QX Pup : the fascinating yolk of the Rotten Egg Nebula

Abstract

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.