QX Pup : the fascinating yolk of the Rotten Egg Nebula

QX Pup is a known Mira variable at the core of the Rotten Egg Nebula that has not been studied in detail since its discovery in 1983. In this study, four years of photometric data in V and I and two years of photometric data in R and B are analyzed. A period of T = 535.4 ± 8 days, and a magnitude drop of [Delta]mI , = 2.2 ± 0.69 are measured in I, and and phase shifts between the the other three filters and I are determined to be [o]R = 6 ± 40 days, [o]B = 66 ± 64 days, #, [o]v = 16 ± 86 days. These results are used to speculate about the possibility of a light-echo off the Rotten Egg Nebula and the conditions on Earth-like planets around Mira variables.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Berry, Kristin L

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richard P. Binzel and Amanda S. Bosh.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114137

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/114137