August 11, 2017: Dr. Gregory Sivakoff (University of Alberta) and colleagues have requested AAVSO observers' assistance in observing the black hole X-ray transient LMXB V404 Cyg in support of Chandra observations taking place TONIGHT. The Chandra schedule is
2017 Aug 11 23:49:04.072 - 2017 Aug 12 13:42:14.730 UTC
August 7, 2017: Dr. Boris Gaensicke (Warwick University) has requested our help in monitoring the pulsating white dwarf-containing cataclysmic variable GW Lib in preparation for and support of K2 (Kepler's Second Light) and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations scheduled for August to November 2017 and August and September 2017, respectively.
K2 will be observing GW Lib non-stop 2017 Aug 23 20:00:00 to 2017 Nov 19 23:00:00 UTC.
August 7, 2017: AAVSO Young Stellar Object (YSO) Section leader Michael Poxon (Great Plumstead, Norfolk, UK) requests coverage of the YSO V1117 Her.
He writes: "The peculiar YSO V1117 Herculis has undergone a second, rapid fade and recovery only a few days after its recovery from another rapid fade. Observations, both visual and multiwavelength, are encouraged, since the behaviour of this star's historical fading episodes may indicate rapidly-changing evolution of the protoplanetary clumps in the circumstellar disc.
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).
