June 18, 1996 NOTE: We believe that due to computer difficulties the most recent News Flash did not reach all of its subscribers. We are now resending News Flash No. 31. We apologize to those that may have received more than one copy. ****************************************************************************** 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: IP Peg, FO Aql, AT Ara, No. 31 CH Cyg, RS Tel, AB Dra June 17, 1996 ________________________________________________________________________________ IP PEGASI The dwarf nova type cataclysmic variable IP Peg is in outburst as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials JUN 2.293 15.5 CCDV ZRE JUN 15.289 14.2 CCDV ZRE JUN 3.310 15.3 CCDV ZRE JUN 15.301 14.1 CCDV ZRE JUN 6.772 14.8 CCDV ZRE JUN 15.325 14.4 CCDV ZRE JUN 8.3500 <13.6 HSG JUN 17.05 12.1 GUN JUN 14.3201 <13.8 HSG IP Peg is known to have deep eclipses of two magnitudes or more with a period of 3.8 hours and a duration of several tens of minutes (see AAVSO Alert Notice 179). Observers are encouraged to monitor these eclipses throughout the outburst. Please report any positive observations to the minute (four decimal places). An AAVSO 'e' scale preliminary chart for IP Peg is posted on the AAVSO ftp site: http://ftp.aavso.org in /pub/charts/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FO AQUILAE The dwarf nova type (SS Cyg subclass) cataclysmic variable FO Aql appears to be in outburst as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials JUN 14.9840 14.7 BMM JUN 16.3056 14.3: HSG JUN 15.2785 <13.8 HSG JUN 17.0160 14.4 BMM JUN 15.9965 14.3 BMM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- AT ARAE The dwarf nova type (SS Cyg subclass) cataclysmic variable AT Ara appears to be in outburst as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials JUN 13.85 <12.4: MLF JUN 15.841 12.4: MLF JUN 15.906 12.3: MLF The uncertainty of the observations is due to the fact that no sequence exists for this star. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CH CYGNI The Z And type cataclysmic variable CH Cyg continues to be very faint (see News Flash No. 28) as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials JUN 6.1542 9.9 BRJ JUN 10.3069 9.9 BTH JUN 6.1708 9.7 SCE JUN 10.9 9.9 FRF JUN 6.9 9.7 FRF JUN 14.87 9.9 FRF JUN 7.184 9.77CCDV ZRE JUN 14.933 9.8: SKP JUN 7.889 8.8 DPA JUN 15.196 9.93CCDV ZRE JUN 7.9 9.8 FRF JUN 15.3146 9.9 BTH JUN 8.124 9.69CCDV ZRE JUN 15.9 10.0 FRF JUN 8.3056 9.8: HSG JUN 16.2500 10.2: DIL JUN 8.9 9.9 FRF ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- RS TELESCOPII The R CrB type variable star RS Tel is fading as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials MAY 14.9 10.6 MLF JUN 11.1 10.9 OB JUN 5.8 10.8 MLF JUN 12.8 11.2 MLF JUN 7.8 10.9 MLF JUN 15.8 11.3 MLF JUN 8.85 11.1 MLF ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- AB DRACONIS The dwarf nova type (Z Cam subclass) cataclysmic variable AB Dra is in outburst as indicated by the following observations: AAVSO Observer AAVSO Observer UT Mag. Initials UT Mag. Initials JUN 12.9493 14.7 BMM JUN 15.2917 12.6 GRI JUN 13.2813 14.0 BTH JUN 15.9570 12.7 BMM JUN 13.9875 13.1 BMM JUN 16.2667 12.8 BTH JUN 14.2577 12.7 BTH JUN 16.3083 12.7 HSG JUN 14.3028 12.6 HSG JUN 16.9611 12.9 BMM JUN 14.9111 12.4 BMM JUN 17.2215 12.9 HSG JUN 15.1264 12.6 BRJ JUN 17.2590 12.8 BTH JUN 15.2792 12.5 BTH ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- We thank the following contributors for the data that they have provided for this News Flash: BMM - M. Biesmans, Belgium GUN - J. Gunther, France BRJ - J. Bortle, USA HSG - G. Hanson, USA BTH - T. Burrows, USA MLF - B. Monard, South Africa DIL - W. Dillon, USA OB - D. Overbeek, South Africa DPA - A. Diepvens, Belgium SCE - C. Scovil, USA FRF - R. Fidrich, Hungary SKP - P. Skalak, Czech Republic GRI - J. Griese, USA ZRE - R. Zissell, USA Please monitor these stars closely and phone-in, fax, or e-mail your observations to the AAVSO. Good observing! Rebecca Pellock, Technical Assistant in the absence of Janet A. Mattei, Director ________________________________________________________________________________ Symbols may include: < = fainter than magnitude given (variable not seen) : = uncertain CCDV = Charge-coupled device with (V) filter If you would like to contribute to AAVSO NEWS FLASH, please send observations of unusual variable star activity to: observations@aavso.org Those who wish to subscribe (free of charge) or 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! ________________________________________________________________________________