Proposal #60

I would like to propose that star R Aqr be added to the appropriate AAVSONET telescopes queues for a period of 2 years for one observation per day in all 4 filters. As mentioned in this article https://www.aavso.org/vsots_raqr and a private conversation with Dr. Lee Ann Willson (AAVSO 2016 spring meeting), this Mira star apparently has a blue companion and a gas cloud that surrounds the blue secondary. This article refers to a team of investigators that feel that "the dim maxima of R Aqr are the result of eclipses of the Mira star by a gas cloud surrounding the blue secondary." This team said that the eclipses occur at 44-year intervals with the next one expected to begin in 2018 and will last for about 7 years.

Currently this star is being covered intermittently by a small number of visual and CCD observers. I will add this star to my observing list however all of this is at best hit and miss. As past experience with a project star (please refer to the light curve for S Ori for last fall and this spring) has shown me, using the AAVSONET BSM telescopes with a goal of one observation a day in all 4 colors is the best way to get excellent coverage for the light curve of this star as it approaches this historic eclipse. I thing this would allow us to see any nuances that might occur leading up to the eclipse event and the beginning of the eclipse itself. I think with the minimum cadence required to get good science along with the good coverage that the AAVSONET telescopes can provide makes this a good project for AAVSONET telescopes.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Frank Schorr SFRA