RY Col also known as Ry Columbae is a star variable that’s located in the constellation of Columba. A variable star is a star whose brightness can be seen from Earth and over time variable star brightness can be changed. Variable stars can be classified into two categories intrinsic and extrinsic variables. The variable stars can be analyzed by using photometry, spectrophotometry, and spectroscopy. To measure a variable star’s brightness it can be plotted by using a light curve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By analyzing RY Col I classified that the variable star is RRAB the reason why I classified that this variable star is an RRAB is because I used Atlas Star to compare the graph and it’s smoother-looking and the graph is a more symmetric light curve making an RRAB. The RY Col being an RRAB is an intrinsic variable being an RR Lyrae star so it’s a pulsating variable with white giants of spectral class A. The period is 0.47884 and the period I got from using the codec was 0.4788423 making the period difference of -2.30E-06. The RY Col has a maximum magnitude of 10.34 and a minimum magnitude of 11.31 and the maximum and minimum magnitudes are important because these values tell us important information about the variable star. It has an epoch value of 2458055.855 and this value is important because it tells us the moment in time and epoch is useful for celestial coordinate or orbital elements. RY Col has a rise/eclipse duration of 20%. 

The parameters from AAVSO can tell us many things about the variable star. It tells us the brightness of the star that was given. It also shows the time the variable star took for the star to complete the full cycle. Knowing the time when the variable star does a complete full cycle tells us the behavior of the star. With the parameters, it tells us the periodic variable stars marking the starting point to calculate the phase of variability. The parameters tell us the different types of variability of the star.

I had fun in this class and learning about the stars and like the variable stars, star clusters, etc. I had fun setting up observation on Skynet and looking at different planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulas it was cool looking at those types of things. I didn’t have much expectation for this class at the beginning but over time I had so much fun in this class and it was really interesting. This is my first astronomy class so I had a great time in this class and might consider taking another class like this if I ever get the chance. The labs were so fun to do and doing stuff like that was cool. This was one of my favorite classes during this term/semester.