Dear Observers,                                                 March 2008

AAVSO Bulletin 71, predicted maxima and minima dates for 562 long period
variables for 2008 and approximate dates for January and February 2009,
has been published and is available online at
http://www.aavso.org/publications/bulletin. Paper copies are also available
on request to AAVSO Headquarters.

Materials in the Bulletin folder include:
 - Note to Observers for 2008 (please read!)
 - How to Use Bulletin 71 (contains new information; please be sure to read)
 - Introduction to Bulletin 71 (please be sure to read)
 - Bulletin 71, schematic version, in one file
 - Bulletin 71, schematic version, divided by Hour of Right Ascension
 - Bulletin 71, tabular version, divided by month
 - Bulletin Stars in Need of Observations 
 - Bulletin Stars, with 2000.0 coordinates

I strongly urge you to use the AAVSO Bulletin in planning your observing
sessions. Doing so will allow you to make the most of your valuable time in
observing these Mira and Semiregular long period variables.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* In the list of Bulletin stars in need of observations, I continue the level *
* of need added last year. This level refers to stars that have received good *
* to excellent CCD coverage (CCDV or multicolor photometry) in the past one   *
* to two years but are mostly in urgent or very urgent need of visual         *
* observations. All of these stars have decades of visual data prior to the   * 
* CCD data, and ongoing visual observations are essential to correlate the    * 
* sometimes highly differing CCD observations. This correlation is            *
* particularly important in determining historical changes in the levels of   *
* maximum and minimum brightness in these stars.                              *
*                                                                             *
* Also, the disquieting trend I first noticed last year is continuing,        *
* although some stars are showing better coverage: For many stars that have   *
* their maximum brightness around magnitude 10 or fainter, there is a         *
* noticeable decrease in the number of observations on the falling branch     *
* (that is, from maximum to minimum) than in the past. This trend does not    *
* appear in stars that have their maximum around magnitude 8 or brighter,     *
* even when the falling branch goes to magnitude 12 or fainter. In general,   *
* it seems that stars roughly magnitude 8-12 are well covered and magnitude   *
* 10-14 are suffering.                                                        *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I realize that there are a great many astronomical objects competing for
your observing time, especially for users of moderate- to large-sized
telescopes. However, I urge you not to neglect the AAVSO Bulletin stars!
These stars have decades - some, well over a century - of ongoing data
provided by you and your colleagues, and continued continuity is essential
to the researchers who will be analyzing these stars in the decades to come.

Many thanks to each of you for your valuable astronomical contributions. We
look forward to continuing to receive your observations!

Good observing,

Elizabeth Waagen

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Elizabeth O. Waagen, Senior Technical Assistant
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
49 Bay State Road                   Phone: (617) 354-0484
Cambridge, MA  02138                Fax:   (617) 354-0665
USA                                 e-mail: eowaagen@aavso.org
                                    www: http://www.aavso.org
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