2011/01/07 by Robin Leadbeater, Leadbeater, Robin
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1101.1435
10 pages, 19 figures, Published in proceedings of "Stellar Winds in Interaction", editors T. Eversberg and J.H. Knapen. Full proceedings volume is available on http://www.stsci.de/pdf/arrabida.pdf
arxiv created 2011/01/07 · arxiv updated 2015/03/17
In early 2009, immediately following the end of the WR140 periastron campaign (see these proceedings), I turned my telescope back to epsilon Aurigae in time for the start of the eclipse. As well as being an interesting object in its own right, the Pro-Am campaign being run on epsilon Aurigae during the current eclipse is a good example of how amateur spectroscopists can make a useful contribution. epsilon Aurigae is a naked eye magnitude 3 star and was first noted to be variable by Johan Frisch in 1821. It was subsequently found to be an eclipsing binary with a period of 27.1 years which undergoes an approximately 2 year long flat-bottomed eclipse with approximately 0.8 magnitude drop in V.