Berto Monard's GRB Award
GRB030725: An Amateur Discovery in a Professional Field
GRB030725: An Amateur Discovery in a Professional Field
Elizabeth started working at the AAVSO in 1979 after graduating with a degree in Astronomy from Smith College in Northhampton, MA. She began as technical assistant to Director Janet Mattei. Over the next 25 years the variety and number of her responsibilities grew.
AAVSO 98th Spring Meeting, Northwoods Resort, Big Bear Lake, California, May 19 - 21, 2009
Harlow Shapley once referred to Leslie C. Peltier as "the world's greatest living amateur astronomer." This was a view shared by all who knew him, or knew of him. During his active observing life, which spanned all, or parts of eight decades, he made over 132,000 observations of variable stars, discovered twelve comets and six novae.
AAS AWARDS:
The American Astronomical Society's Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award for exemplary research by an amateur astronomer (2015)
Mike Simonsen
This award is given to an amateur astronomer for the discovery of a gamma-ray burst optical afterglow.
Announced in AAVSO Communications for May 2021
Arto Oksanen
for the discovery of the Gamma-Ray Burst optical afterglow of
GRB 210420B
April 20.8229, 2021 UT
At the Annual Meeting in October, 1928, a Nova Award Medal was instituted to encourage and recognize the visual discoverers of novae. The Medal was not restricted to members of the AAVSO, but it would be awarded to the original discoverer of a nova by direct visual methods. Initially, the medals were made of gold and were donated by AAVSO member and jeweler, David B. Pickering. The Nova Award Medal was discontinued, and the Nova Award Plaque was awarded in its place on subsequent occasions. This award is also awarded to the visual discoverer of supernova.
In order to recognize the contributions of AAVSO Solar Section contributors, the AAVSO Solar Observer Awards (sunspots only) were initiated at the 1999 Annual Meeting. Sunspot awards are presented to solar observers who have reached milestones of 100, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, or subsequent increments of 500 sunspot observations by September of a given year. In 2004 a SID awards program was implemented to give equal recognition to SID observers.