The 2003.5 Observing Campaign: Optical Observing Report

July 8 2003

Eduardo Fernández Lajús, for the Universidad Nacional de La Plata Eta Carinae Monitoring team, reports:
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 16:32:11 -0300
From: Eduardo Fernández Lajús 
Organization: Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y 
	Geof’sicas - UNLP
Subject: Eta Carinae Optical Fading

Dr. Corcoran:
                    We conform the group of graduate and undergraduate
students, from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, enrolled
by Dr. Virpi Niemela to observe Eta Carinae simultaneously with XMM 
last January.
After that we continued the observation program with the 0.80 m 
Reflector Telescope at La Plata Observatory, always under the
supervision 
of Virpi (now in the IAU Symposium, Sidney).
Data are permanently reloaded in our web page (which you have linked
from your Eta Carina Web page). 

Now, we want to report that CCD observations of eta Car show a clear 
light attenuation in the B,V,R,I bands since July 5 as it can be seen 
from the light curves in
http://lilen.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/EtaCar/
Best regards.

Ricardo Amorín
Anabella Araudo
Cecilia Fariña
Lic.Eduardo Fernández Lajús
Lic.Roberto Gamen
Claudio Llinares
Gisela Romero
Nicolás Salerno
Ariel Sánchez Camus
Martín Schwartz
Silvia Sicilia
Lautaro Simontacchi
Javier Vázquez

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Facultad de Cs. Astronómicas y Geofísicas - UNLP
Observatorio Astronómico de La Plata | Tel: +54-221-4236593/94, Int.112
Paseo del Bosque s/n                 | Fax: +54-221-4236591
B1900FWA - La Plata, Argentina       | extension@fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
                   www.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------    

July 7 2003

From: "Sebastian Otero" 
Subject: Eta Carinae eclipse in V started July 4 !
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 18:15:16 -0300
X-Priority: 3

THE ECLIPSE HAS BEGUN IN THE VISUAL according to La Plata observations
(http://lilen.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/EtaCar/)
I missed the maximum!!!!!!!  ;-((( due to bad weather.
It reached V= 4.96 (I don't know if these data is actually transformed to
Johnson's V or of it's just instrumentl V mag.) on July 4 and now it's
fading rapidly.
This is completely consistent with my prediction of a minimum around July 11
for the infrared lightcurve.

The star is fading rapidly in V, B and I now (The X-ray maximum was already
reached on
June 29) (Note: Sebastian meant to say X-ray minimum here).

A first maximum was reached in the I band (around June 25), and, almost ten
days after the I maximum, it finally reached a a peak in V around July 4.0.
Thus, the V lightcurve looks steeper.
The maximum is absent of my visual lightcurve due to a 12 day-period of
clouds..... (...I can't remember being out of business for so long.. Of
course it had to happen right now...)
http://ar.geocities.com/varsao/Curva_Eta_Carinae.htm

Although I thought it was going to be detected, I didnt think the V eclipse
would be so sharp.
Anyway, I don't think it goes further than 0.15 mag. Let's see!!

Regards,
Sebastian.


Please send any additions or corrections to Mike Corcoran.


Page Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran
Last modified Friday, 23-Sep-2005 12:01:29 EDT