V* RZ Cas EB light curve

[7170]

We had a clear night here on 8/1/2022 so I had a go at capturing the light curve of RZ Cas. It is an eclipsing binary that I have imaged before though I can't find the files!

Two companion stars were used in AstroImageJ during measurement as shown on the image below. RZ Cas is a blue-white colour (A3V).

Unfortunately family commitments and poor timing meant I missed the fade but I managed capture most of the rise.

I reduced the exposure time in the script as it got brighter and something wrong on the last change as can be seen from the gap in the data. Unfortunately I didn't quite defocus enough and had already started when I remembered this.

Below is the same data plotted by phase (note the data on the far right was taken on 8/1/2022. Seeing was very good and tracking was <0.6" RMS all evening.

With a period of 1.1952 days and a magnitude variance of 6.18v to 7.72v it is a nice target to try. I measured a max of 6.25 TG and min of 7.9 TG.

Hopefully this may inspire others to try and capture the light curve too as it is very well placed in the UK at the moment. Note if you try it maybe worth forcing a meridian flip early if your mount allows you to track past it depending on the time and position.