American Association of Variable Star Observers
Encyclopedia
Since its founding in 1911, the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) has coordinated, collected, evaluated, analyzed, published, and archived variable star
observations made largely by amateur astronomers
and makes the records available to professional astronomers, researchers, and educators. These records establish light curves depicting the variation in brightness of a star
over time.
Since professional astronomers do not have the time or the resources to monitor every variable star
, astronomy
is one of the few sciences where amateurs can make genuine contributions to scientific research. The AAVSO International Database currently has over 20 million variable star estimates dating back over 100 years. The 20-millionth observation was received into the database on February 19, 2011, during the AAVSO's 100th year of existence. It receives nearly 1,000,000 observations annually from around 2,000 professional and amateur observers and is quoted regularly in scientific journals.
The AAVSO is also very active in education and public outreach. They routinely hold training workshops for citizen science and publish papers with amateurs as coauthors. In the 1990s, the AAVSO developed the Hands-On Astrophysics curriculum, now known as Variable Star Astronomy (with support from the National Science Foundation
(NSF)). In 2009, the AAVSO was awarded a three-year $800,000 grant from the NSF to run Citizen Sky, a pro-am collaboration project based around the 2009-2011 eclipse of the star epsilon Aurigae
.
The current director of the AAVSO is Arne Henden
. The previous director of the AAVSO for many decades was Janet Mattei, who died in March 2004 of leukemia
.
The AAVSO was originally located at the Harvard College Observatory
from 1911–1956, then moved around Cambridge
before purchasing their first building in 1985 - The Clinton B. Ford
Astronomical Data and Research Center. In 2007, the AAVSO purchased and moved into the recently vacated premises of Sky & Telescope magazine.
Asteroid 8900 AAVSO
is named for the organization.
Variable star
A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth...
observations made largely by amateur astronomers
Amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
and makes the records available to professional astronomers, researchers, and educators. These records establish light curves depicting the variation in brightness of a star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
over time.
Since professional astronomers do not have the time or the resources to monitor every variable star
Variable star
A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
is one of the few sciences where amateurs can make genuine contributions to scientific research. The AAVSO International Database currently has over 20 million variable star estimates dating back over 100 years. The 20-millionth observation was received into the database on February 19, 2011, during the AAVSO's 100th year of existence. It receives nearly 1,000,000 observations annually from around 2,000 professional and amateur observers and is quoted regularly in scientific journals.
The AAVSO is also very active in education and public outreach. They routinely hold training workshops for citizen science and publish papers with amateurs as coauthors. In the 1990s, the AAVSO developed the Hands-On Astrophysics curriculum, now known as Variable Star Astronomy (with support from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF)). In 2009, the AAVSO was awarded a three-year $800,000 grant from the NSF to run Citizen Sky, a pro-am collaboration project based around the 2009-2011 eclipse of the star epsilon Aurigae
Epsilon Aurigae
Epsilon Aurigae is a star in the constellation Auriga. It is traditionally known as Almaaz, Haldus, or Al Anz. Epsilon Aurigae is an unusual eclipsing binary system comprising an F0 supergiant and a companion which is generally accepted to be a huge dark disk orbiting an unknown object, possibly a...
.
The current director of the AAVSO is Arne Henden
Arne Henden
Arne Henden is an American observational astronomer and instrument/software specialist. He currently serves as Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.-Birth and family:...
. The previous director of the AAVSO for many decades was Janet Mattei, who died in March 2004 of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.
The AAVSO was originally located at the Harvard College Observatory
Harvard College Observatory
The Harvard College Observatory is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and was founded in 1839...
from 1911–1956, then moved around Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
before purchasing their first building in 1985 - The Clinton B. Ford
Clinton B. Ford
Clinton B. Ford , aged 79, was an American investor, musician and amateur astronomer specializing in the observation of variable stars.- Birth and Family :...
Astronomical Data and Research Center. In 2007, the AAVSO purchased and moved into the recently vacated premises of Sky & Telescope magazine.
Asteroid 8900 AAVSO
8900 AAVSO
8900 AAVSO is a main belt asteroid discovered on October 24, 1995 by D. di Cicco at Sudbury, Massachusetts....
is named for the organization.
Current and former members
The AAVSO currently has over 2,000 members and observers, with approximately half of them from outside the United States. This list only consists of those with Wikipedia pages.- Leah B. AllenLeah AllenLeah Brown Allen was an American astronomer and Professor of Astronomy at Hood College.She joined Lick Observatory as Carnegie Assistant in 1908. Professor Allen began teaching astronomy at Hood in 1928.-Education:* Hope Street School, 1902...
Charter Member - Joseph AshbrookJoseph AshbrookJoseph Ashbrook was an American astronomer.-Life:Ashbrook was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1947 and taught at Yale University from 1946 to 1950, and at Harvard from 1950 to 1953...
- Leon CampbellLeon CampbellLeon Campbell was an American astronomer.He is noted for his observations of variable stars at the Harvard College Observatory. He served as Recorder of Observations for the AAVSO from its earliest days in 1915, and continued until his retirement in the 1940s...
(AAVSO Director 1915-1949) - Radha Gobinda Chandra
- Robert EvansRobert Evans (astronomer)Robert Owen Evans is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia and an amateur astronomer who holds the all-time record for visual discoveries of supernovae ....
(AAVSO Supernova Search Committee Chairperson 1985-2005) - Clinton B. FordClinton B. FordClinton B. Ford , aged 79, was an American investor, musician and amateur astronomer specializing in the observation of variable stars.- Birth and Family :...
- Russell Merle GenetRussell Merle GenetRussell Merle Genet is an American research scholar and astronomer, who specializes in photometric observations and analysis of very short-period eclipsing binary stars....
- Pamela L. GayPamela L. GayDr. Pamela L. Gay is an American astronomer, educator, podcaster, and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting. She was one of the cofounders of Slacker Astronomy, and was an "on air" personality for the show from February 2005 until the end of its first iteration in September...
- Edward A. HalbachEdward A. HalbachEdward A. Halbach is an American amateur astronomer and prolific variable star observer.He developed his interest in astronomy in 1933. One year later he became a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers . He was also one of the first members of the Milwaukee Astronomical...
- Arne HendenArne HendenArne Henden is an American observational astronomer and instrument/software specialist. He currently serves as Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.-Birth and family:...
(AAVSO Director 2004- ) - Richard HuziakRichard HuziakRichard Huziak is a Canadian amateur astronomer for whom the International Astronomical Union named main-belt asteroid 4143 Huziak...
- Albert F. A. L. JonesAlbert F. A. L. JonesAlbert F. A. L. Jones is a New Zealand amateur astronomer, and a prolific variable star and comet observer, a member of the Variable Star Section and the Comet Section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand.-Life:...
- Michael KoppelmanMichael KoppelmanMichael Koppelman is an American record producer and recording engineer. He worked with the artist Prince from 1989 to 1992 on his albums Graffiti Bridge, Diamonds and Pearls and Love Symbol....
- Giovanni B. LacchiniGiovanni Battista LacchiniGiovanni Battista Lacchini was an Italian astronomer.He is primarily noted for his work in the study of variable stars...
- Helen LinesHelen LinesHelen Calvert Lines was an American amateur astronomer. In her beginnings she was a deep-sky observer and astrophotographer. She was one of early members of the Phoenix Astronomical Society and a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. She and her husband Richard D. Lines...
- Richard D. LinesRichard D. LinesRichard D. Lines was an American amateur astronomer. He started as a deep-sky observer and photographer, but later specialized in photometry of variable stars. He was a member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers and International Amateur-Professional Photoelectric Photometry...
- Janet A. MatteiJanet Akyüz MatteiJanet Akyüz Mattei was a Turkish American astronomer, educated in both Turkey and the United States and with a U.S. career, who was the director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers from 1973 to 2004....
(AAVSO Director 1973-2004) - Margaret MayallMargaret MayallMargaret Mayall was an American astronomer. She was the director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers from 1949 to 1973. In 1958 she won the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy. Her husband was Newton Mayall.-External links:...
(AAVSO Director 1949-1973) - Ben MayerBen MayerBen Mayer was an amateur astronomer perhaps best known for the invention of the Projection Blink Comparator . This low-cost version of a tool used by professional astronomers allowed amateurs to contribute to some phases of serious research.Mayer was the first ever to photograph a nova in its...
- Arto OksanenArto OksanenArto Oksanen is a Finnish amateur astronomer. He has been actively working in the fields of variable stars, asteroid search programs, gamma ray bursts, CCD photometry and building state-of-the-art amateur observatories in Finland...
- William T. OlcottWilliam Tyler OlcottWilliam Tyler Olcott was an American lawyer and amateur astronomer.In 1909, after attending a lecture by Edward Charles Pickering, he developed an interest in observing variable stars. In 1911, he and professor Pickering...
- M. Daniel OverbeekMichiel Daniel OverbeekMichiel Daniel Overbeek , also known as Danie Overbeek, was a South African amateur astronomer and one of the most prolific variable star observers.-Life:...
- Leslie PeltierLeslie PeltierLeslie Copus Peltier was an American astronomer.He was born in Delphos, Ohio. An amateur astronomer, he was a prolific discoverer of comets and also a persistent observer of variable stars and member of the AAVSO...
- Edward C. PickeringEdward Charles PickeringEdward Charles Pickering was an American astronomer and physicist, brother of William Henry Pickering.Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectroscopic binary stars. He wrote Elements of Physical Manipulations .Pickering attended Boston Latin School, and received his B.S. from...
- Peter Francis WilliamsPeter Francis WilliamsPeter Francis Williams is an amateur astronomer from New South Wales, Australia. He specializes in early detection of declines in R Coronae Borealis-type stars and the long-term monitoring of several southern Mira variables and eclipsing binary stars. He was the first person who detected the...
Publications
- AAVSO Alert Notice.
- Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (JAAVSO).
External links
- AAVSO website
- History of the AAVSO
- Amateur Astronomy Reaches New Heights Space.com, June 28, 2000
- A New Foundation for the AAVSO article in January, 2007 issue of Sky & TelescopeSky & TelescopeSky & Telescope is a monthly American magazine covering all aspects of amateur astronomy, including the following:*current events in astronomy and space exploration;*events in the amateur astronomy community;...
magazine - Red Hot News… Possible Nova in Sagittarius! Universe TodayUniverse TodayUniverse Today is a non-commercial space and astronomy news site, founded in 1999 by Fraser Cain and edited by Nancy Atkinson. The news can then be discussed on the forums. The forum began on 24 July 2003, and was mainly used to discuss the Universe Today news as well as ask space-related...
, August 9, 2009. - 100 Years of Citizen Science (1 December 2010)