Mira is still putting on quite a show. Since I took the spectrum on February 10th, it's brightened about another half-magnitude visually.
On Friday night at Steve's, I took more spectra, but as noted in the last blog it appears that all of that data is gone forever. However, I also took an image through the refractor using the other computer, so here it is. The bright green ring is just a filter artifact, in reality the star is an orangish-red color.
It's shining brightly in the South, and I highly recommend observing it since this year's maximum is the brightest in a long time. It's fascinating to think what physical processes must be taking place to cause this star to undergo such major fluctuations. Mira is well-studied and has a well-accepted theory for why it changes. See this link at the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) to get a very good writeup on Mira.
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