89th Meeting and Workshop Report

Dr. Charles Meegan explains gamma ray bursts.

Dr. Scott Barthelmy of the GRB Global Coordinates Network

During the Thursday afternoon session, attendees enjoyed hearing Dr. Martin C. Weisskopf talk about x-ray astronomy and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Dr. B. Alan Harmon followed with a presentation on microquasars, which emit radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. Dr. Marshall Joy taught about future plans for x-ray observatories. Dr. Colleen A. Wilson-Hodge told attendees about x-ray observations of pulsars. Finally, Dr. Valerie Connaughton finished the afternoon session with a presentation on Cherenkov radiation and blazars.

From L-R: Charles Curry (whose generosity sponsored the international participants). Jerry Fishman, and Scott Barthelmy.

For AAVSO members, the Friday morning session was a highlight of the workshop. Dr. Fishman introduced a panel of speakers who talked about plans to alert amateur astronomers about GRBs through AAVSO's GRB Network. Observations by Network participants will allow professional astronomers to construct the first optical light curves for GRBS. Dr. Fishman called the opportunity for amateurs historic: "This has never happened before in astronomy, where response is required in minutes or hours."

Panel speakers included Dr. Barthelmy, who operates the GRB Global Coordinates Network from NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Network alerts professional astronomers within minutes when an orbiting observatory detects a GRB.

Because only about twenty professional telescopes conduct follow-up observations, Dr.Barthelmy noted that AAVSO GRB Network participants will more than quadruple the number of telescopes devoted to this important research. Aaron Price, who designed and operates AAVSO's website, explained how Network participants will receive GRB alerts from Dr. Barthelmy's Global Coordinates Network. Dr. Arne A. Henden then explained how amateur astronomers should equip their telescopes and time their observations to maximize the usefulness of their data. Mario Matto urged AAVSO members to sign up for the GRB Network and to use Johnson R and V filters to standardize observations. Dr. Matto noted that the Network particularly needs more participants from the southern hemisphere. Finally, amateur astronomers Warren Offutt and Bill Aquino described their recent GRB observations. Dr. Offutt observed the optical component of GRB 990123 at magnitude 21.5 in January 1999. Bill Aquino and other members of the Buffalo Astronomical Association observed GRB 000-'IO IC at magnitude 20.6 on March 4, 2000.

After lunch, Dr. Jean Swank began the workshop's final session by describing work with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. Dr. Mark Christl followed with an interesting talk about cosmic ray bursts. Dr. Steve Howell spoke about extreme-ultraviolet astronomy, including research on polars, another area in which amateurs can contribute to professional work. Finally, Dr. Mattei closed the workshop by describing the impressive contributions amateur astronomers have made to research by sixteen high-energy satellite observatories starting with Apollo-Soyuz in 1975.

HEA Workshop attendees tour the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center

On Friday afternoon, workshop participants enjoyed a tour of the facilities at NASA- MSFC. Attendees saw a Compton Gamma Ray Observatory data control room, a solar observatory, a mock-up of the International Space Station, and an enormous tunnel facility used to calibrate telescopes. Later that evening everyone gathered for a barbecue dirmer at the Huntsville Marriott.

On Saturday, April 15, AAVSO members convened for the 89th Spring Meeting. Dr. Mattei opened with her report, which appears elsewhere in this newsletter. President Lee Anne Willson then moderated an aggressive schedule of interesting paper presentations. In the morning, Kevin Marvel told members how they can lobby Congress to increase funding for astronomical research. Roger Pickard spoke about the Variable Star Section of the British Astronomical Association. Guy M. Hurst gave a history of the first twenty-five years of the United Kingdom Nova/Supemova Patrol. Alexander Murphy finished the morning with a report on supemovae alerts by neutrino and gravitational wave detectors.

From L-R: Chuck Pullen, Brian Rogan, Janet Mattei, Ray Berg, and Alease Sims at the Hands-On Astrophysics teachers workshop for Huntsville area teachers, organized by Alease Sims, one day before the HEA Workshop.

The paper session continued in the afternoon after a coffee break. AAVSO President Lee Anne Willson gave an interesting talk linking Mira variable research with the ultimate fate of Earth. Kevin Marvel took the podium again to talk about water maser proper motions near evolved stars. Hideo Sato described his studies of polarimetric photometry data for three RV Tau stars and the way light variation relates to pulsation period. Dr. Mattei presented a paper for herself and George Hawkins about the unusual long-term light curve of the Mira variable R Centauri. Eric Broens presented an observational history of Chi Cygni. Richard W. Schmude Jr. and Benjamin Jiminez talked about their photoelectric magnitude measurements of RX Cephei. Raymond R. Thompson spoke about interesting sine wave curves that he found in photoelectric photometry of RS Cancri. Finally, Casper Hossfield closed the session with an interesting presentation on a very low frequency gravitational wave antenna that he has constructed.

On Saturday evening, AAVSO members gathered one last time for a banquet, awards presentation, and lecture. The featured speaker was Dr. John Grunsfeld, an astronaut who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope's December- 1999 servicing mission aboard the Space Shuttle. Dr. Grunsfeld's slide show gave AAVSO members an inspirational glimpse into the heart of one of astronomy's most popular telescopes.

At the end of the weekend, attendees had high praise for the HEA Workshop. David Hurdis was "all fired up," while Neyle Sollee said, "I haven't been this excited by anything in years." Most everyone agreed that the workshop was an invaluable opportunity for amateur astronomers to interact with professionals while leamina about high-energy astrophysics. Adolf Schaller called it a "veritable treasure chest of topics, all fascinating." According to Schaller, "It's clear that this meeting will be viewed as a landmark in the continued collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers".

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