[vsnet-chat 3449] Re: Permanent Superhumpers...

[Taichi Kato <tkato>]

Re: [vsnet-chat 3424] Re: Permanent Superhumpers...

Dear Stan,

> But I've always wondered why the SU UMa group came to be called after that
> star when most of the original research was done on VW Hydri and other
> southern stars. I remember looking at superoutbursts of VW Hyi in 1972 and
> wondering why the periods at minimum didn't match the periods in the
> superoutbursts. And we had superhumps on Z Cha even earlier and didn't
> realise what these were.

   This is because the original classification of SU UMa stars was purely
based on outburst characterstics: frequent short outbursts interrupted by
long, bright outburst, that's all.  The objects recognized as such in the
earliest time included AY Lyr, SU UMa etc.  Later (some) stars showing these
properties were found to show superhumps, as you described.  The existence
of superhumps now has become one of the defining characterstics of SU UMa
stars, but in the history it was not.  The remnant of this criterion
can be easily found in GCVS (or researchers who classified new variable
stars).  Let us recall among tens of superhumping SU UMa stars, SU UMa
itself was ironically one of the latest to reveal its superhumps.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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