Category Archives: Uncategorized

V538 Cas

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Gustav Holmberg

A preprint of my short paper on V538 Cas, accepted for publication in JAAVSO, is now available at arxiv.

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1000 observations and counting

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Gustav Holmberg

I just passed the 1 000 mark of observations reported to SVO, the Swedish variable star database. Two thirds are CCD observations, remotely controlled, and one third visual observations mostly using 15×70 binoculars, a 6 cm refractor and a 20 … Continue reading →

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Meeting of variable star observers in Gothenburg

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Gustav Holmberg

There will be a meeting of Swedish variable star observers in Gothenburg in mid-April. I really look forward to it!

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Two eyes are better than one

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Gustav Holmberg

Just before Christmas, I bought a telescope. (Statistically, telescope sales must be going up in December.) A 20 cm Newtonian with 120 cm focal length on a Dobsonian mount. I really like the scope, and observing with it is a … Continue reading →

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The fading of SU Tau

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Gustav Holmberg

SU Tau has put on a remarkable show this last month, dropping from 10.5-11 in late November to 16.5. I caught most of it using the 61 cm Sierra Cassegrain telescope: Mike Simonsen recently wrote an interesting blog post about … Continue reading →

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Lunar eclipse

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Gustav Holmberg

Here in Lund in southern Sweden, the Moon rose totally eclipsed last Saturday. Because of clouds close to the horizon, I couldn’t see the Moon while in totality. However, the clouds soon cleared and the Moon became visible. The partial … Continue reading →

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V538 Cas revisited

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Gustav Holmberg

V538 Cas has a diverse history. It was discovered to have variations of about 0.6 magnitude, but more recent observations showed very small variations. In order to throw some further light on this object, I thought it would be interesting … Continue reading →

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The companion of W Aurigae

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Gustav Holmberg

Looking up W Aurigae in the Simbad database, we find that it is a double star, Cou 1725. Paul Couteau discovered the double star nature of W Aur in 1979, when he measured the star on three nights. The stars … Continue reading →

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W Aur

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Gustav Holmberg

Lydia Ceraski discovered 219 variable stars (or 180 – the literature disagrees somewhat). Among them are important ones such as SU UMa, RV Tauri and T UMi. Despite that, not much is known about her. She graduated from the Petersburg … Continue reading →

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V370 And

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Gustav Holmberg

The discovery and observation of variables are sometimes the byproducts of astronomical projects and instruments doing other things. Current examples include the Kepler and CoRot missions. Hipparcos, the very successful European space astrometry telescope, also measured photometry, and it found … Continue reading →

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