by Ron Bhanukitsiri
Well, tonight the 10-day moon shines brightly. Seeing is ok but not good enough for serious rille observation. The galaxies were all smothered out by lunar light. Solution? Observe double stars and variable stars. Well, seeing didn't allow close double :-(. So let's try fluctuating on the variables. My first variable was Hind's Crimson Star in early Jan., which didn't turned out very crimson because it was all drained of blood; so this is my first serious observation. LM=3.9!
R Leonis is a mag 4.4-11.3 variable star. Wow, one of the best looking star! Stood out like ruby at 22x. Formed a perfect triangle at 44x with 9.2 mag star GSC 831:1041 and 9.9 mag star GSC 831:1223. Very nice at 73x also, umm sort of looking like a triangular heart. R Leonis seems to keep beckoning somehow. At 110x, the two GSC stars seem to be of the same magnitude. At 146x, I estimate the magnitude of R Leonis to be the same as the mag 6.4 SAO 98767 (especial when defocus) within the same FOV. All stars indicated just fit into the FOV of the miracle 3mm TV Radian at 293x! Now the color, it looks stunningly deep reddish purple (crimson?), like a ruby or a grape or an opened heart ;-). SAO 98767 looked white with perhaps a tinge of blue. Just for kicks, I swung the TV-102 Light Cup to Betelgeuse. While much brighter and a pretty yellowish orange color, it's simply no match to R Leonis. BTW, R Leonis is much better looking than the Hind's Crimson Star I saw in early Jan.
R Virginis is a mag 6.2-12.1 variable star. Wow, in contrast to R Leonis, dim at 22x! Better view at 44x, lying midway between mag 9.3 star SAO 119499 and mag 9.7 star GSC 295:454, together forming a straight line, umm like an artery. At 73x, R Virginis is clearly dimmer than SAO 119499. 2 dim stars nearby almost perpendicular to R Virginis easier to see: mag 11.8 GSC 295:522 and mag 10.4 GSC 295:614. At 110x, R Virginis seems to have the same magnitude as mag 9.7 star GSC 295:454, but clearly brighter than the mag 11.8 and mag 10.4 stars nearby. R Virginis shows red color, not as deep as R Leonis, looking more like a tiny blood clod ;-). Color of SAO 119499 and GSC 295:454 seems yellowish white.
The operation was a success, unfortunately, the patients did not reculperate and the TV-102 Light Cup will need to check back again later in the year.
QUESTION. I'll admit that observing a variable star that is between mag 4.2-4.8 is too boring; besides, I'd never be able to tell the difference in magnitude ;-). So, besides the mira type variable star, is there some other type of variable star with the following characteristics:
Thanks, Ron B[ee]
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