90th Annual Meeting Report

Fall in New England is always a beautiful time with the leaves showing off their vibrant hues and summer heat giving way to the crisp blue days of autumn. And for probably the only time all year, variable star observers did not mind the bright gibbous moon as they assembled for the 90th Annual Meeting of the AAVSO which was held on November 1–4 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Highlights were; an Open House at theAAVSO Headquarters, a workshop on CCD’s; a guest lecture by noted astrophysicist Dr. Robert Kirshner; the scientific paper sessions; and of course the banquet.

Some early arrivals checked into the Boston/Somerville Holiday Inn on Halloween, Wednesday October 31. One of these was Bruce Sumner who came in from Australia and earned the distinction of living through the longest Halloween on record thanks to the International Date Line. (Of course, if you ask Bruce he may answer “Hallo-what?”) On Thursday Aaron took a few of these early arrivals on a whirlwind walking tour of Boston. Lesson of the Day: the bathroom at Berklee School of Music is the most important stop on any Boston tour. Aaron would like to publicly invite everyone reading this to join him for another tour the day before the 91st Annual Meeting next year. Just bring comfortable walking shoes and realize you will likely be sore the next day!

Lee Anne Willson and Janet Mattei cut the AAVSO 90th Anniversary Cake at the Open House

The next morning council member/professional astronomer/world class photometrist/CCD guru/GRBmentor/sage Arne Henden presenting his Precision CCD Photometry workshop. The workshop focused on many aspects of CCD photometry and included many useful tips on how to improve one’s CCD observing techniques.Henden geared the presentation for the intermediate observer but covered the material in such a way that any novice CCD observer could find it useful. Arne began by explaining the basic breakdown of how a CCD works and the importance of using filters. Following a break for lunch attendees listened as Henden described the tricks of aperture photometry and covered the various concepts of differential photometry.The workshop concluded with an explanation of special techniques for AAVSO program objects such as eclipsing binaries, GRBs, and CVs. On Friday afternoon the first paper session commenced. Meeting regular John Pazmino began the talks with his presentation called “The Other Dark Sky.” Pazmino discussed ongoing efforts to curb light pollution in New York City. He pointed out that while the application of light abatement is often confined by "showcase" or "downtown" projects, many strides are being made to eradicate “illuminous graffiti” in other areas of the city. Pazmino presented several slide photographs highlighting examples of light abatement in working class districts in Brooklyn, one of New York’s outer boroughs.

Fred West, who caused quite a publicity stir with his last paper about extrasolar planetary transits, spoke on the corona of flare star CN Leonis. Barbara Welther closed the paper session with her presentation on the famed astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, an honorary member of the AAVSO, and the research that she undertook while at Harvard College Observatory.Welther showed several photos of Leavitt as well as of other notable women astronomers of her time. Welther also shared with us her research into the history of the Leavitt family.

Just after the paper session, members and other attendees gathered for the third AAVSO “Town Meeting” to discuss several topics of general interest to the membership. First up was a discussion of the revised By-Laws of the Association. President Lee Anne Willson and Director Janet Mattei explained the specific changes to the By-Laws and took questions during the session. There was also discussion about some of the action items taken from the future studies meeting which was held following the most recent springmeeting in Madison, Wisconsin. A key element of the future studies meeting was the desire to train members on how to take advantage of all the free online astronomical databases on the Internet (“data mining”). In addition, Doug West spoke about an infrared (IR) photometer he is designing for a pioneering IR observing program being undertaken by the AAVSO. This quickly became the most popular topic of the question and answer session.

Professor Robert Kirshner discusses the accelerating and expanding universe.

After orchestrating the traditional group photo and enjoying a buffet lunch, council members met for a short meeting to elect the new officers and welcome the newly elected council members. Then the second scientific paper session got underway. Arto Oksanen presented the results of observing five Gamma Ray Bursts in 2000-2001 at Nyrola Observatory in Finland. Oksanen explained that his group was able to detect two cases of optical afterglow measure one with photometric filters that show definite fading. He also shared photographs of the equipment that was used at Nyrola for the observations. He also displayed a poster paper which he took to the Woods Hole Gamma- Ray Burst Conference the very next week. Next, Bob Cohanim, an undergraduate student of Lee Anne Willson’s, spoke about a model that he has constructed to show what happens when a Jovian planet is caught in the wind of a Mira. Cohanim showed the attendees two short animations he had created that demonstrated the theory of the planet’s reaction. Cohanim pointed out some of interesting features the model takes into account such as a wake, an accretion disk, and shocks. Aaron Price also gave a talk on a paper he had written entitled "Strange Mystery: Strange Stars." (From AP: For those who attended: my final score was 18/20.) Price discussed the possibility that there exists a class of star that is entirely made up of “strange quarks,” one which can be studied from Earth. Price explained that these “strange stars” could be the source of major short-term flares, gamma ray bursts, and may be confused with neutron stars and black holes but empirical evidence is hard to come by.

From L-R: Jaime Garcia, Dan Kaiser, Chuck Pullen, and Gary Walker at the AAVSO Open House.

The AAVSO banquet got underway on Saturday evening allowing members, guests, and friends an opportunity to mingle, relax, and enjoy good conversation—another highlight of AAVSO meetings. The food and service received high marks. The sun and moon balloons were fabulous (and quickly disapeared after the banquet!). As the coffee was being poured, outgoing President Lee Anne Willson and Director Janet Mattei began the presentation of awards. Details of these awards are featured elsewhere in this Newsletter.

Janet and Lee Anne with Howard Landis.

Janet then shared with the banquet attendees some photos of the late Danie Overbeek, highlighting his various achievements and contributions to the world of astronomy and the AAVSO. Many of us were left in a state of awe at his accomplishments. Aaron then read samples from a tongue-in-cheek poll taken earlier at the meeting asking observers to predict what the next 10 and 90 years have in store for the AAVSO. It will be interesting to see how these predictions hold up!

The banquet concluded with two special PowerPoint slide show presentations recognizing the achievements of the AAVSO. The first, prepared by AAVSO technical assistant Sara Beck, demonstrated how the combined efforts of AAVSO observers through the years helped to build the light curve for the star WZ Sge, which went into a rare super outburst this past summer. The second presentation, also prepared by Sara, was a much anticipated look at observations made of the well known SS Cygni. A couple of small technical glitches delayed the start (and incited a few anti-Microsoft remarks from the audience). The technical crew from Headquarters made sure everything was plugged in, checked for coffee poured on the keyboard, and blue-screen sacrifices were made to the benevolent God of Technology known as Microsoft. Dorrit Hoffleit and Janet Mattei stepped in to “work the room” sharing an amusing anectdote about a rainy night in Nantucket and Janet’s first experience at an AAVSO meeting. Finally, the God of Technology was appeased and the presentation was ready. Attendees settled-in as some inspirational music from composer John Williams took them on a journey though the history of the popular variable SS Cygni and the AAVSO. The show began by displaying the nearly 100 year light curve of the star using the data from the AAVSO International Database. Many of the banquet attendees present— 41 out of 100 in fact— had observed SS Cygni at some point. The show featured a photo of those observers and highlighted where a representative observation of theirs fit into the overall light curve. This presentation was a huge hit with meeting attendees and it received some rave reviews. It may be viewed on the AAVSO web site.

As the evening wound down, outgoing President Lee Anne Willson passed the gavel to the next president, Dan Kaiser who then adjourned the 90th Annual Meeting. By all accounts the meeting was a great success, a traditional chance for members, observers, and friends to come and share their passion for variable star astronomy. Next stop, Hawaii.

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