Betelgeuse

TH
From: "tony hoffman"
TH
Subject: Betelgeuse
TH
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 04:36:03 GMT
TH
TH In taking a casual glance at Orion on my way home tonight, it seemed that
TH Betelgeuse looked unusually bright; to my eye at least, it actually looked
TH slightly brighter than Rigel. (I'm not sure what effect star color and
TH atmospheric extinction may have had, also being in an urban environment with
TH a lot of stray light to deal with.) I wonder how other people see it;
TH whether it's truly bright or if I'm "seeing things."

It IS in a upseing to a higher than usual maximum. You probably
already noticed in NYSkies that I did some checking with AAVSO about
Betelgeuse. (Ask for 'alpha ori' not 'alpha orionis'). From its
lightcurve the star seemed to start its rise during the conjunction in
the summer.
I figue re than most poeple didn't notice the brightening until
Betelgeuase slipped into the more usual observing hours of late night
in Ovtober and November. Keep an eye on it!
A problem with gaging betelgeuse is its red color. It's tricky to
compare stars of different color. Most of the other strs of comparable
magnitude around betelgeuse are far from red.


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þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004

Hi, John--
Yes, thanks for checking into this; I'm glad that AAVSO concurred. I will,
of course, continue to monitor it.
--Tony


It IS in a upseing to a higher than usual maximum. You probably
already noticed in NYSkies that I did some checking with AAVSO about
Betelgeuse. (Ask for 'alpha ori' not 'alpha orionis'). From its
lightcurve the star seemed to start its rise during the conjunction in
the summer.
I figue re than most poeple didn't notice the brightening until
Betelgeuase slipped into the more usual observing hours of late night
in Ovtober and November. Keep an eye on it!
A problem with gaging betelgeuse is its red color. It's tricky to
compare stars of different color. Most of the other strs of comparable
magnitude around betelgeuse are far from red.


---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P005004