News and Announcements


18 September	Special Notice #295: Bright outburst of the BL Lac object PKS 0716+71	September 18, 2012: AAVSO observer Klaus Wenzel (Grossostheim, Germany) noted that the BL Lacertae object PKS 0716+71 (== S5 0716+714) is currently brighter than it has been in several years, being at magnitude 12.7 (visual) on 2012 September 13.1354 (JD 2456183.6354). This AGN is highly variable on short timescales, but recent observations of this object indicate that it remains bright.
17 September	Two new eJAAVSO preprints	ej212: "GEOS RR Lyrae Survey: Blazhko Period Measurement of Three RRab Stars—CX Lyrae, NU Aurigae, and VY Coronae Borealis" by P. de Ponthière et al. www.aavso.org/ejaavso epsilon Aurigae preprint: "V-band Light Curve Analysis of epsilon Aurigae During the 2009–2011 Eclipse" by T. Karlsson www.aavso.org/eps-aur-abstract-karlsson
14 September	Solar Bulletin - Volume 68, Number 8	The August 2012 Solar Bulletin is now available!
14 September	New eJAAVSO: Is MP Geminorum an Eclipsing Binary With a Very Long Period?	ej211: "Is MP Geminorum an Eclipsing Binary With a Very Long Period?" by D. Böheme www.aavso.org/ejaavso211
13 September	New eJAAVSO: GSC 4552-1643: A W UMa System With Complete Eclipses	ej210: "GSC 4552-1643: A W UMa System With Complete Eclipses" by D. Terrell, J. Gross www.aavso.org/ejaavso210
11 September	Announcing the 2012 AAVSO Council Nominees	Please click on the names of the nominees to view their biographies. All members will receive Council election ballots in the mail in early September. Best of luck to all of our nominees!
11 September	Special Notice #294: CH Cyg observing campaign continued through 2012	September 11, 2012: As announced in AAVSO Alert Notice 454 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-454) and updated in AAVSO Special Notices #267 and #268 (http://www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-267 and -268), Dr. Margarita Karovska (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) is carrying out a multiwavelength campaign on the symbiotic variable CH Cyg this year. The satellite observations have taken place, and Dr.
10 September	Special Notice #293: S Dor campaign continued through 2012-2013 season	September 10, 2012: Dr. Noel Richardson (Georgia State University) has requested that the observing campaign on the luminous blue variable prototype S Dor (AAVSO Alert Notice 453, AAVSO Special Notice #280) be continued through the 2012-2013 observing season.
25 August	Alert Notice 469: Observations of TT Ari requested in support of MOST observations	August 25, 2012: Dr. Nikolaus Vogt (Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile) has requested photometry and spectroscopy of the novalike (VY Scl subtype) cataclysmic variable TT Ari in support of upcoming observations with the Canadian Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) satellite.
21 August	Alert Notice 468: Observing campaign on V380 Oph cancelled	August 21, 2012: The observing campaign on V380 Oph announced in AAVSO Alert Notice 466 (www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-466) has been cancelled at the request of the principal investigators, Drs. Joseph Patterson and Arne Henden.
21 August	JAAVSO 100th Anniversary Issue is Published!	The special 100th anniversary issue of the Journal of the AAVSO is published as Volume 40, Number 1, Parts A and B. Go to the issue's webpage: www.aavso.org/jaavso-v40n1 to view the abstracts and articles, to download the issue (members only), and to purchase printed copies. If you would like to receive an email each time a new issue of the JAAVSO is posted, please visit this forum thread.
17 August	Alert Notice 467: Nova Monocerotis 2012 = PNV J06393874+0553520	August 17, 2012: Discovered by: Shigehisa Fujikawa (Kanonji City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, reported by Mitsuru Soma, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) Discovery Magnitude: magnitude 9.4 C using a 105mm camera lens+CCD Discovery date: 2012 Aug. 09.8048 UT Coordinates: 06 39 38.74 +05 53 52.0 (2000.0)
14 August	Solar Bulletin - Volume 68, Number 7	The July 2012 Solar Bulletin is now available!
13 August	Alert Notice 466: Monitoring of V380 Oph requested in support of HST observations	THIS CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN CANCELLED. SEE AAVSO ALERT NOTICE 468 FOR DETAILS. August 21, 2012
06 August	Charts and Sequences Update August 2012	The latest release of APASS has allowed us to create new sequences and improve older sequences for hundreds of stars. If you would like to request a new comparison star sequence for a star that currently does not have one please see the instructions for doing so located here.
05 August	Special Notice #292: Possible nova in Carina = PNV J09410000-5759540	August 5, 2012: N. J. Brown (Two Rocks, W. Australia) reported a possible nova in Carina to the IAU CBAT with an observation of magnitude 9.5 photographic made on 2012 July 24.68 UT. The object has been placed on the IAU CBAT TOCP page (http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/unconf/tocp.html) and assigned the name PNV J09410000-5759540.
03 August	CHOICE Courses: Open for Registration!	The next round of CHOICE courses are open for registration.
25 July	Special Notice #291: Brightening of LBV HDE 269006 = R71	July 26, 2012: The luminous blue variable (LBV) HDE 269006 = R71 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is brightening and is currently at V magnitude 8.3. Observations in the AAVSO International Database going back to 1987 show HDE 269006 at visual magnitude ~10.8 until 2006, when it began to brighten, reaching magnitude ~8.5 in late 2009. It then declined to ~magnitude 9 by late 2012, where it has been since then.
24 July	Special Notice #290: Blazar BL Lac bright	July 24, 2012: The blazar BL Lac, the prototype of this class of variable objects, has brightened in the optical and radio wavelengths. ATel #4271 (Sh. A. Ehgamberdiev et al., http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=4271) on July 23 announced this brightening. The ATel team reported that "the source brightness has recently increased from R = 13.66 +/- 0.01 on July 19.82 to R = 12.60 +/- 0.01 on July 22.97.
20 July	Alert Notice 465: Nova Sagittarii 2012 No. 5 = PSN J18193700-1907400	July 20, 2012 Discovered by: Tadashi Kojima (Tsumagoi, Agatsuma-gun, Gunma-ken, Japan) (reported by S. Nakano (Sumoto, Japan) Discovery Magnitude: mag 12.6 on two frames using a Canon EOS 40D camera (+ 150-mm f/2.8 lens) Discovery date: 2012 July 16.512 UT Coordinates: R.A. 18 19 37.0 Decl. -19 07 40 (2000.0)
13 July	AAVSO Newsletter 53 is now online	AAVSO Newsletter 53, July 2012, is now online. http://www.aavso.org/aavso-n
12 July	Solar Bulletin - Volume 68, Number 6	The June 2012 Solar Bulletin is now available!
11 July	New eJAAVSO preprint: "A Century of Supernovae"	(ej207): "A Century of Supernovae" by P. Garnavich www.aavso.org/ejaavso
07 July	Special Notice #289: Bright possible nova in Sagittarius = PNV J18202726-2744263	July 7, 2012: A new, bright (V and unfiltered magnitudes 7-8) object has been independently discovered in Sagittarius by at least four observers. The IAU CBAT TOCP page identifies the object as PNV J18202726-2744263 and gives the earliest report (Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima) date and time of 2012 July 07.4986 UT and their magnitude 7.8 unfiltered CCD. Coordinates: 18 20 27.26 -27 44 26.3 (2000.0)
06 July	Alert Notice 464: Observers requested for Jovian Extinction Events (JEE2012)	July 5, 2012: Scotty Degenhardt (Santa Fe, NM), a pioneer in the use of video for timing eclipses of solar system and stellar objects and a research member of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), has informed the AAVSO of a research project he and colleagues are working on: modeling the Jovian dust field, moon atmospheres, and Io’s Torus through Jovian Extinction Events (JEE). He has invited AAVSO observers to participate by observing these Jovian extinction events and reporting their observations.

News and Announcements

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