Poster Abstracts

Name/Affiliation:  Caitlin Doughty (University of Washington Astronomy Department)

Title:  Monitoring the Variability of Newly-discovered Symbiotic Stars: A Progress Report

Abstract:
Seven new symbiotic stars (SS) identified from low-dispersion spectroscopic observations were monitored during the summer and fall of 2013 at the University of Washington's Manastash Ridge Observatory to determine whether or not they showed variability on timescales of days to months. These SS were identified initially on the basis of H-alpha emission and red colors from the IPHAS survey, but nothing has been noted regarding their variability. Using photometric observations taken over the course of four months and sets of five to six comparison stars, we found that several of the target stars demonstrated variations of a few tenths of a magnitude in the H-alpha filter while others exhibited variations of up to one magnitude in both the R and I filters. Further observations of these stars are planned at MRO during 2014.