Previous
abstract 
Next
abstract
The bright two-micron source IRC-20062 is a little-studied suspected variable (NSV 1710) in Eridanus. Its spectrum has been classified M8 by Hansen and Blanco (1975, AJ 80, 1011), and the three observations reported in the IRC (Neugebauer and Leighton 1969, NASA SP-3047) show an infrared amplitude of more than 1 mag. These characteritics make it likely that the star is a Mira-type variable. Hakkila and Pierce (1990, PASP 102, 586) found that its image appears brightly on the POSS plates of 1953 but does not appear in certain more recent surveys. We have obtained photometry of IRC-20062 a total of 11 times in the course of 5 observing runs at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory over the past 4 years (1990 Dec - 1994 Oct). The observations were made on our narrow-band system of classification photometry which has eight near-infrared filters to measure bands of TiO, VO, and CN, and continuum points. We find a spectral range from M7.2 to M9.2 and an amplitude of 1.0 mag in I(104) at 10400 A. Absorption by TiO is strong at all phases observed, but our types are based primarily upon the VO band strength which is measured at 10540 A and is extremely sensitive to temperature in this range. The CN strength measured at 10975 A is consistent with a giant luminosity classification. Our observations indicate a period of approximately 430 days. When the IRC observations of 1965-66 are included, the best-fitting period is P = 428 d . Periods of 410 and 447 d are not excluded by the data currently available but seem less satisfactory. Additional observations are planned for April 1995, when IRC-20062 is expected to be on its rising branch, and should allow us to determine a definitive period.
