Observation Announcements and Reminders

The AAVSO data-entry and report-formatting software may be downloaded from the AAVSO web site again. For several months the download option was disabled, but it is now active. Go to http://www.aavso.org/adata/observingsoftware.shtml and download the package.

With the programs in this package, you may enter your observations nightly, weekly, monthly - whatever is most convenient for you - and in whatever order you want, and they will be put in AAVSO format. At the end of the month another program will combine the files you created and prepare your monthly report for you. You then simply send in the report. It sure beats sorting all those observations by hand!

AAVSO Validation File updated monthly

Keep your copy of VALID.AAV, the AAVSO Validation File containing the stars in our visual observing program, current. Each month we add designations and names of stars new to the AAVSO observing program to VALID.AAV and post the updated file on our web site at http://www.aavso.org/cdata/validation.shtml. You may download different versions of this important and useful file. Go take a look! (You may also request a copy from AAVSO Headquarters.)

Monthly Reports

If you choose not to submit your observations using the new WebObs feature on our website please remember to send your monthly reports and submit them on time.

Unless you use the WebObs feature on our web site, you have to send in a monthly report of all observations you made that month, whether or not you sent them as nightly reports for the News Flash/quick-look files. Only observations sent as monthly reports are added to the AAVSO International Database, our permanent archives.

Also, please remember to send your monthly report to AAVSO Headquarters as soon after the end of the month as possible. It is very important that you send your report the month after the observations were made - please don't wait for months and months to send your observations. Late reports reduce the efficiency of our data-handling operations, and missing observations make it difficult for us to fill requests for data from astronomers, teachers, and students.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION!!
GOOD OBSERVING!!
GOOD REPORTING!!

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