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Session 81 - Variable Cool and Late Type Stars.
Display session, Wednesday, January 15
Metropolitan Ballroom,
As part of the variable star research at Wellesley College, we have observed several stars which are classified as RR or RR: in the GCVS, but which have no periods listed. Of the six stars for which we have determined approximate periods, three are probably not RR Lyrae stars: two of these are probably eclipsing variables (IV Gem P=0.605 days; VZ UMa P=0.7 days) and the other is possibly a Cepheid (V556 Cas P=6.04 days). The three RR Lyrae for which we have determined periods are QQ Cyg (P=0.796 days), BH Her (P=0.6 days), and DT UMa (0.485 days). We conclude that many stars which have been classified as RR Lyrae stars but for which light curves have not been determined are not actually RR Lyrae stars.
I thank many undergraduates for working on this project including D. Gelch, K. Butler, K. McKinstry, K. Hagemann, B. DeChristopher (Middlebury C.), C. Sinnott, and A. Erickson. I also thank the W. M. Keck Foundation for providing the CCD camera, workstation, and funding several undergraduates through the grant to the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium and NSF grant AST-9417359 for support of this project.
