. And it is not listed in my Sky Atlas 2000. I have it penciled in. I will give it a try this week and hope for the best.
Peace,
Bill
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2119
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
WZ Cass is on my list, and I have had difficulty finding it. It is really faint. And it is not listed in my Sky Atlas 2000.
Really faint? I estimated it visually at 7.6 a couple of days ago. And the colour was enough to show even in 10x50 binoculars.
Have you come across the AAVSO chart plotter? Feed it "WZ Cas", field size 540 (arc minutes), limiting magnitude 10 and it will plot a beauty of a chart for you.
Note that the range given in the AAVSO catalogue is photographic (blue light), being such a red star it is several magnitudes brighter visually.
Edited by brianb11213 (11/16/09 09:30 AM)
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markan
super member
Reged: 07/13/09
Posts: 126
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I looked myself last night. My own estimate was 7.9. T Cas is another that looks quite red to me. There's a nearby star that looks blue, so there's a nice contrast.
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Sky-Watcher 100mm ED f/9 refractor
Sky-Watcher 200mm f/5 reflector
EQ5 mount, Orion SkyView AZ
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Bill Whitehead
member
Reged: 07/11/09
Posts: 12
Loc: Exit 135 - Garden St Parkway
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Brian and Mark,
Thanks, the AAVSO catalogue looks really helpful. I'm going to be out tonight looking at some of these stars and I'll let you know what i found.
I like carbon stars, they are a challenge.
Bill
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Bill Whitehead
member
Reged: 07/11/09
Posts: 12
Loc: Exit 135 - Garden St Parkway
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People,
OK, last night I had my reflector out and I was able to find T Cas and WZ Cas. They both looked good and had great color. I could only view for about 45 minutes because the clouds came back in (its been a rotten year for viewing in NJ). Next time I'm going to look at them through my refractor because it has better color and clarity. Thanks to Brian and Mark, the AAVSO catalogue and your suggestions were very helpful.
Peace,
Bill
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Mateyhv
member
Reged: 10/10/09
Posts: 60
Loc: 43°N
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Bill, anytime you have problems with color you can take with you a 8x - 12x binoculars and give them a try. Normally color appear accurate. With a 9x binocular I TX Piscium has a nice red color, haven't tried the rest of stars given in this thread but would be wonderful to have the opportunity.
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