It is one of the best targets for amateur astronomers, it is recommended to see it every night, as its light changes are unpredictable. R CrB fades away again!
The R Coronae Borealis variants are not a very common type (nomenclature: RCB), since we know of certainly fewer than 100 representatives in our galaxy. Stars are poor in hydrogen, but very rich in helium and carbon. Almost all categories are represented between types of scenes B and R. The brightness is approximately constant for a long time – sometimes decades – and then a rapid, completely unexpected drop occurs. The length of the minimum varies from case to case, ranging from a few weeks to thousands of days. The descending branch is steeper than the ascending one, and is often punctuated by whorls. The amplitude of the fade ranges from 1 to 9 magnitudes. Discovering them is one of the hobbyists’ most rewarding tasks. Tracking their fading at irregular intervals is an exciting discovery task.
Its current dimming began at the end of May, and has since dimmed by more than 2 magnitudes from a maximum brightness of about 6.0 magnitudes. Unfortunately, tracking of the descending branch has been hampered by very bad weather, but we hope that in the next period it will be possible to detect the descending branch. The light curve of the past decade can also be seen that the star can fade by up to 15 degrees. Let’s find out whenever possible!
