Affiliation
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Variable Star Section (RASNZ-VSS)
Tue, 01/08/2013 - 22:53

I have asked this question on another discussion list but for me, it's worth repeating here.
Regarding the naming of variable stars:
We are getting so many 21 (or more) character variable names eg SSS 130101:122222-311525. Please can someone explain why the IAU (through the Sternberg Astronomical Institute) only meet every two years to assign 'regular names' to variables. We saw the 80th Name List in December 2011. Could it not happen at least annually. With today's technological advances, is there not a quicker way of doing this than through what I assume is a F2F meeting?

What are the criteria for stars being accepted for inclusion in a Name List? Is the information in VSX sufficient? Is the AAVSO able ot play a roll in the regular naming of variables? or is this the domain of a select group of professionals?