Foreword and Acknowledgements

It is with great pleasure that we present this revised and improved edition of the Manual for Visual Observing of Variable Stars. This manual is intended to be a comprehensive guide to variable star observing. It incorporates a lot of the basic information in the Manual for Observing Variable Stars, published in 1970 by the former Director of the AAVSO, Margaret W. Mayall, as well as information from various AAVSO observing materials published since then. This manual provides up-to-date information for making variable star observations and reporting them to the AAVSO.

For new observers, this manual is an essential tool-the one place from which one can gather all the information needed in order to start a variable star observing program. Long-time and experienced observers, and those returning to variable star observing, on the other hand, may find it useful as a ready-reference, quick-resource, or refresher text to help explore new aspects of variable star observing.

This manual will familiarize you with the standardized processes and procedures of variable star observing-a very important part of making and submitting your observations to the AAVSO.

You will find here new information, presented in a useful format, with chapters arranged in order of difficulty and grouped by subject-matter. There are many pull-out pages for those who prefer to put essential information in their own observing notebooks or under a plastic sleeve.

Whether you are a novice or an experienced observer, or even if you are just an armchair observer who wishes to learn more about variable star observing, we hope this manual will help you to increase your knowledge of the fundamentals of variable star observing, improve your work at the telescope, and help you to get more enjoyment and satisfaction from making a real contribution to the science of variable star astronomy.

The information in this manual has been collected from various AAVSO publications and was edited by Sara J. Beck, AAVSO Technical Staff. I sincerely thank Sara for the excellent job she has done in preparing this work.

In addition, many AAVSO members and HQ staff contributed valuable comments and recommendations to this manual. Many thanks to Carl Feehrer, Peter Guilbault, Gene Hanson, Haldun Menali, Paul Norris, Ron Royer, Doug Welch and Michael Saladyga. Our special thanks to Gene Hanson both for providing a chapter in this manual and for his generous contribution toward the cost of publication.

Janet A. Mattei
Director, AAVSO

Foreword to 2005 Edition

Elizabeth O. Waagen
AAVSO Interim Director