? Unusual Significant Brightening of star in SZ HYA Field?

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Sat, 12/21/2019 - 14:34

Hello! I just finished last nights run of short short period variable SZ HYA. About 6:00 AM local time here in Las Cruces, NM, the B image had a HUGE brightening of a neighboring star (see image SZ HYA 4...B_0010). The field did not change between images

    In the attachments, I've also included the I-filtered, V-filtered, and B-filtered images taken before and after the image. The sequence then stopped because I halt the sequence when astronomical twilight ends. I obtained over 3 hours of SZ HYA images this morning.

    When I automatch/plate solve the field in MPO Canopus, it appears to be near the star at RA 09:13:35.51 and Dec -09:28:01.4 that has catalog designations 4UCAC: 403-048556. I do not see the brightening on the other images.

    What could this be? Thank you.

Mike

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
? Unusual Significant Brightening of star in SZ HYA Field?

The coordinates of the brightening seem to 09:13:33.7 and -09:27:43.3

Mike

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
brightening

Hi Mike,

You got "planed".  Note that there is a diagonal fainter streak across the image, showing the plane's path.  The bright spot is where the light blinked.

Arne

Affiliation
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC)
Brightening

Arne, Mike,

Interestingly, a close look at the plane's path shows what looks like a twisted ribbon. This is likely the countrail brightened by the Moon.

Damien