June 15, 2017: Drs. Frederick Walter (Stony Brook University) and Paul Kuin (University College London) and colleagues have requested AAVSO observers' assistance in obtaining photometry of Nova Oph 2017 (TCP J17394608-2457555) in support of Target-of-Opportunity observations with Swift UVOT that have been triggered and are scheduled for the next ten days (2017 June 16 - 25), and possibly longer.
Campaign continued through 2017. Also, updated in Special Notice #419 (20160809) to encourage spectroscopy.
August 3, 2016: Dr. Noel Richardson (University of Toledo) and colleagues have requested AAVSO assistance in optical monitoring of the bright, colliding-winds binary V1687 Cyg (WR 140, HD 193793) as part of their multi-wavelength campaign on this system.
April 5, 2016: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 536, close monitoring of the cataclysmic variable SS Cyg is urgently requested. Immediate notification of the beginning of the anticipated outburst is crucial and is requested.
The success of the multiwavelength (radio and optical) observing campaign on SS Cyg underway depends on immediate reporting of outburst behavior to trigger multi-site radio observations.
December 15, 2015: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 503 and AAVSO Special Notice #409, Dr. Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) urgently requests that multicolor and visual AAVSO observations of the symbiotic variable RT Cru continue.
Correction: In the text below, the date of the detection by the Swift satellite was incorrectly given as 2015 June 16.77197 UT. The correct date is 2015 June 15.77197 UT.
February 22, 2006: The optical afterglow and underlying supernova for GRB060218 continues to brighten and has generated a lot of interest in the scientific community. It is well positioned in the early evening sky for professional and amateur monitoring. The latest coordinates are:
March 9, 2010: The old nova (1901) and x-ray source GK Per may be going into outburst. Reports beginning late on 2010 March 6 UT show it brightening from its minimum visual magnitude of about 13.1 to 12.3-12.4.
