News and Announcements
| 29 October | VStar version 2.14.0 |
A new version of VStar has just been released (the previous version was released in April 2012). To get it, please visit http://www.aavso.org/vstar-overview and click "Download VStar Now". |
| 26 October | New eJAAVSO preprint: on Variability type determination and high precision ephemeris for NSVS 7606408 |
ej 220: "Variability Type Determination and High Precision Ephemeris for NSVS 7606408" by R. Furgoni |
| 24 October | Special Notice #302: HST COS observations of 1RXS J023238.8-371812 scheduled |
October 24, 2012: Following on AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (Gaensicke, Patterson, and Henden, www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471) and AAVSO Special Notice #298 (www.aavso.org/aavso-special-notice-298), the HST COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph) far ultraviolet observations of THE NEXT TARGET from the list, the WZ Sge-type cataclysmic variable |
| 24 October | Four new eJAAVSO preprints |
ej216: "BVRI Photometry of SN 2011fe in M101" by M. W. Richmond and H. A. Smith ej217: "The Pulsation Period of the Hot Hydrogen-Deficient Star MV Sgr" by J. R. Percy and R. Fu ej218: "Period Changes in RRc Stars" by J. R. Percy and P. J. Tan ej219: "The Citation of Manuscripts Which Have Appeared in JAAVSO" by A. U. Landolt |
| 24 October | Special Notice #301: Retraction of Special Notice #300 |
October 23, 2012: Multiple observers have checked the Hyades and found no evidence of the transient mentioned in by I. Shelton in ATel #4513. There is no object visible in the field according to observations by Patrick Schmeer, Emmanuel Conseil, and Ulisse Munari. Doug Welch notes that the object appears non-stellar on the image that was posted to Shelton's website, and suggests it may be the product of a cosmic ray hit. |
| 23 October | Two new eJAAVSO preprints |
ej214: "VSX J071108.7+695227: a Newly Discovered Short-period Eclipsing Binary" by M. Damasso, et al. ej215: "A Practical Approach to Transforming Magnitudes onto a Standard Photometric System" by D. Boyd |
| 19 October | Alert Notice 472: Monitoring of HD 5980 requested for multiwavelength campaign |
October 19, 2012: Dr. Noel Richardson (Universite de Montreal, formerly at Georgia State University) has requested monitoring of the Small Magellanic Cloud eclipsing binary HD 5980 (in Tucana) as part of a multiwavelength campaign he is coordinating to study this unusual system. Dr. Richardson writes: |
| 17 October | Solar Bulletin - Volume 68, Number 9 |
The September 2012 Solar Bulletin is now available! |
| 11 October | The AAVSO Newsletter - October 2012 - is published |
AAVSO Newsletter 54 - October 2012 |
| 11 October | Annual Meeting Reminder: Hotel Deadline extended! |
Don't forget to register for the AAVSO Annual Meeting!
For more information please visit the Annual Meeting Description Page. We hope to see you in November! |
| 11 October | New eJAAVSO: on the variability of V538 Cas by G. Holmberg |
ej213: A Note on the Variability of V538 Cassiopeiae by G. Holmberg |
| 10 October | Special Notice #299: Observations needed TODAY of SDSS J164248.52+134751.4 |
October 10, 2012: Dr. Boris Gaensicke (leader of the consortium observing CVs with the HST COS instrument; see AAVSO Alert Notice 471 and AAVSO Special Notice #297 for details and instructions) writes with an urgent message: |
| 06 October | Special Notice #298: Second set of HST COS CV targets announced |
October 6, 2012: Following on AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (Gaensicke, Patterson, and Henden, www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471), the second set of targets the HST COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph) will be observing has been announced. |
| 06 October | Special Notice #297: HST COS observations of SDSS J164248.52+134751.4 scheduled |
October 5, 2012: Following on AAVSO Alert Notice 471 (Gaensicke, Patterson, and Henden, www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-471), the HST COS (Cosmic Origins Spectrograph) far ultraviolet observations of the cataclysmic variable SDSS J164248.52+134751.4 have been scheduled for 2012 October 12 from 01:03:27 to 06:21:43 UT. |
| 05 October | Annual Report for 2010-2011 is published |
The AAVSO Annual Report for FY 2010-2011 is now available online. |
| 28 September | Charts and Sequences Updates September 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. If you find an error or have issues with an existing sequence, please submit those to CHET. |
| 20 September | Alert Notice 471: Cataclysmic variables to be monitored for HST observations |
September 20, 2012: Drs. |
| 20 September | Special Notice #296: Outburst of the BL Lac object 4C 11.69 == CTA 102 |
October 6, 2012: The BL Lac object 4C 11.69 (== CTA 102) was discovered in bright outburst by V. Larionov, D. Blinov, and S. Jorstad (St. |
| 20 September | Alert Notice 470: Symbiotic variable V4018 Sgr in outburst |
September 20, 2012: The symbiotic variable V4018 Sgr is undergoing an outburst, according to observations reported to the AAVSO and confirmed by spectroscopy by Ulisse Munari et al. Prompted by an observation and comment from John Bortle (Stormville, NY) (16 June 2012, visual magnitude 12.2) about a possible outburst, Steven O'Connor (St. George's, Bermuda) obtained an observation (10 August 2012, 11.44V) that confirmed V4018 Sgr was bright. |
| 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.
epsilon Aurigae preprint: "V-band Light Curve Analysis of epsilon Aurigae During the 2009–2011 Eclipse" by T. 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 |
| 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 |
| 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! |
