SS Virginis + M13

Wow! What a great night I have just had. Valerie and her friend were with me in the back garden with the 6.2" apo. And we observed 9 objects in all.
However the 2 finest spectacles were a new carbon star -SS Virginis -my 27th carbon and M13 in Hercules. I went up to 320X in magnification and I was seeing so many stars but also a good few dark lanes going through the cluster.
I think SS Virginis was about magnitude +6.5. It is very variable -ranging from 6.0 to 9.5. I shall be informing Sara Beck about it. What does anyone else think? I managed to compare it to 13 Virginis (mag 5.9) and 16 Virginis (mag 5.0) and finally 17 Virginis (mag 6.5). It is quite a test estimating the magnitudes of variable stars! But it is quite a lovely deep orange. Sara encouraged us to have fun with variables at Cosmos.
Was it Mike Casey who first mentioned SS Virginis on this website?

Aubrey.

Sounds like a most enjoyable observing session Aubrey. I've never really got into variable stars, but the red ones are beautiful objects, especially when they are relatively bright. "Starlight Nights" by Leslie Peltier is a marvelous autobiography by an avid variable star observer. I got a second hand copy online, and a free ebook is available ( archive.org/details/StarlightNights ). It's a lovely evocation of a simpler age and a testament to a hugely dedicated amateur astronomer.

Cheers,
Mike

(PS Yes, I mentioned SS Vir in a report of a session in Sugarloaf, with Martin and Paul, late last May - you've got some memory. :rock: )

Nice one Aubrey.

Like Mike, I was never a fan of the variable star scene, I'm not sure the Irish weather is a great help when it comes to observing the changes in magnitude, also, with some of them varying over the course of a year, the changes must be minute.

Speaking of M13, the globular provided me with my first "WOW" moment in astronomy. I began with a 60mm refractor and then graduated to a 250mm dob, some leap huh! When I turned it to M13 for the first time I actually said "WOW" out loud, thankfully there was no one around to hear me talking into a large tube.

You've got me interested in carbon stars in the past, and I've always meant to observe some whenever I get the chance, I get so wrapped up in hunting down doubles that the carbons slip my mind. I must make a better effort.

Paul

Yes Mike. I was amazed to find SS Virginis so quickly and so easily. I had split Porrima just before at 167X, and SS is only about 6 degrees north west of it. It was easily visible in my 70 mm guidescope at 11X too. Mind you, it was about magnitude 6.5.
What surprises me is that I have seen 27 carbon stars since the early 2000's.

Aubrey.

Hi Paul. Good to hear from you once again. Tell me this have you ever hunted down a carbon star for yourself? SS Virginis is very close to Porrima. After you split him, why not go a bit north west to SS? Its only 6 degrees away. And it is the only carbon star in Virgo!

Aubrey.

Oh yes, and as for M13, what magnification have you used on this fellow? And as far as I can remember, I have never observed it in May. It was when I could see Vega, I thought I would give it a go, and at 320X, I also got the Wow factor!

Aubrey.