Note: This campaign has been extended through the 2018 observing season.
August 4, 2017: Dr. Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) has requested "visual, photometric, and spectroscopic observations of the symbiotic variable R Aqr in preparation for and in support of Chandra and HST observations currently scheduled for October 2017."
In order to help simplify answering the question "What should I observe tonight?", we have consolidated some of the places on the AAVSO website to look for information on urgently-needed observations. As of July 31, 2017, the three webpages:
July 28, 2017: The AAVSO Special Notice is being discontinued as of July 28, 2017. This notice - #430 - is the last Notice of the publication.
The type of information supplied in AAVSO Special Notices will now be supplied in the AAVSO Alert Notices and/or in the AAVSO online forums on Campaigns & Observation Reports, Time Sensitive Reports, and the other Variable Star Observing and Variable Star forums, as appropriate.
July 21, 2017: The following request for AAVSO assistance has been received from Denis Denisenko (Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University) to help characterize "...the cataclysmic variable DDE 48 in Vulpecula. This CV belongs to the rare ER UMa subtype of dwarf novae, with only 6 other stars in VSX being classified as UGER. According to 2016-2017 observations by Nikolay Mishevskiy (MNIC) and Denis Denisenko (DDE), this variable is very active, with superoutbursts to magnitude V=15.4 occurring approximately once a month.
July 17, 2017: Dr. Abel Méndez (University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo) has requested AAVSO assistance in follow-up observations of the flare star FI Vir (Ross 128) subsequent to his radio observations obtained yesterday (July 16) with the Arecibo and Green Bank (GBT) telescopes and the Allen Telescope Array (ATA).
July 7, 2017: Roque Ruiz-Carmona (Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands) has requested AAVSO assistance in determining the status of 20 eclipsing cataclysmic variables (CVs) in order to select one system in outburst for observation with the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at La Palma, to detect and study spiral density waves in the system. The WHT observations will begin on 2017 July 11 UT.
June 30, 2017: Dr. Octavi Fors (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and colleagues have requested AAVSO observers' assistance in following up on some targets from the Evryscope survey.
[Note: if you are seeking confirmation of what you believe is a recent discovery, click on the link in the box at the right. For general inquiries, please use our Contact form and select "General Observing" as the subject.]
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Note: This campaign is officially over, but the astronomers would appreciate it very much if observers could make an occasional observation of PDS 110. EOW March 29, 2018
Note: This Alert Notice was edited to add the magnitude range of PDS 110. EOW
