Hind's Crimson Star

[Wazzat]

Hello all,

Have any of you seen Hind's Crimson Star recently?

I last saw it in February 2013, when it was not very bright and a very nice red colour.  It is a variable with a period of about 430 days - I understand it is reddest when dimmest.  I appreciate that it is difficult to describe the colour and brightness of a star, but if someone else has seen it, say, a year ago, and again recently, then a comparison might be possible. 

I have not been able to find a table of its brightness cycle on the internet.

For beginners - google 'carbon stars' - they are something else to look for, not spectacularly bright, but a fine orange-red colour.

I would go and have a look at it myself, but it is always cloudy!

[Pete Presland]

William Herschel garnet  star is another fine target. Mu Cephei  in the constellation Cepheus varing in brightness from magnitudes 5.0 to 3.7.

[Tonys]

I've been looking for Hind's Crimson recently but Skysafari gives it's current magnitude as 8 so not at it's easiest ( range is given as 5-10)

[Wazzat]

Thank you for your replies, and the mention of the garnet star, and the skysafari site.

A bit of luck yesterday evening.  After weeks of poor astronomy weather there was a clear, calm, hour last night and I did see Hind's Crimson Star.  I reckon it was brighter than when I saw it a year ago, and it was less red - it was orange but not red.  I also had a look at El superba (I like carbon stars) and that was brighter than Hind's, as you would expect, and was a yellow-orange colour. It was nice to get out and see them again.

To Tonys in Worcester, good luck with seeing it.  Although the weather is usually poor here, it can be very good occasionally and there is little light pollution.  I reckon if you can see the brighter stars in lepus naked eye, then you can find Hind's.

Good luck.

[Wazzat]

Sorry, I meant La Superba, not El Superba, I don't know where that came from!

[MahlerMoonMan]

Where is Hind's Crimson Star? Sounds like it might be rather lovely in binoculars ... ?

Best wishes,

Donaldo

[Wazzat]

Hi MahlerMoonMan,

To find Hind's Crimson Star, you need to be able to see a fair amount of clear sky 'below' Orion. 

It is in the constellation Lepus, the hare, and is also known as R Leporis.  If you can make out a few stars below Orion, naked eye, then you should be loooking at the hare.  Find Arneb and, to its right, mu Leporis (the one with the hare's ears above it).  Carry on in a straight line to the right - a distance slightly less than the distance between these two 'marker' stars, and up a bit, and that is where it is.  Those instructions will seem very imprecise, but with a telescope on low power, or binocs on a good night, you will be looking at it, and its colour will identify it. A Telrad on a telescope with low power is great for this method. 

I am wondering if you listen to Mahler symphonies whilst gazing at the moon - not a bad occupation I reckon.

Good luck.

[PorkyB]

I saw it on November 30th.  It looked more orange than Crimson.

Hind's Crimson Star by porkyb, on Flickr

For me, the Garnet Star is the best of the bunch.

[acey]

Light curve for R Leporis (Hind's Crimson Star):

http://www.aavso.org/lcg/plot?auid=000-BBH-722&starname=R%20LEP&lastdays=1000&start=&stop=2456288.658213553&obscode=&obscode_symbol=2&obstotals=yes&calendar=calendar&forcetics=&grid=on&visual=on&v=on&pointsize=1&width=800&height=450&mag1=&mag2=&mean=&vmean=

It is indeed a beautiful object. And Hind was an interesting guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell_Hind

[Wazzat]

Excellent - thank you, PorkyB and acey for your replies.  I can see I will have to check out the garnet star too.

[Tonys]

Thank you for your replies, and the mention of the garnet star, and the skysafari site.

A bit of luck yesterday evening.  After weeks of poor astronomy weather there was a clear, calm, hour last night and I did see Hind's Crimson Star.  I reckon it was brighter than when I saw it a year ago, and it was less red - it was orange but not red.  I also had a look at El superba (I like carbon stars) and that was brighter than Hind's, as you would expect, and was a yellow-orange colour. It was nice to get out and see them again.

To Tonys in Worcester, good luck with seeing it.  Although the weather is usually poor here, it can be very good occasionally and there is little light pollution.  I reckon if you can see the brighter stars in lepus naked eye, then you can find Hind's.

Good luck.

Well done to find it. I was quite surprised to find that the Skysafari app gives current magnitudes of variables, although I haven't checked if it is accurate. It does seem to be correct for the angular sizes of the planets.

[Wazzat]

A clarification of my post number 7 in this thread, in a reply to MahlerMoonMan.

I think Hind's would be difficult in binocs. I got a clear half an hour yesterday evening and went out with my old 7x50 binocs, not the telescope.  I know I was looking at where it is, but could not say definitely which of the stars I could see was Hind's. Better binocs, or binocs on a tripod, might do it, but the fact that the star is not high in the sky, and not very bright makes it difficult.

I saw Herschel's Garnet star (Mu Cephei) easily, and also La Superba (Y Canum Venaticorum).  Herschel's is easily the brighter of the two.

[MahlerMoonMan]

Hi Wazzat

Many thanks for your replies, it had totally gone out of my head that I'd asked you about Hind's star!!  I've got an ED80 that I've still to get to grips with but I'll probably find it easier to locate Hind's star with my 20x80 binocs ....  I'll have a look for it this weekend if clear skies permit ....  Beautiful photo by 'PorkyB'  

Once I get to proper grips with my ED80, and its Sherman tank of a German EQ mount, I'll certainly be listening to Mahler symphonies whilst looking at the moon   Until then I'll enjoy Mahler's music whilst reading about many astronomical subjects, of which the moon has been a lifelong favourite, hence my revealing 'name'  

Very best wishes and thanks again

Donaldo

[Tonys]

Just to correct my earlier posts re Skysafari 4 variable star magnitudes on this topic. I've established that it doesn't give current magnitudes but what appears to be the mean magnitude (except for those in the variable star list for which it gives the range). Sorry about that (I should have known it was too good to be true!). Possibly a good addition for the future even if just for those in the list, as it already does it for planetary magnitudes.

[Tonys]

... but then there's all the irregulars and long period ones. Maybe not as practical as I thought!

[Wazzat]

Thanks Tonys. 

I'm getting somewhere with the link from acey to the American Association of Variable Star Observers.  There is lots of info on that site, long lists of observations.  A quick averaging of info from Feb 2013 and this month gives magnitudes of 9.4 for Feb 2013, and 7.3 for Jan 2014.  So - that ties up with my comments and my question at the start of this thread. My own observations are not at all scientific - I'm just curious really. 

[Tonys]

Just had a look at the aavso website. Excellent as you say and I think I might have a go at the observing tutorial. Thanks Wazzat and acey.

[Wazzat]

I did not see the observing tutorial on that website,  I shall have a closer look at it.  Thanks.