Submitting PEP V-band data to the AAVSO

Preliminaries

The AAVSO can accept photoelectric data on any known variable star for which we have a record. We also have a subset of stars that are formally part of our PEP Program. A plain text table of AAVSO PEP Program stars may be found here. The AAVSO accepts two kinds of photoelectric data:

• Magnitudes in any filter band (UBVRcIcJH or other) that the observer reduces on their own and submits like any other observation, and
• Raw Johnson V-band deflection data obtained using the AAVSO's standard PEP program observing procedure

Reduced PEP data

If you observe with a photoelectric photometer and reduce your own PEP observations to standard magnitudes, you can submit your data via Blue & Gold's WebObs tool. If you have not submitted data to the AAVSO before, you must first request an observer code (free of charge), and set a username and password for your account on Blue & Gold. Otherwise, simply log on to Blue & Gold, and go to "Submit Observations via Webobs"->"CCD and Reduced PEP", and choose the submission format of your choice. Note: Given the high precision possible with Photoelectric photometers, we strongly encourage you to fully calibrate your photometer and transform all of your photometry to a standard photometric system. Doing so greatly increases its scientific value, as it will be far easier to combine the data from many different observers placed on a standard scale. Please also be sure to include IDs for your check and comparison stars, especially if you use different stars than those listed as PEP standards.

Raw PEP observations of AAVSO PEP Program stars

If you observe stars in the AAVSO PEP Program, and want to submit your raw deflections and have them reduced and archived online, you have two choices:

• Prepare a file in the classic "RAW" format, and email it or postal mail it to us, or use PEPObs/WebObs to upload it and have it reduced in real time, or
• Type your deflections directly into WebObs/PEPObs.

Again, for both cases you need observer initials, and you need an account and password for Blue & Gold. In addition, we also need a record of your PEP observing equipment and location, including:

• Your equipment (SSP3, Digital photometer, 1P21, etc.)
• Your epsilon(V)
• Your observatory's longitude and latitude, and
• Your time zone

If you are interested in PEP observing but aren't yet an AAVSO observer, please let us know! We'll be happy to walk you through the account registration and data submission processes. Contact aavso@aavso.org for information about registering on our website and using WebObs, or contact Jim Fox (PEP Committee Chair -- makalii45@gmail.com) for general and technical information about PEP observing or the AAVSO PEP Program.