News and Announcements

September 10, 2011: Dr. Gregory Sivakoff (U. of Alberta) requests observations of the X-ray binary star MAXI J1836-194 as part of the JACPOT collaboration studying stellar radio jets from compact binaries.  There is no predetermined duration for this campaign, but observations are requested now to coincide with ongoing X-ray and radio observations.

September 8, 2011:

Jeff Hopkins (Hopkins Phoenix Observatory, Phoenix, AZ) communicates regarding the upcoming eclipse of the 4th-magnitude binary system zeta Aurigae. He writes:

September 6, 2011: John Seach (Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia) reports the detection of a transient object in Scorpius, having a magnitude of 9.8 on 2011 September 6.37 UT (JD 2455810.87).  Observations were made with a DSLR and 50mm f/1.2 lens and 5 second exposure, with limiting magnitude 10.5.  The object is visible on four separate frames taken after the discovery was made.          

También disponible en español

Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of David Duarte and his colleagues at the Centro de Estudos Astronômico de Alagoas (CEAAL), there is now a version of the AAVSO Manual for Visual Observing of Variable Stars available for download here:

http://www.aavso.org/visual-observing-manual-portuguese

We hope that this manual will be helpful to all of our many Portuguese-speaking observers and that you will feel free to share it with others.

SUPERNOVA 2011‭fe ‬in M101‭ (‬NGC 5457‭) = ‬PSN J14030581+5416254

August 26‭, ‬2011

A paper by Nutsinee Kijbunchoo (LSU) and others on the star NSV 11154 has just been accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.  This paper "NSV 11154 is a New R Coronae Borealis Star" is now available on arXiv.org, and makes use of observations old and new. 

August 19, 2011: As announced in AAVSO Alert Notice 443, Dr. Misty Bentz (Georgia State University) requests observations of four active galactic nuclei (AGN) for a study of variability in these sources by the STARE Collaboration. She requests BVRcIc filtered photometry of NGC 6814, NGC 7213, NGC 7469, and NGC 1566 from July 10, 2011, to November 1, 2011. She also requests that observers submit their images for analysis. An FTP site has been created for this purpose.

The AAVSO has 100 copies of Advancing Variable Star Astronomy that we are selling at the discounted rate of $80. So please order from the AAVSO store and help support the organization. We have the books in stock for immediate shipment.

But wait, there's more! If you add an order for one of our limited edition Centennial T-Shirts, we will take $15 off your total order at checkout.

CALL FOR PAPERS

for a special edition of the

Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers

dedicated to epsilon Aurigae, similar objects and amateur observing techniques of bright stars.

Possible Nova in Lupus
August 7, 2011

Nick Brown in vsnet-alert 13560 posts about a possible new nova from his photographic survey:

"The star appears at mag 10.2 photographic, on 2 films taken on August 4.73UT using a 135F2 cannon lens and tmax 400 film.unfiltered. No object is present on film taken on july 5.85UT down to 11.7pg. No previous variable stars are reported at this near position."

The coordinates are: 14 54 20  -55 05 03  J2000