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Johannesburg Centre,
Astronomical Society of Southern Africa
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Variable of the Month
The constellation of Carina is one of those left over from the carving up of the ancient constellation of Argo Navis. It contains many interesting objects - Canopus the second brightest star in the sky, eta Car that enigmatic nova-like object that, 150 years ago, was second only to Sirius in brightness. One of the brightest Mira type variables, S Car lies not far away from eta. In fact if you are looking in that area with a pair of binoculars they just about lie in the same field of view. S Car has a period of about 149 days and varies from magnitude 6.9 down to about 11.0. When it is bright it is easy and interesting to follow as it has a number of quite convenient comparison stars in the vicinity.
Brian Fraser |
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