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            THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS            
                 25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
                 Tel. 617-354-0484       Fax 617-354-0665
                          http://www.aavso.org
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                             C C D   V I E W S   #319
                            --------------------------
                                 April 16, 2004

 THIS IS A SPECIAL EDITION OF CCD VIEWS.
             
 Table of Contents
 -----------------
 1. Update on Intensive BZ UMa 24-hour Global Campaign!

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 1. UPDATE ON INTENSIVE BZ UMA 24-HOUR GLOBAL CAMPAIGN

  On April 17th and April 19th, 2004 (UTD) AAVSO observers all over
the world will participate in a high-precision CCD observing campaign
of the dwarf novae BZ UMa. The goal of this campaign is to obtain
precise photometry with high time resolution to look for short period
oscillations and periodicities. At the same time, professional
observatories in Arizona and on Mauna Kea in Hawaii will observe the
system with a set of photometric filters to look for color changes in
the oscillations and to provide a set of observations for amateurs to
compare their data with.

Schedule of Events:
-------------------
   * At dusk on April 17 (your local time) please begin observing BZ 
     UMa. Please observe it all night long with extra emphasis on the 
     early morning hours.
   * At dusk on April 19 (your local time) please do it again. THIS 
     IS THE MOST IMPORTANT NIGHT because it is when we will have some 
     observing time on Mauna Kea. So please make sure that you can 
     observe this evening. If you must choose one of the two evenings 
     - please choose the 19th.

  This means that our observers in East Asia will go first and
observers in the Central Pacific will finish the campaign each night.

Observing
---------

  One goal of this project is to eliminate the gaps from the light
curve. So please begin observing as early as possible and go as late
as possible.

  Also, we are looking for periodicities that range from many hours to
seconds. So please keep your exposure integrations as low as possible
but maintain a SNR of at least 40. DO NOT USE A FILTER!

  We also need precision photometry. Here are some hints to improve
your photometry of this faint object:

   * Set your aperture around the star to 80% of its FWHM to maximize 
     SNR.
   * Be extra careful with your flat & dark frames.
   * Don't try a new observing technique unless you have practiced
     it ahead of time.
   * If you have a German Equatorial Mount prepare for the meridian 
     flip so it will go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Communication
-------------

  I will try to be in contact through e-mail all day long for both 
days. Except when sleeping I should be able to respond quickly to 
e-mails. Feel free to contact me at aaronp@aavso.org.

  If you are signed up to observe and cannot observe for any reason 
(clouds, kids, headaches, you won the lottery...) *please* e-mail 
me as soon as you know. 

  During the observing session feel free to post your activities 
and/or thooughts to the AAVSO-PHOTOMETRY Discussion Group. If you are 
not a member of the group send your update e-mails to me and I'll 
forward them to the group.

Need More Observers
-------------------

  We are asking for all qualified CCD Observers around the world who
can observe +57 degrees to please participate in the project. We need
more observers, especially in Western Europe, the Pacific and East
Asia. Please contact any friends or astronomy associations you belong
to and send them to this URL:

               http://www.aavso.org/news/bzuma.shtml


Most Important Reminder!
------------------------

  ** REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN! **
  Brew coffee, tea and set out some snacks.  In your spare time read
back issues of the JAAVSO and the AAVSO 
Newsletter (all available
online). :)

Current Activity
----------------

  A light curve of the last 30 days of activity can be seen here:

http://www.aavso.org/cgi-bin/superstar2.pl?objectname=BZ+UMA&lastdays=30&visual=on&fainter=on

  The following observers sent in the recent observations of BZ UMa
in quiescence included in the light curve.

 AWJ AQUINO, WILLIAM J USA
 CTX CRAWFORD, TIMOTHY R. USA
 GBL GARY, BRUCE L. USA 
 GKA GRAHAM, KEITH A. USA 
 HBB HARRIS, BARBARA USA 
 MDW MACDONALD II, WALTER J. CANADA 
 OAR OKSANEN, ARTO FINLAND 
 WGR WALKER, GARY USA 
 WJD WEST, JERRY DOUG USA 
 ZRE ZISSELL, RONALD E. USA 

  BZ UMa seems to be oscillating between 16-17 mag while spending 
most of its time around V=16.5. After the campaign please continue to 
monitor it occasionally in quiescence until April 25th. 

Observers
---------

  Here is a table of those who have signed up to participate in the 
observing sessions. SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF THEM! Everyone who gets 
more than an hour of data with SNR>40 will be listed as a coauthor on 
the final paper.

Observer Code Name Location Time Zone UT Offset*
ZRE Ron Zissell Williston Observatory, Mount Holyoke College, MA -4
CLW01 Doug Durig Cordell-Lorenz Observatory, University of the South -4
PDO Don Pray Coventry, RI -4
AWJ Bill Aquino Buffalo, New York -4
HDF Dennis Hohman Orchard Park, NY -4
GKA Keith Graham Manhatten, IL -5
KMP Michael Koppelman Golden Valley, MN -5
CJS James Case Kansas City, MO -5
MXY John McClusky Segiun, TX -5
JM  Robert James Las Cruces, NM -5
HQA Arne Henden U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff AZ -7
GBL Bruce Gary Hereford, AZ -7
CTX Tim Crawford Arch Cape Observatory, Oregon -8
MKR Karen Meech Mauna Kea, University of Hawaii -10
KTC Tom Krajci Tashkent, Uzbekistan +5
OAR Arto Oksanen Nyrölä Observatory, Finland +3
PPK & ITM Pertti Pääkkönen, Tommi Itkonen Jakokoski Observatory, Finland +3
Unassigned Sacit Ozdemir Canakkale, Turkey +2
KZX Zsolt Kereszty Hungary, Gyorujbarat +2
GMZ Mauro Graziani Italy +2
RZD Diego Rodriguez The Guadarrama Observatory, Sierra de Guadarrama Mountains, Spain +2
VMT Tonny Vanmunster CBA Belgium +1
  
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     CCD Views is published when circumstances warrant via e-mail. 
An archive is available at http://www.aavso.org/ccdviews/ .  
Please send comments and suggestions to aaronp@aavso.org.

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     The AAVSO has many free online publications including "Eyepiece
Views", a similar newsletter intended for visual observers. To learn
more and subscribe visit: http://www.aavso.org/mailinglists.stm

 Good observing!

 Aaron Price, AAVSO Technical Assistant (PAH)
 Gary Walker, Chairman of the AAVSO CCD Committee (WGR)

Copyright 2004, American Association of Variable Star Observers
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           THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS
                25 Birch Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
                Tel. 617-354-0484       Fax 617-354-0665
                         http://www.aavso.org
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