Hind's Crimson Star

[orion25]

 

Hind's Crimson Star (R Leporis) is an Mira variable star in the constellation of Lepus, the Hare, just south of Orion. It's named after British astronomer J.R. Hind who observed it in 1845. It glows a dim blood red because of excessive carbon in its atmosphere. You'll need a telescope to see it; it's too dim to see with the naked eye and is challenging in binoculars. It ranges in magnitude from about 5.5 to 11.7 with a period of about 427 days. I took this shot through my 5" Maksutov at prime focus with my Nikon D3200.

Cheers,

Reggie 

[domstar]

Very nice. I've heard of it but never seen it. It's just gone to the top of my to do list.

[orion25]

6 minutes ago, domstar said:

Very nice. I've heard of it but never seen it. It's just gone to the top of my to do list.

Thanks. It's prime-time to view it as it's well placed in the southern sky from early evening into the wee hours.  

[wookie1965]

Fabulous star one of my favourite stars I revisit whenever I can.

[astroavani]

That is one of the few things I like to observe visually, LOL, I am exclusively a lunar and planetarium photographer.
Here in the southern hemisphere we have some beautiful stars of carbon, among which I think is very beautiful is one that is next to Mimosa (beta crux) the contrast between white and blue Mimosa red star is an exceptional sight. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/8465766540/
Here is a quick description: Beta Cru (b), Mimosa mag 1.2 is a brilliant blue white giant marking the end of the eastern limb of Crux. A crimson-red carbon star, EsB 365 mag 8.6 lies 2'.4 in pa 260 ° in the same field. Center beta in your field of view and the carbon star is easily located at approximately 9 0'clock as a bright red pinpoint star. If you have difficulty seeing this, look slightly away so your vision is averted as your peripheral vision is more sensitive to faint objects. In your telescope, 86 x magnification should distinguish it clearly.
Nice photo, Reggie, I'll try to look at it at the first opportunity.

[orion25]

4 hours ago, astroavani said:

That is one of the few things I like to observe visually, LOL, I am exclusively a lunar and planetarium photographer.
Here in the southern hemisphere we have some beautiful stars of carbon, among which I think is very beautiful is one that is next to Mimosa (beta crux) the contrast between white and blue Mimosa red star is an exceptional sight. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/8465766540/
Here is a quick description: Beta Cru (b), Mimosa mag 1.2 is a brilliant blue white giant marking the end of the eastern limb of Crux. A crimson-red carbon star, EsB 365 mag 8.6 lies 2'.4 in pa 260 ° in the same field. Center beta in your field of view and the carbon star is easily located at approximately 9 0'clock as a bright red pinpoint star. If you have difficulty seeing this, look slightly away so your vision is averted as your peripheral vision is more sensitive to faint objects. In your telescope, 86 x magnification should distinguish it clearly.
Nice photo, Reggie, I'll try to look at it at the first opportunity.

Thanks, Avani. I first saw this star at Fernbank Observatory in Atlanta through its big 36-inch Cassegrain-Reflector and was amazed at how red it appeared! Because it was dim, the color was deep. Then, I was able to see it through my 5-inch Mak, a blood red dot on a black background! Wow! I figured that if I could image Uranus and Neptune I could image this, and I did!   That image of Mimosa is exquisite! Thanks for sharing the link!

[orion25]

8 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Fabulous star one of my favourite stars I revisit whenever I can.

It's one of the reddest stars I've ever seen!

[wookie1965]

Another cracker is the Garnet Star, Mu Cephei  in the constellation Cepheus varing in brightness from magnitudes 5.0 to 3.7.  Give that a look.

[orion25]

7 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Another cracker is the Garnet Star, Mu Cephei  in the constellation Cepheus varing in brightness from magnitudes 5.0 to 3.7.  Give that a look.

Thanks, Wookie. I once saw Garnet Star at the local planetarium but never tried to find it myself. You just reminded me to hunt that one down. I may attempt an image, too!

[Nik271]

Decided to resurrect this thread as now is a great time to observe R Leporis.

I had a look at it on two nights this week, first time was with 20x80 binoculars and it was pretty hard to spot, next time it was with my 127 Mak and the deep red colour is very striking. You will need a clear southern sky as it never rises more than 25 degrees from the UK. In January it transits at the very civilised time 9-10pm and the best way to find it (for me) is by doing a star hop from Alpha to Mu Leporis and continuing 3/4 of their distance further. Currently the magnitude of R Lep is about 9.5, so it is hard to spot in binoculars but the crimson red comes out very well in a small telescope. I'm attaching a finder chart courtesy of AAVSO (the numbers next to the stars are their magnitudes up to first decimal place):

[orion25]

Thanks for the resurrection, Nik! R Leporus is always a worthwhile target this time of year. I'm taking a look tonight!

Clear skies,

Reggie

[Hawksmoor]

On 13/01/2023 at 22:15, orion25 said:

Thanks for the resurrection, Nik! R Leporus is always a worthwhile target this time of year. I'm taking a look tonight!

Clear skies,

Reggie

Tried spotting it last night with my 12x80 bins but with no success.😪

[orion25]

4 hours ago, Hawksmoor said:

Tried spotting it last night with my 12x80 bins but with no success.😪

I tried and tried the other night, but for the life of me I couldn't spot it. It must be very dim at this time.

[Hawksmoor]

8 minutes ago, orion25 said:

I tried and tried the other night, but for the life of me I couldn't spot it. It must be very dim at this time.

Not just me then Reggie. Tried again tonight and still couldn't see it.

George

 

[Space Hopper]

I've just had a session at our local dark site and i tried to spot R Lep as well, but no joy i'm afraid. Not conclusive anyway.

Not helped at all by the SAO catalogue seemingly disappearing from my Nexus DSC.

I think the SAO number is 150058 ? Does it have any other designation apart from R Lepus ?

[orion25]

1 hour ago, Space Hopper said:

I've just had a session at our local dark site and i tried to spot R Lep as well, but no joy i'm afraid. Not conclusive anyway.

Not helped at all by the SAO catalogue seemingly disappearing from my Nexus DSC.

I think the SAO number is 150058 ? Does it have any other designation apart from R Lepus ?

Here are some other designations: 

AAVSO 0455-14, BD−15 915, GC 6093, HD 31996, HIP 23203, HR 1607, IRC -10080, PPM 215123, RAFGL 667

[Nik271]

It's quite low from the UK and often gets lost in the murk,  the transparency has not been good lately. I can just about see it in 20x80 bins. Best views so far have been with my Skymax 127 and 24mm Hyperion EP.

 

 

 

[Captain Scarlet]

When weather permits, I tend to default to using the “HR” designation, listed as Bright Stars in the Nexus catalogues, roughly intended to be the brightest stars in the sky, mag 7 or brighter. H stands for Harvard I think.

Magnus

[Littleguy80]

I haven’t observed this recently but, from previous experience, when it’s in the brighter part of the cycle it’s not quite as red. When it’s dimmer the colour is almost traffic light red. When it’s like this, making the initial spot can be tricky but there’s no doubt in your mind once you have seen it. I wonder whether dark adaptation might be disadvantage for this star as it’s the colour you’re looking for. 

[orion25]

5 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

I haven’t observed this recently but, from previous experience, when it’s in the brighter part of the cycle it’s not quite as red. When it’s dimmer the colour is almost traffic light red. When it’s like this, making the initial spot can be tricky but there’s no doubt in your mind once you have seen it. I wonder whether dark adaptation might be disadvantage for this star as it’s the colour you’re looking for. 

Interesting point. I've found that dark adaptation actually helped me to see the color as well as the star itself; my eyes become more sensitive to both the dim light and the hue.

[Littleguy80]

4 hours ago, orion25 said:

Interesting point. I've found that dark adaptation actually helped me to see the color as well as the star itself; my eyes become more sensitive to both the dim light and the hue.

It’s an interesting one to ponder. I guess the idea of dark adaptation being only rods is an oversimplification. After all, I see a green hue to the Orion Nebula and many planetary nebula have a bit of colour to them too. Some cones must be active for this. 

[wookie1965]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

It’s an interesting one to ponder. I guess the idea of dark adaptation being only rods is an oversimplification. After all, I see a green hue to the Orion Nebula and many planetary nebula have a bit of colour to them too. Some cones must be active for this. 

Yes I see the green hue and see a blue hue in the ring nebula.

[Nik271]

I find with carbon stars, the more I look at them the brighter and redder they seem to become. It's easier with bigger aperture of course!

[IB20]

Tried the last two consecutive nights to find this. Good news is I can definitely access the area of sky but I’ve not managed to find it due to a bright haziness and thin cloud. Tried with both 15x70 binos and a 3” frac but no success yet!

[badhex]

Lovely, thanks for this! Got it on the wishlist. Not that I have any clear skies 😂😭