News and Announcements
| 08 March | Alert Notice #480: MR UMa superoutburst coverage requested for HST observations |
March 8, 2013: Dr. Boris Gaensicke (Warwick University) has requested observations of the currently-outbursting SU UMa-type cataclysmic variable MR UMa in preparation for and support of HST observations scheduled for the week 2013 April 4-7. |
| 06 March | Special Notice #340: HST/COS observations 2013 March 8 and March 9 |
March 6, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice #339 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-339), HST/COS is scheduled to observe two of the dwarf novae in the CV campaign back-to-back: |
| 28 February | Special Notice #339: V406 Vir (SDSS J123813.73-033932.9) HST/COS observations early tomorrow |
February 28, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice #338 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-338), HST/COS is scheduled to observe V406 Vir (SDSS J123813.73-033932.9) tomorrow: |
| 27 February | Bulletin 76 for 2013 published and available online |
AAVSO Bulletin 76 - Predicted Dates of Maxima and Minima of Long Period Variables for 2013 - has been published and is available from the AAVSO Bulletin page.
AAVSO Bulletin 76 gives predicted dates for 381 Mira and semiregular variables for the period January 2013 through February 2014. These dates are based on observations in the AAVSO International Database. |
| 26 February | ASP 125th Annual Meeting |
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) will hold its 125th Annual Meeting on "Ensuring STEM Literacy" in San Jose, CA from July 20 to July 24, 2013. Early bird registration has begun and abstracts are currently being accepted. Please visit the ASP meeting page for more information. |
| 24 February | Professional Astronomers: Invitation to Participate in an AAVSO Survey |
The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) invites the participation of professional astronomers in our "Professional Astronomer Survey of 2013." |
| 21 February | Special Notice #338: HM Leo HST/COS observations tomorrow; V406 Vir is next target |
February 21, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice #336 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-336), HST/COS is scheduled to observe HM Leo tomorrow: |
| 18 February | Solar Bulletin - Volume 69, Number 1 |
The January 2013 Solar Bulletin is now available. |
| 17 February | Alert Notice 479: Supernova 2013aa in NGC 5643 = PSN J14323388-4413278 |
February 17, 2013 |
| 17 February | Aviso Especial de AAVSO #337 (actualizado): supernova brillante de tipo Ia en la galaxia NGC 5643 (Lupus) |
17 de febrero de 2013: Stuart Parker (Canterbury, Nueva Zelanda), del equipo BOSS, ha descubierto una brillante supernova en la galaxia espiral NGC 5643 en la constelación de Lupus. |
| 15 February | Special Notice #337: Bright transient near the galaxy NGC 5643 (Lupus) |
February 15, 2013: As noted by Alexandre Amorim in the AAVSO Forums, a bright transient has appeared in the fringes of the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 5643, and has been published on the Transient Objects Confirmation Page at Harvard. |
| 12 February | Special Notice #336: Next three HST/COS CV campaign targets |
February 12, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice #330 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-330), HST/COS is scheduled to observe BB Dor on: |
| 12 February | Special Notice #335: Revised Coordinates for GR Ori (Nova Ori 1916) |
February 12, 2013: The coordinates issued with AAVSO Special Notice #334 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-334) were incorrect; they were taken from an article by Robertson et al. (2000AJ....119.1365R). |
| 11 February | Special Notice #334: Outburst of the possible old nova GR Ori |
February 11, 2013: Observer Rod Stubbings (Tetoora Road, Vic., Australia) reports an outburst of the suspected old nova GR Ori (== Nova Ori 1916), observing the star at a visual magnitude of 13.0 on 2013 February 11.476 UT (JD 2456334.976). This observation was confirmed by observer Stephen Hovell (Kaitaia, New Zealand), who also reported the star at 13.0 on February 11.461. |
| 06 February | Special Notice #333: Eclipse underway in b Per and photometry needed urgently |
February 6, 2013: According to photometry provided by Don Collins (CDK, Swannanoa, NC), the eclipse in the b Per system (HD 26961), predicted for around 2013 January 25, is underway now and began February 4-5. Photometry - multicolor if possible - is urgently needed now to cover the rest of this eclipse, which may last for up to four days altogether, and see post-eclipse behavior of the system. |
| 05 February | Special Notice #332: Observations of IR Com crucial now through February 8 |
February 5, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice 330 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-330), HST/COS is scheduled to observe IR Com on: |
| 05 February | Star names containing the Greek letters µ and ν, and the case of “u” versus “U” |
When searching for a star in the International Variable Star Index (VSX) or reporting observations to the AAVSO International Database via WebObs, it is not possible to enter a Greek letter if the star has a Greek letter as part of its name – one cannot search for “µ Cep” or “ν Pav”. There has been ongoing confusion about how to spell out some of the Greek letters used in star names, and in particular about how to spell out µ and ν. |
| 03 February | Special Notice #331: Nova Cephei 2013 = PNV J23080471+6046521 |
February 2, 2013: A nova in Cepheus has been reported, confirmed, and confirmed as a nova spectroscopically. An AAVSO Alert Notice will follow after an official announcement from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, but basic information is given here for immediate reference. |
| 02 February | Special Notice #330: Next HST/COS targets are IR Com and BB Dor |
February 2, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471), the next HST/COS target is the SU UMa-type dwarf nova IR Com. HST/COS observations are scheduled for: |
| 29 January | Special Notice #329: Critical time for CV Campaign HST/COS target SDSS J100515.38+191107.9 |
January 29, 2013: SDSS J100515.38+191107.9 is the upcoming target for the HST/COS CV Campaign (see AAVSO Alert Notice 471 and AAVSO Observing Campaigns page (http://www.aavso.org/observing-campaigns) for details and related Special Notices). Dr. Gaensicke writes: |
| 29 January | Special Notice #328: HST/COS observing U Gem 2013 January 30 |
January 29, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 475 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-475) and AAVSO Special Notice #327 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-327), HST/COS will be observing the dwarf nova U Gem on |
| 24 January | Special Notice #327: HST/COS observations scheduled for U Gem |
January 24, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 475 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-475), HST/COS observations of U Gem have been scheduled for 2013 January 30 21:31:12 - 23:36:16 UT. |
| 24 January | Special Notice #326: Next HST/COS target is SDSS J100515.38+191107.9 |
January 24, 2013: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471), the next HST COS target is the SU UMa-type dwarf nova SDSS J100515.38+191107.9. HST COS is scheduled to observe it: |
| 23 January | 2013 Eclipsing Binary Ephemeris online |
The Eclipsing Binary ephemeris for 2013, prepared by Gerry Samolyk, is on the AAVSO website at |
| 21 January | Special Notice #325: BB Dor monitoring requested for Swift and HST observations |
January 21, 2013: AAVSO observations are requested of the SW Sex-type novalike variable BB Dor in support of one and possibly two sets of multiwavelength observations: Dr. Tomohito Ohshima (Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University) and colleagues have triggered Target of Opportunity observations with NASA's Swift gamma-ray burst satellite, and Dr. Boris Gaensicke (Warwick University) is hoping to observe BB Dor in the ultraviolet with HST. |
