TX CVN: SYMBIOTIC STAR IN ACTIVE STATE
U. Munari et. al., (ANS Collaboration) report on The Astronomer's Telegram
5761 that after the last active phase that began in 2003, the symbiotic star
TX CVn has now entered a new active phase. In 2003, TX CVn rose to B=10.5
and there it remained until the end of 2007, when they started monitoring
the variable with various ANS Collaboration telescopes in BVRI bands. Their
observations show that the star has spent the following 6 years on a steady
decline at a rate of 0.084 mag per year in the B band, that took it from
B=10.55 on December 2007 to B=11.02 on September 2013, when the star begun a
rapid brightening, reaching B=10.65 by early December 2013. Our last
measurements for 12 and 13 January 2014 provide B=10.72, B-V=+0.78,
V-Rc=+0.62, V-Ic=+1.36.

TX CVn is a enigmatic P=199 days binary star composed by a K5III and what
looks like a B9 shell star engulfed by a large external dust shell at a
temperature of 450 K. TX CVn remained around B=11.8 for the first half
century of its long recorded photometric history. Then, around 1945 it
begun a slow and gradual rise in brightness that reached B=10.1 mag in 1967,
a level at which the system remained until 1990 when a slow decline begun.
On top of this, several outbursts occurred, the largest ones recorded on
1920, 1945, 1952, and 1962, when a peak brightness between
B=9.0 and 9.5 mag was always attained.

A low resolution spectrum of TX CVn was obtained on 2014 January 12with the
Varese 0.61m telescope equipped with the Multi-Mode Spectrograph. At the
shortest wavelengths, the spectrum shows a reinforced B9 shell spectrum,
while the K5III continues to dominate in the red. Spectral monitoring with
the Asiago 1.22m and 1.82m telescopes shows that over the period 2008-2013
the B9 shell spectrum smoothly declined in intensity, paralleling the
decline in B-band brightness. The latest spectrum presents Halpha in
moderate emission with a strong P-Cyg profile, blue-shifted by 330 km/s with
respect to the emission component.

SUPERNOVA 2013gf (TNTS)
2013gf Nov 06.87 09 05 26.46 +56 24 12.4 18.3 8.4"E 0.6"S
J.-J. Zhang: spectrum Nov 7 type-Ia around maximum

SUPERNOVA 2013gg IN UGC 4958 (XINGMING SKY SURVEY)
2013gg Nov 05.87 09 21 08.25 +49 35 33.8 17.9 63.7 "E 34.2"S
Discovery images:
http://www.xjltp.com/XOSS/XM47ZJ/XM47ZJ.htm
D. Milisavljevic: spectrum Nov. 8 reasonable match with the type-IIP event
2006bp at four days after maximum light