Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 3786: Prob. EXTREME CARBON STAR NEAR NGC 1960; 1982j
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Circular No. 3786
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
TWX 710-320-6842 ASTROGRAM CAM Telephone 617-864-5758
PROBABLE EXTREME CARBON STAR NEAR NGC 1960
A. M. Jakobsen, Kitt Peak National Observatory, draws
attention to a very red star (I ~ 9), accompanied by a star a short
distance to the southeast, in the outer part of the open cluster
NGC 1960. At R.A. = 5h31m43s1, Decl. = +33deg49'04" (equinox 1950.0),
the objects were found on Feb. 14 and confirmed on Feb. 16 by Jakobsen
and T. Andersen. The very red star is presumably No. 113 (
spectral type N, I = 10.4) in the catalogue by Nassau and Blanco
(1954, Ap.J. 120, 129) of carbon stars, but the extreme redness
was not previously noted, and the position of the object (I = 9.2)
given by Upgren and Grossenbacher (1968, P.A.S.P. 80, 342) differs
by 40". The stars are not mentioned in earlier catalogues of NGC
1960, although on red plates the very red object is much brighter
than nearby catalogued stars. An enlargement of the blue Palomar
Sky Survey print (1954) shows the very red star at B ~ 18, with
the companion perhaps a little brighter and some 6"-10" away.
Recent BVRI photometry and spectroscopy (ranges 440-600 and 880-
1040 nm) with the Kitt Peak 4-m reflector and CCD indicate that
the very red object is an extreme carbon star, while the southeastern
star is probably of late spectral type. Photometry of the
carbon star in y (u, v and b were down to background) with the No.
2 Kitt Peak 0.91-m reflector leads to a preliminary value of V ~
13.9. Polarimetry with the Mt. Lemmon 1.5-m reflector gives 2.6
percent in V: the polarization of stars nearby is 1.5 percent, and
the position angles are almost identical. Proper-motion studies
are being done in Denmark and Sweden on plates extending back to
1926. Infrared measurements, observations of distance and
variability, spectrophotometry of the southeastern star, and any other
observations that may show association between the two stars or
with the cluster, would be very desirable.
PERIODIC COMET TEMPEL 1 (1982j)
Total visual magnitude estimates: Mar. 3.88 UT, 12.9 (J.-C.
Merlin, Le Creusot, France, 0.26-m reflector); 6.23, 13.1; (C. S.
Morris, Harvard, MA, 0.25-m reflector); 16.14, 12.0 (J. Bortle,
Stormville, NY, 0.32-m reflector); 21.16, 11.9 (Morris).
1983 March 25 (3786) Brian G. Marsden
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