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Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
My only other guess is that it was a dwarf novae, but those generally have longer durations of brightness.
I didn't report it to anyone. I figured why bother, since I have no idea what it is I'm seeing.
Originally posted by justme1640
to me that wasn't a streak across the sky -- I thought that perhaps you saw something like that.
www.dibonsmith.com... (near the bottom)
UV Ceti is the prototype of a classification of variables known as flare stars. UV Ceti is actually component B of a binary system composed of two red dwarfs, both having a visual magnitude of only 15.5. Combined, their magnitude is about 12. Keen reported that it was well below 10th magnitude, and if I recall correctly, magnitudes are a logarithmic scale, so 12th is 'well below')
Every ten hours or so UV Ceti suddenly jumps in magnitude. (this sounds familiar, doesn't it, Keen? In just a few seconds it will increase by three or four magnitudes, even five magnitudes on occasion. Then over the next five to ten minutes the star settles back down to its former dim self. (also matches Keen's description)
Omicron Ceti, better known as Mira, "The Wonderful"
.... (cut for brevity)
The star has a potential range from as dim as 10 to as bright as 2.0, although it usually reaches a maximum visual magnitude of from 3 to 4. The average period is 331.96 days and the star only maintains its maximum for a few weeks, before rapidly losing its brilliance.
In the year 2000 the maximum should occur in September. But the period may change slightly. It has been known to vary from as long as 353 days to as short as 304 days. Burnham (p. 636) has a finder's chart.
Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
A supernova that only lasted a few minutes and wasn't reported by millions of other astronomers? I doubt that...