News and Announcements
| 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! |
| 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. |
| 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) |
| 14 August | Solar Bulletin - Volume 68, Number 7 |
The July 2012 Solar Bulletin is now available! |
| 12 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 |
| 13 July | AAVSO Newsletter 53 is now online |
AAVSO Newsletter 53, July 2012, is now online.
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| 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 |
