Annual: 31 Sustaining: 3 ======================== Members from US: 24 Members from Abroad: 10 (from 8 countries) ======================== TOTAL New Members:

Annual: 31

Sustaining: 3

========================

Members from US: 24

Members from Abroad: 10

(from 8 countries)

========================

TOTAL New Members: 34

New Member SummaryOctober 1, 2005 – March 31, 2006

902

13777 35 2 8

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Annual SustainingSponsored

Complimentary

HonoraryLifetime

Annual SustainingSponsoredComplimentaryHonoraryLifetime

All Current AAVSO Members by Type

Total Members: 1,161

AAVSO Members by Country

in 44 Countries

1,161 Total

ARGENTINAAUSTRALIAAUSTRIABELGIUMBRAZILBULGARIACANADACAYMAN ISLANDS/BWICHILECHINADENMARKEGYPTENGLANDFINLANDFRANCEGERMANYGREECEHONG KONGHUNGARYINDIAIRELANDISRAELITALYJAPAN

MALTANETHERLANDSNEW ZEALANDNORWAYPOLANDPORTUGALROMANIARUSSIASCOTLANDSOUTH AFRICASOUTH KOREASPAINSRI LANKASWEDENSWITZERLANDTAIWANTURKEYUKRAINEUNITED ARAB EMIRATESUNITED STATES

Membership Status ChangesOctober 1, 2005 – March 31, 2006

Annual to Sustaining: 0

Sustaining to Annual: 8

Resigned from Membership: 12

Deceased Members and Friends

William B. Whiddon - San Pedro, CA Longtime AAVSO Member, founding member of SBAS - The South Bay

Astronomical Society (Redondo Beach, CA). William passed away in October of 2005 due to complications from acute leukemia. He taught astronomy labs at the North Texas observatory before joining TRW (later acquired by Northrop Grumman Space Technology). He earned a graduate certificate in astronautical engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles and for most of his career worked as a systems engineer on satellite programs. At the time of his death he was chief engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope. With his wife, Nina Whiddon, he photographed total solar eclipses throughout the world, including the 2003 eclipse over Antarctica. They returned to Antarctica in 2005 with a meteorite search team and traveled to the South Pole. One of Whiddon’s photographs of Comet Hale-Bopp appears in Robert Burnham’s book Great Comets.

April 08 2005 TSE

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.





April 08 2005 TSE

Fall 2006 Meeting

Place: Newton, MA

Date: October 27-28, 2006

Upcoming Meetings

Spring 2007: Calgary, AB (RASC) Fall 2007: MMOSpring 2008: UK (BAA)Spring 2011: Boston (AAS)

AAVSO Semiannual ReportOctober 2005 - March 2006

Arne Henden

May 6, 2006

Highlights - 1

Addition of Lennard Dahlmark’s 19K observations to the ID

Alpha version of the MySQL relational database version of the ID

Beta version of the ACP Beta version of VSX Beta version of blue & gold

Highlights - 2

Responded to 891 requests for AAVSO data

Processed PEP data and merged portions with ID

Created DVDs of HEA3 Formed the E/PO committee More visual observing manual

translations

Highlights - 3

Initiated many observing campaigns Published 1 issue of the JAAVSO Published newsletters, eyepiece views,

CCD views, alert notices, solar bulletins, etc.

Submitted several papers containing AAVSO data

Visit to BAA/VSS

The most popular day for downloading charts: Saturday

The most popular hour for downloading charts: 12pm EST

About 51,724 Total Charts

The 5 most popular stars (in order):

TU Cas, X And, U Ori, Omi Cet, Delta Cep

Charts DownloadedOctober 1, 2005 – March 31, 2006

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

ChartsDownloaded

Light Curve Generator

RS Oph, SS Cyg, NSV 21, TU Cas, R Leo

Curves plotted from Oct 05 – Mar 06: 77,006 curvesPlots per day: 423

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

Oct Nov Dec Jan,2006

Feb Mar

CurvesPlotted

Website Activity Recorded from 10/2005 to 03/2006

Total Web Pages Downloaded: 1,364,210 Average Pages Downloaded: 7,496 per day or ~1 every 10 sec Average Data Transferred per day: 1 GB

Number of Unique Visitors: 152,579 Average Unique Visitors per day: 838

Most Active Day: Wednesday Most Active Time: 4 pm ESTMost Inactive Day: Saturday Most Inactive Time: 1 am EST

Monthly Download Statistics

0

40,000

80,000

120,000

160,000

200,000

240,000

280,000

Oct Nov Dec Jan,2006

Feb Mar

Pages Downloaded

Top Ten Downloaded Pages(Excluding the Home Page)

VSOTS1%

Variable Stars2%

Types of Variables

2%

Observing1%

WebObs15%

Charts16%

IRC Chat19%

JD Calendar1%

Light Curve Generator

22%Quick Look

21%

Password protected section of website completed

Members have “gold” access to ALL features. Observers have “blue” access to submit observations (only)

WebObsWebObs in first stage of alpha testing

‘Gold’ features coming soon:

-- access to robotic telescope

-- access member info db (opt in)

-- access fast lcg

November 1983 through December 2005

Total Number of Observations26,739

Total Number of Observers 60 Total Number of Stars 72

PEP Data Archives

The Variable Star Index (VSX)

Program by Chris Watson Search for variable stars near given

coordinates (most available catalogs) Modify variable star info (period, type,…) Add new variable stars Links to other sites (images, light curves) Presentation at SAS/2006 Future!

Automated Chart Plotter

Program by Michael Koppleman (Clockwork Active Media Systems)

Beta release - now! Full interactive chart generation,

multiple scales, orientation Easy to add new objects Will replace all of the web charts

Robotic Telescopes

Membership benefit Will be part of upcoming members-only

section of website Observation request form will be

available shortly

Sonoita Ridge Observatory (SRO)

Operated by John Gross; partners Dirk Terrell, Walt Cooney and AAVSO

C14, Paramount, STL-1001E

SRO Results

Campaign on W Vir Calibration of GRB fields Calibration of LPV fields Calibration of novae fields Monitoring for Bill Dillon, Michael

Sallman, Dan Taylor

Elysa Hope (Oregon Episcopal School) - finalist for Intel’s Science Talent Search. Student of Rosa Hemphill, TOPS teacher; Janet suggested sunspot studies.

Science Fair Projects

Wilhelm Richter’s (ASMSA) students Amna Malik - V371 Per, unusual RR Lyr Trey Pettit - TU Cas NFO (24” Cass Silver City NM) http://www.nfo.edu

Other Richter Students

Heejun Woo: The Blazhko Effect of RR Gem (2nd place regional)

Briac Riddle: Refining the Distance and Period of VX Persei (3rd place regional, 1st place junior)

Malik, Petit projects being continued by new students

AAVSO Publications October 2005 – March 2006

Journal of the AAVSO Edited by Charles A. Whitney, with assistance from Elizabeth o.

Waagen, Michael Saladyga, and Matthew Templeton

Vol. 33, No. 2: Preprint nos. 11 - 17 and 24, 28, 30 eJAAVSO: Vol. 34, No. 1: Preprint nos. 18, 23, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35

Vol. 33, No. 2: Preprint nos. 20, 31, 36

AAVSO Bulletin 69: 2006: Predicted Dates of Maxima and Minima of 561 Long Period Variables Prepared by Elizabeth O. Waagen

AAVSO Special Notice, Nos. 1 – 9Prepared by Aaron Price

AAVSO Special MyNewsFlash: EX Hya appears to be in outburstPrepared by Elizabeth Waagen

AAVSO Alert Notice, Nos. 327 – 338

Prepared by Elizabeth Waagen and Aaron Pricce, with assistance by Kerriann Malatesta


AAVSO Eyepiece Views, Nos. 311 – 313Prepared by Gamze Menali with contributions from Aaron Price and Mike Simonsen.

AAVSO Manual for Visual Observing of Variable Stars - French Edition,January 2006Translated by Dominique Naillon, edited by Gamze Menali and Sara J. Beck

AAVSO Variable Star of the Season (AAVSO website)Prepared by Kerriann Malatesta (Winter 2006) and Pamela Gay (Spring 2006)


Observed Minima Timings of Eclipsing Binaries, No. 10

Prepared by Marvin E. Baldwin and Gerry Samolyk

AAVSO 2006 Ephemeris for Eclipsing Binaries

Prepared by Marvin E. Baldwin and Gerry Samolyk

AAVSO 2006 Ephemeris for RR Lyrae Stars Prepared by Marvin E. Baldwin and Gerry Samolyk


AAVSO Solar Bulletin, Vol. 61, Nos. 9 - 12; Vol. 62, Nos. 1 - 3

Prepared by Carl E. Feehrer; SID Reports by Michael Hill

AAVSO Newsletter, No. 32

Edited by Travis Searle


Boyd, D., Oksanen A., and Henden, A., “Measurement of the orbital and superhump periods of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable SDSS J170213.26+322954.1”, J. British Astronomical Association. (accepted).

Green, D. W. E., Waagen, E. O., “V1118 Orionis”, IAU Circular 8626; 2005.

Green, D. W. E., Waagen, E. O., “Nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud”, IAU Circular 8636; 2005.

AAVSO Staff Publications October 2005 – March 2006

Green, D. W. E., Waagen, E. O., “RS Ophiuchi”, IAU Circular 8688; 2006.

Henden, A. A, “Pro-Am Collaboration and the AAVSO, Astrophysics of Variable Stars”, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 999, C. Sterken and C. Aerts; 2006.

Malatesta, K. H., Beck S. J., Menali G., Waagen E.O., “The AAVSO Data Validation Project”, eJAAVSO (accepted for publication, pre-print no.31).


Price. A., et al., “Planetary Transits of the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey Candidate TrES-1b”, JAAVSO, Volume 34; 2005.

Price, A., Allen, S. L., Fhima, A., Garcia, J., Mahabal, A., Seaman, R., Williams, R., “The VOEvent Alert Messaging System”, presented at the 2007th Meeting of the AAS, No. 34.02.

Templeton, M. R. et al., “The Recently Discovered Dwarf Nova System ASASJ002511+1217.2: A New WZ Sagittae Star”, PASP 118, 236.


Templeton, M. R., and Price, A., “Campaign 04: AAVSO Observing Campaigns in 2004”, JAAVSO; 2006 (in press).

Templeton, M. R., et al. “Preliminary Results from the AAVSO Infrared Photometry Group”, presented at the 207th Meeting of the AAS (AAS 207, 122.17); 2006.


Balman, S., Retter, A., and Bos, M., “The Detection of a 3.5-h Period in the Classical Noval Velorum 1999 (V382 Vel) and the Long Term Behavior of the Nova Light Curve”, AJ; 2006. (accepted).

Neustroev V.V., Zharikov S. V., and Michel R., “Simultaneous photometry and echelle-spectroscopy of the dwarf nova BZ Ursae Majoris during the 2005 January outburst”, MNRAS. (accepted for publication).

Publications with AAVSO Assistance October 2005 – March 2006

New AAVSO Brochure

- Sample Page -

Translated by AAVSO member Jaime Garcia

Our Spanish translator, Jaime Garcia!

Manual for Visual Observing of Variable Stars

-Sample Pages -

Translated by AAVSO member Georgios Koronis with assistance by Athanasios Douvris and

Vagelis Tsamis

Georgios is the one with the olive green jacket


-Sample Pages -Translated by AAVSO member Seiji Tsuji

- Asakusa Temple -

Image credit: http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/tokyo_temples.html


Upcoming travel

Next week - Belgium VSS End of May - BAA/VSS June - RASNZ August - Hungarian amateurs (during

IAU)

200,000 visual observations – 1 observer150,000 visual observations – 4 observers100,000 visual observations – 1 observer 50,000 visual observations – 1 observer 25,000 visual observations – 4 observers 10,000 visual observations – 4 observers 50,000 CCD/PEP observations – 4 observers 25,000 CCD/PEP observations – 4 observers 10,000 CCD/PEP observations – 6 observers 2,500 PEP observations – 1 observer

2006 AAVSO Observer Awards


200,000 visual observations

Wayne M. Lowder USA 1949-2005 209,439



Marvin E. Baldwin USA 1961-2004 175,481

John E. Bortle USA 1963-2005 171,352

Edward G. Oravec USA 1943-2003 170,552

Thomas A. Cragg Australia 1945-2005 151,735



Albert F. Jones New Zealand 1960-2005 105,524



Gunther Krisch Germany 1969-2005 52,378



Maciej Reszelski Poland 2000-2005 39,751

William Goff USA 1981-2005 33,028

Laurent Bichon France 1986-2005 27,466

Robert H. Hays, Jr. USA 1977-2005 25,428



Stephen Kerr Australia 2001-2005 17,833

Andrzej Markiewicz Poland 1999-2005 11,737

Hiroshi Matsuyama Japan 1978-2005 11,596

Hartmut Bretschneider

Germany 1993-2005 10,087


50,000 CCD/PEP observations

Robert A. James USA 1953-2005 71,432 CCD

Tonny Vanmunster Belgium 1976-2005 62,317 CCD

Vance Petriew Canada 2001-2005 60,390 CCD

Shawn W. Dvorak USA 1981-2005 50,489 CCD



Neil D. Butterworth Australia 2002-2005 41,358 CCD

Richard J. Huziak Canada 1980-2005 37,162 CCD

Peter Nelson Australia 1990-2005 28,830 CCD

Donn R. Starkey USA 2001-2005 25,833 CCD



Richard Miles England 2004-2005 17,975 CCD

David Boyd England 2003-2005 14,539 CCD

James L. Jones USA 2003-2005 11,651 CCD

Christopher W. Hesseltine USA 1975-2005 11,392 CCD

Timothy Crawford USA 2001-2005 10,892 CCD

Libert A.G. Monard South Africa 1992-2005 10,398 CCD


2,500 PEP observations

Raymond W. Jones South Africa 1989-2005 2,671 PEP

Thank you!

All of our volunteers through the year Staff for just about everything Council for their guidance Observers, without whom our

contribution to the community would be far less

Members, one and all, for your support

Annual: 31 Sustaining: 3 ======================== Members from US: 24 Members from Abroad: 10 (from 8 countries) ======================== TOTAL New Members:

Documents

est slide

baavss slide

tse slide

boston aas slide

delta cep slide

home page slide

access fast lcg slide

total new members