Observations -24th May 2020

I should probably have mentioned that the info you're looking for can be found in page 357. In addition, I've attached a screenshot that illustrates the source where the confusion came from - reference number 9.

I've not read it yet, and I'm sure much of the information contained in it will go over my head... Just like the info in the 2012 article, but at least we're getting somewhere. Someone with more knowledge than me will understand the details, and might be able to explain the data. 

Clear skies, 

Darren. 

OK, that didn't take too long. As only one paper has cited that 2012 paper. So, it seems like the 2012 paper has not made much of an impact. Of course, I could be wrong. 

In addition, I went through the 1997 paper to try and find the information that the 2012 draws attention to it. Now I'm not saying it's not there, but I can't find it any mention of the star. I searched HIP 60999; HD 108815, BD 182617, and IY Com, but nothing showed up???? 

The plot thickens! 

How does SINBAD list it? 

Hi Darren.
Simbad says C first.
Then says K9 on the more detailed page.
AAVSO says M.
Guide 9.1 DVD says M2.
I don't see red at all.
IY Com varies between 7.4 and 7.6.

Oh and I have the scope set up.

Best regards, Aubrey.

Many thanks for this Aubrey,

I'll use some of those other SINBAD identifiers to search the 1997 paper. 

We'll see where that brings us. 

In the meantime, there's some observing to be done  

Best of luck for tonight! 

Darren. 

Hi Aubrey,

I thought I'd send you a quick update on my search for a definitive answer on IY Com and its status as a Carbon star. 

You might recall that Griffin (1998:357) dismisses HD 108815 as a Carbon star because he states that

"The SIMBAD main heading for the object calls it "Carbon Star". That may have arisen from a misapprehension that the presence of the star in a paper - Guglielmo's et al., (1997) - with the words 'carbon stars' in its title implied that all stars mentioned in it were of that type  - which is not so; the authority for such a description is not otherwise apparent."

However, I have searched through Guglielmo's et al., (1997) with all 20 of SIMBAD's identifiers associated with IY Com, and the search function has failed to identify any of the 20 identifiers in the 1997 paper. I can dig deeper into Griffin's claim, but could this be why Griffin's paper appears to have made little impact - it has only been cited once since it was first published.

I have also discovered that the paper that Google Scholar identifies as citing Griffin (1997) is Abushattal, A. A., Docobo, J. A., & Campo, P. P. (2019). The Most Probable 3D Orbit for Spectroscopic Binaries. The Astronomical Journal, 159(1), 28. However, their bibliography references a different 1997 paper: Yoss, K., & Griffin, R. 1997, JApA,18, 161.

In other words, Griffin's (1997) paper that claims that HD 108815 is not a Carbon Star appears not to have been cited since it was published. That tells its own story!

I'll keep digging over the next few weeks and I'll keep you posted. 

Kindest regards,

Darren.

Thank you very much for all that you are doing, Darren.

Having observed IY Comae on 2 occasions, I still seem convinced that it is a carbon star. That's because of its delightful tangy orange colour - which I believe is characteristic to many other carbon stars. I don't believe M class stars exhibit such a hue.

I seem to remember from somewhere that the GAIA spacecraft studied 1 billion stars in the Milky Way.
A lot of these stars are summarised on Simbad.

Perhaps that will help you out some way, Darren.
Perhaps not!

Very best regards,

Aubrey.