Lambda Aquarii, informally known as Hydor, is a variable star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. The name is Latinized from the Bayer designation λ Aquarii. The apparent visual magnitude of this star ranges from 3.57 down to 3.80, which is bright enough to be visible with the naked eye. It lies just 0.39 degrees south of the ecliptic and so is subject to lunar occultations. The star is eclipsed by the sun from about 1-4 March; thus the star can be viewed the whole night, crossing the sky, in early September, in the current epoch. Lambda Aquarii is located at a distance of 365 light-years (112 pc) from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −10.5 km/s.
66 Aquarii is a single star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. 66 Aquarii is the Flamsteed designation though the star also bears the Bayer designation of g1 Aquarii. It is visible to the naked eye as a faint, orange-hued star with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.673. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 7.53 milliarcseconds, the distance to this star is about 430 light-years.
7 Aquarii, abbreviated 7 Aqr, is a binary star system in the zodiac constellation of Aquarius. 7 Aquarii is the Flamsteed designation. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.5; the brighter component is baseline magnitude 5.62 while the faint secondary is magnitude 11.4. As of 2002, the pair had an angular separation of 2.10″ along a position angle of 165°. The distance to this system, based upon an annual parallax shift of 4.9 mas, is around 660 light years. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −32 km/s.
70 Aquarii is a variable star located 425 light years away from the Sun in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. It has the variable star designation FM Aquarii; 70 Aquarii is the Flamsteed designation. It is near the lower limit of visibility to the naked eye, appearing as a dim, yellow-white hued star with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of 6.19. This star is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of –5.8 km/s.
V399 Carinae is a variable star in the constellation Carina.
A pulsating white dwarf is a white dwarf star whose luminosity varies due to non-radial gravity wave pulsations within itself. Known types of pulsating white dwarfs include DAV, or ZZ Ceti, stars, with hydrogen-dominated atmospheres and the spectral type DA; DBV, or V777 Her, stars, with helium-dominated atmospheres and the spectral type DB; and GW Vir stars, with atmospheres dominated by helium, carbon, and oxygen, and the spectral type PG 1159. GW Vir stars may be subdivided into DOV and PNNV stars; they are not, strictly speaking, white dwarfs but pre-white dwarfs which have not yet reached the white dwarf region on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A subtype of DQV stars, with carbon-dominated atmospheres, has also been proposed, and in May 2012, the first extremely low mass variable (ELMV) white dwarf was reported.
PG 1159-035 is the prototypical PG 1159 star after which the class of PG 1159 stars was named. It was discovered in the Palomar-Green survey of ultraviolet-excess stellar objects and, like the other PG 1159 stars, is in transition between being the central star of a planetary nebula and being a white dwarf.
A PG 1159 star, often also called a pre-degenerate, is a star with a hydrogen-deficient atmosphere that is in transition between being the central star of a planetary nebula and being a hot white dwarf. These stars are hot, with surface temperatures between 75,000 K and 200,000 K, and are characterized by atmospheres with little hydrogen and absorption lines for helium, carbon and oxygen. Their surface gravity is typically between 104 and 106 meters per second squared. Some PG 1159 stars are still fusing helium., § 2.1.1, 2.1.2, Table 2. The PG 1159 stars are named after their prototype, PG 1159-035. This star, found in the Palomar-Green survey of ultraviolet-excess stellar objects, was the first PG 1159 star discovered.
GD 358 is a variable white dwarf star of the DBV type. Like other pulsating white dwarfs, its variability arises from non-radial gravity wave pulsations within the star itself. GD 358 was discovered during the 1958–1970 Lowell Observatory survey for high proper motion stars in the Northern Hemisphere. Although it did not have high proper motion, it was noticed that it was a very blue star, and hence might be a white dwarf. Greenstein confirmed this in 1969.
R Aquarii is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius.
U Aquarii, abbreviated U Aqr, is a variable star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. It is invisible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude that ranges from 10.6 down to as low as 15.9. Based on parallax measurements, the distance to this star is approximately 38 kly (12 kpc). In 1990, W. A. Lawson and associates provided a distance estimate of 43 kly (13.2 kpc) based on the assumption of a bolometric magnitude of −5. It appears to lie several kiloparsecs below the galactic plane, and thus may belong to an old stellar population.
LP Aquarii is a pulsating variable star in the constellation of Aquarius that varies between magnitudes 6.30 and 6.64. The position of the star near the ecliptic means it is subject to lunar occultations.
101 Virginis is a red giant variable star in the Boötes constellation, currently on the asymptotic giant branch. It was originally catalogued as 101 Virginis by Flamsteed due to an error in the position. When it was confirmed as a variable star, it was actually within the border of the constellation Boötes and given the name CY Boötis.
HU Aquarii is an eclipsing binary system approximately 620 light-years away from the Sun, forming a cataclysmic variable of AM Herculis-type. The two stars orbit each other every 2.08 hours and the ultra-short binary system includes an eclipsing white dwarf and red dwarf.
CL Draconis is a single star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Draco. It can be viewed with the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 4.96. The distance to this star, as determined from its annual parallax shift of 29.9 mas, is 109 light years. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −11 km/s. The star has a relatively high proper motion, traversing the celestial sphere at the rate of 0.185″/yr.
Peter M. Garnavich is a faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame. His primary research area is the study of supernovae and their diversity. He has also studied gamma ray bursts and cataclysmic variable stars. Garnavich is a member of a supernova search team that contributed to the discovery of dark energy in 1998. At Notre Dame, Garnavich has developed and participated in collaborations using the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Kepler Space Telescope. He was named a fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in 2024.
QV Andromedae is an Alpha2 Canum Venaticorum variable in the constellation Andromeda. Its maximum apparent visual magnitude is 6.6, so it can be seen by the naked eye under very favourable conditions. The brightness varies slightly following a periodic cycle of approximately 5.23 days.
EP Aquarii is a semiregular variable star in the equatorial constellation of Aquarius. At its peak brightness, visual magnitude 6.37, it might be faintly visible to the unaided eye under ideal observing conditions. A cool red giant on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), its visible light brightness varies by about 1/2 magnitude over a period of 55 days. EP Aquarii has a complex circumstellar envelope (CSE), which has been the subject of numerous studies.
YY Mensae, also known as HD 32918, is a variable star located in the southern circumpolar constellation Mensa. It has an apparent magnitude that fluctuates between 8.6 and 8.9, which is within the visibility of binoculars. Based on parallax measurements from Gaia DR3, it is estimated to be 715 light years distant. It appears to be approaching the Solar System with a heliocentric radial velocity of −8.5 km/s.
The Sarah L. Krizmanich Telescope (SLKT) is located at the Jordan Hall of Science on the University of Notre Dame campus. The SLKT is a 0.8-m Optical Guidance Systems reflecting telescope and it is used for undergraduate astronomy and astrophysics research and teaching. Discoveries concerning the nature of cataclysmic variable stars, and a potential exoplanet, have been obtained using the Krizmanich Telescope.
