The Be Star Newsletter, Volume 36 - July 2002

[Be Star Newsletter Home]

Delta Scorpii Strange Fading Sebastian Otero Liga Iberoamericana de Astronomía, Buenos Aires, Argentina email:  varsao@fullzero.com.ar Received: 2002 June 23 There are some important news on delta Scorpii. Take a look at the recent photometry: 20020615.125 1.77V Doug West 20020616.065 1.77 Sebastian Otero 20020616.969 1.77V Brian Fraser (B-V= -0.05) 20020619.049 1.76: Sebastian Otero 20020619.700 1.89V Brian Fraser (B-V= -0.06) 20020622.074 1.88 Sebastian Otero There was an important fading on June 19. The star wasn't this faint since September 11, 2001. But such a rapid drop in brightness is strange. It would be important to obtain simultaneous spectroscopy in order to correlate both optical and spectral behaviour. The B-V color index that got redder during outburst seems to be closer to normal (-0.12). However, more observations are needed to support this. So, keep an eye on delta Scorpii because it is very active.