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Project VS-COMPAS

Variable Stars Common Observation
Mission in Particular Areas of the Sky


1347 stars discovered as of Nov 15, 2015
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Variable Stars Observer Bulletin #5/Mar-Apr 2014

The 5th issue is available online in PDF.

The bulletin is for amateurs who are interested in variable stars science. There both simplified articles on the most contemporary research and publications from those who made an advanced progress in the field can be read.

Authors making research in the field of variable stars are welcome to publish their articles in the following issues! Should you have an article ready for sharing with the community, just contact us, so we can schedule it.

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Selected Issue (#5)

Issue #5
March-April 2014




Free Online
PDF Bulletin on Variable Stars

Amateurs' Guide to Variable Stars

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In this issue:
KOI-3278: A self-lensing binary star system by Ivan Adamin

BL Bootis stars - anomalous Cepheids by Ivan Adamin

A revision of NSV 13538 = NSVS 17231162 by Alexandr Ditkovsky

NSVS 11075037 = Dauban V53:
updated elements of a Mira variable in Hercules by Siarhey Hadon

RS Puppis: the light echoes calibrate standard candles for accurate distance measurements
 by Ivan Adamin

SS Lacertae: The non-eclipsing eclipsing binary by Ivan Adamin

>>View Full Contents
KOI-3278: A self-lensing binary star system

A team of astronomers – lead by Ethan Kruse and Eric Agol - at the University of Washington in Seattle has discovered the very first known instance of a self-lensing binary-star system.

KOI-3278 is a pair of stars consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence G-star with an orbital period of 88.18 days. This system produces the first ever case of periodic microlensing signal, based on data collected by NASA's Kepler planet-hunting space observatory. Previously theorized, around forty years ago, this phenomenon has never actually been observed directly until now.

Read more...

Articles / Publications

Wolf-Rayet stars: extremely hot, luminous and massive
by Ivan Adamin

Stellar associations: a variable stars nursery by Valery Tsehmeystrenko

The nearby eclipsing stellar system
δ Velorum by Ivan Adamin

Carbon in the sky: a few remarkable carbon stars by Ivan Adamin

What are the R Coronae Borealis stars?
by Ivan Adamin

The FU Orionis phenomenon
by Ivan Adamin

Twenty New W Ursae Majoris-type Eclipsing Binaries from the Catalina Sky Survey by Stefan Hummerich,
Klaus Bernhard, Gregor Srdoc

Recent Highlights
VSX J160815.5+204914 // HER
EB | 13.48 - 13.93 V | P = 0.46640d
VSX J054250.6-140128 // LEP
EB | 13.24 - 13.55 V | P = 0.52867d
VSX J144729.9+115838 // BOO
HADS | 13.35 - 13.68 V | P = 0.0778d

VS-COMPAS Discoveries Timeline


Aug 17, 2012:    55 new discoveries are added increasing the total number of variable stars to 686 up to now. Please, follow chronologically ordered table for more details.

Jun 24, 2012:    During the past three weeks 53 more new variable stars were discovered! Plus another 68 stars were added by July 20th. More details coming soon. Please, check the list of variable star discoveries in a chronological order out here.

See Also: VS-COMPAS Project Historic Timeline

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