28 - October, November, December

Summary

This season is variable time, with a cast of variables probably better than at any other time during the year. We still have the fine variables of the Milky Way, while toward the east, a different group of variables is gaining prominence.

This is also the time to get your fellow astronomy club members excited about the challenging field of variables. Fall is the time for renewal in many northern hemisphere astronomy clubs, where after the summer break, monthly programs and dark-of-the-Moon star parties are taking place once again. If you are fanatical about variables, you may be aware that this field of observing is not the most popular among the amateurs who attend astronomy club meetings. Observations of the changing light output of these distant suns are perceived to lack the luster of the Messier hunt or the glossy galaxy photo, and even the thrill of the meteor watch. Now is the time to insist that variables are fun.

Now we can observe Algol in all its glory, and use it as a motivation to start observing other eclipsing binaries. Two other easily found, easily observed stars are Delta Cephei, and its neighbor Mu Cephei, a huge red giant sun with totally irregular and unpredictable variations.

Another exciting star is RU Pegasi, a dwarf nova. You never know exactly when the next outburst will take place! While RU Peg may be one of the most exciting stars of fall, it surely is not the most famous.