THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS 25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Tel. 617-354-0484 Fax 617-354-0665 INTERNET: aavso@aavso.org * * * AAVSO NEWS FLASH * * * Subject: T CrB, V348 Sgr No. 14 April 25, 1996 ________________________________________________________________________________ T CORONAE BOREALIS The brightest recurrent nova, T CrB, has been reported to be showing some activity as indicated by the following recent observations: AAVSO Observer UT JD Mag. Initials APR 10.2035 2450183.7035 9.9 DIL APR 16.872 2450190.372 9.9 DPA APR 16.903 2450190.403 10.4 SPK APR 17.960 2450191.46 10.4 SPK APR 18.948 2450192.448 10.4 SPK APR 19.962 2450193.462 10.2 SPK APR 21.024 2450194.524 9.8 DPA APR 21.1132 2450194.6132 10.0 SET APR 21.2049 2450194.7049 10.1 DLA APR 21.885 2450195.385 9.8 DPA APR 22.140 2450195.64 9.9 SNE APR 22.848 2450196.348 10.0 DPA APR 23.4063 2450196.9063 10.0 DLA APR 25.053 2450198.553 9.8 DPA APR 25.1854 2450198.6854 9.9 DIL APR 25.5278 2450199.0278 9.6 RR This recurrent nova has an orbital period of 227.59 days (Warner, B. 1995, Cataclysmic Variable Stars, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) that can be seen in the light curve as small amplitude periodic modulations. The recent activity may be due to this and deserves the attention of our observers. The last major outburst of this recurrent nova was in 1946 when it reached magnitude 2.0. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ V348 SAGITTARII Astronomers at the University of Colorado and also Louisiana State University are scheduled to observe the interesting R CrB star, V348 Sgr with the Hubble Space Telescope on April 28th at 22:00 UT. They hope to observe this star at its maximum. V348 Sgr faded from maximum between April 15th and April 20th and is now slowly recovering, with oscillations, from this short duration fading as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer UT JD Mag. Initials APR 15.4243 2450188.9243 12.0 HAV APR 21.01 2450194.51 <13.2 OB APR 22.01 2450195.51 <13.2 OB APR 23.06 2450196.56 12.4 OB APR 23.2175 2450196.7175 12.74 CCDV LIW APR 23.2584 2450196.7584 12.52 CCDV LIW APR 23.3035 2450196.8035 12.4 HAV APR 23.4819 2450196.9819 12.4 RR APR 25.2220 2450198.7220 12.82 CCDV LIW APR 25.2585 2450198.7585 12.88 CCDV LIW APR 25.3111 2450198.8111 12.4 HAV APR 25.4889 2450198.9889 12.4 RR Please keep a close eye on V348 Sgr and keep us informed of its behavior. If it starts to fade again, from now until April 29, let us know by phone/e-mail/fax immediately. An "f" scale AAVSO Preliminary chart for V348 Sgr can be obtained from our ftp site: ftp://ftp.aavso.org/pub/charts/ or through the chart page on our web site: http://www.aavso.org/netscaped/charts.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We thank our contributors listed below for the data they have provided for this News Flash: DIL - W. Dillon, USA OB - M. Overbeek, South Africa DLA - A. Dill, USA SET - C. Stephan, USA DPA - A. Diepvens, Belgium SNE - N. Simmons, USA GRL - B. Granslo, Norway SPK - P. Schmeer, Germany HAV - R. Harvan, USA RR - R. Royer, USA LIW - W. Liller, Chile Please monitor these and other variable stars closely and phone-in, fax, or e-mail your observations to the AAVSO. Good observing! Janet A. Mattei ________________________________________________________________________________ AAVSO NEWS FLASH is a new electronic publication of the AAVSO intended to provide observers with timely information on unusual variable star activity. The basis of the data in this publication will be the observations reported to AAVSO Headquarters. The AAVSO NEWS FLASH will not replace the AAVSO Alert Notice. It will be more frequent and shorter. If you would like to contribute to AAVSO NEWS FLASH, please send observations of unusual variable star activity to: observations@aavso.org Please include the words NEWS FLASH in the subject line of your message. If you are affiliated with a variable star organization besides the AAVSO, and you wish that group to be indicated with the observations that you provide, please give the specific name of the organization or group and its abbreviation. Those who wish to unsubscribe to NEWS FLASH may do so by sending a message to: observations@aavso.org If you would like data from the AAVSO International Database for research purposes, please send your request to: Janet Mattei, AAVSO Director, at aavso@aavso.org We look forward to including your observations in future editions of AAVSO NEWS FLASH!