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: DI UMa, ER UMa, HL CMa No. 8 March 27, 1996 ________________________________________________________________________________ DI URSAE MAJORIS We have been informed by T. Kato and the Ouda team (Japan) via vsnet-alert #374 that the observations at Ouda station indicate that the dwarf nova type (SU UMa subclass) cataclysmic variable DI UMa is undergoing a bright outburst. The Ouda team reports that their time resolved V-band CCD photometry on March 25/26 revealed superhumps with a period of 79.9 minutes, establishing this star to be a SU UMa star with ultrashort orbital period. The AAVSO d and e scale charts of DI UMa are available on our FTP site: ftp.aavso.org(198.116.78.2), in /pub/charts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ER URSAE MAJORIS The outburst of ER UMa (see AAVSO News Flash No. 7) continues as indicated by the following observation: UT JD Mag. Observer MAR 26.810 2450169.31 12.5 (L. T. Jensen, Denmark) I thank my colleague Paula Szkody for informing us that ER UMa is indeed an SU UMa type star. It is the third member of a group (namely ER UMa, RZ LMi, V1159 Ori and now DI UMa) that have supercycles that are very short. They have observed superhumps during their superoutbursts and orbital periods below the period gap. The characteristic of this group is the short (18 - 45 days) interval between superoutbursts in comparison to hundreds of days for the rest of SU UMa stars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HL CANIS MAJORIS The dwarf nova type (Z Cam subclass) cataclysmic variable HL CMa is in outburst as indicated by the following observations: UT JD Mag. Observer MAR 13.024 2450155.524 12.5 (J. McKenna, USA) MAR 22.1507 2450164.6507 <13.0 (W. Dillon, USA) MAR 23.1097 2450165.6097 <13.0 (Dillon) MAR 26.822 2450169.322 11.8 (L. T. Jensen, Denmark) MAR 27.0368 2450169.5368 11.9 (M. Dombrowski, USA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please monitor these stars closely and phone-in, fax, or e-mail your observations to the AAVSO. CCD observers are particularly encouraged to monitor the outbursts of DI UMa and ER UMa (recommended every three minutes) in search of superhumps. 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!