Quote:
Originally Posted by ausastronomer
Hi Matt,
It was me that showed you that "red" star that night at IISAC 2007. The scope is in fact an 18"/F4.5 Obsession and Liz and Jacquie are spot on. It was R Leporis, also known as "Hinds Crimson Star". It is only about 5 degrees from Rigel in Orion. Despite some other comments, in my opinion it is most impressive as it dims, not at its brightest. This is a Mira type variable and these stars go redder as they dim and turn more pinkish/orange, as they brighten. Unfortunately, although they are redder as they dim, they are harder to see and hence they often don't show as impressive targets in smaller telescopes, when they are dim.
Cheers,
John B
PS: I will post a list of about 20 or so of my favourite "red" stars for anyone that is interested, tomorrow when I have a bit more time.
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Thanks John.
You know how everyone has moments at the eyepiece that they will remember for the rest of their lives (like seeing Saturn for the first time), well I had two such moments that night and seeing that star was one of them. The other was comet Mcnaught.
Thankyou everyone for the other suggestions. I will hunt them down asap.