Director’s Report for 2024-Q2

Dear AAVSO Members, Observers, and Supporters,

I hope you've had a fantastic spring (or fall). In this quarter’s Director’s Report, I’m excited to share some key updates with you: new team members, highlights from recent solar events, our annual meeting, and conference takeaways. I’ll also provide an update on the progress we’ve made toward our 2024 strategic goals and offer insights into the Board’s ongoing strategic planning and program evaluation. I hope you find this report informative and look forward to any questions or feedback you may have.

Staffing Updates

We’re excited to announce that we’ve hired a Development Director who will be joining our staff in late July. This new role will focus on identifying fundraising and grant opportunities to help grow AAVSO’s programs and services. We’ll make additional announcements regarding this position in July or August.

Solar Observations and Events

The much-anticipated April 8, 2024 eclipse and subsequent solar storm on May 10 excited the astronomical community. Since then, my Facebook feed and astronomy club has been flooded with wonderful pictures of the Sun, clouds, the corona, clouds, solar prominences, clouds, and aurorae (which have a cloud-like appearance if sufficiently diffuse). Regrettably, the increased enthusiasm across the United States did not result in an appreciable increase in participation in our Solar Section.

If you know anyone who became really interested in the Sun as a result of these events, please encourage them to begin counting sunspots and groups using the information contained in the AAVSO Solar Observing Guide. According to my colleagues who run the LASP Interactive Solar Radiance Database, AAVSO’s solar data are used by 1,400 researchers annually.

AAVSO’s 113th Annual Meeting

Registration for the AAVSO’s 113th meeting is now open. It will be held in the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Our opening reception and banquet will be held in their Saturn V hall which, as the name suggests, has a full scale Saturn V rocket in it! We look forward to seeing many of you there!

"A full-scale Saturn V rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center."

Conferences

To raise awareness of AAVSO’s activities, the Board and I attended three conferences this quarter:

The NorthEast Astronomy Forum & Space Expo (NEAF) and NorthEast Astro-Imaging Conference (NEAIC) is held annually in April. This year, AAVSO Board Member Dennis Conti presented a talk at NEAIC entitled "From Astro-Imaging to Exoplanet Science: Same Gear, New Excitement" and hosted three pro-am sessions on similar topics at NEAF.
I was invited to be a panelist at this year’s AstroED UNC conference which explored the future of astronomy education. The main focus of this event was to explore the methods which are used to teach astronomy. A series of “dangerous questions” posed by the organizers encouraged us to consider how robotic telescopes, sky surveys, and similar things should be incorporated into current teaching practices.
Lastly, John Hoot and I presented a half-way workshop on tri-color photometry at the Society for Astronomical Sciences (SAS) meeting. While there, Bob Buccheim, Russ Genet, Rachel Freed, Arne Henden, and I also hosted an evening session on the role of small telescopes in astronomical research.

As always, I’d be happy to hear from you regarding any of these items. Please feel free to send an email to either me or the Board using the information on the contact us page.

Progress towards our strategic goals

I’m pleased to report that we are continuing to make steady progress towards achieving our goals as outlined in our 2024 Strategic Plan.

Goal 1: Establish our Place in Modern Astronomy

We are working to position AAVSO as a critical resource in modern astronomical research. This quarter we:

Participated in the Society for Astronomical Sciences (SAS) conference, leading a panel discussion on the role of smart telescopes in astronomical research.
Created a list of capabilities of current and upcoming survey telescopes. We will use this information to establish guidelines for you to know how to best collaborate with each of the surveys by producing complementary data products.
Met with the leaders of the ARGUS array to explore collaboration opportunities for when the array becomes operational in the coming years. With over 900 co-mounted 8” telescopes, this single facility will be similar in scale to the entirety of AAVSO. Nevertheless, there appear to be ample opportunities for us to collaborate and use their data to produce new scientific discoveries.
Attended discussions focused on the Habitable World Observatory’s targets for 2040 and beyond, to ensure that AAVSO’s long-term priorities are aligned with the broader astronomical community.

Goal 2: Infrastructure Improvements

We aim to enhance our technological infrastructure to better serve you and the broader astronomical community. The vast majority of our work occurred quietly behind the scenes; however, when we broke something, it often bubbled to the surface quite quickly. Fortunately, we often resolved these issues within a few hours. This quarter we:

Containerized several of our applications and deployed them within a scalable computing environment. In doing so, we’ve made it substantially easier for us to develop and test applications prior to deployment. Once deployed, they scale with changes in demand.
Introduced a new navigation menu for our applications, designed to make our applications more accessible and user-friendly.
Applied a variety of minor changes to the appearance and layout of our website and applications to improve their usability for those with visual impairments.
Launched a new observing campaign application which simplifies the submission process that professional researchers use to create and manage campaigns. For further details, see Aru’s blog post here.

Goal 3: Implement the DQTF Recommendations

As you may recall from last year’s Annual Meeting, the Data Quality Task Force (DQTF) produced a series of 25 separate recommendations for how we can improve the quality of our data. This quarter we:

Secured Arne Henden’s commitment to present a class on observational best practices which started on June 24.
I presented a webinar on filters and photometric transformations which explored the underlying physics that make each observer’s observations unique. This talk also emphasized why every observer should be transforming their data. You can find a recording of this webinar on our YouTube channel.

Goal 4: Reduce the barrier to variable star astronomy

In addition to our three primary goals, the AAVSO also established two stretch goals. Goal 4 is the first of these. This quarter we:

Held our annual Section Spotlight webinar series. This is an opportunity for you to learn about our Special Interest Groups, called Sections, and determine if it is something you’d like to get involved with. You can watch the recordings of all three Section Spotlights on AAVSO’s YouTube Channel.
Arranged for most of our Sections to hold a quarterly meeting on Zoom. If you want to see when your favorite Section is hosting its next meeting, please see our calendar of events.

Our Spectroscopy Section Leader, Scott Donnell, has started developing new educational and training materials focused on spectroscopy. These are being posted to the Spectroscopy Section’s Education and Training Page as they become complete.

Goal 5: Build stronger ties with the research community

Our second stretch goal for 2024 focuses on fostering collaboration and strengthening relationships with the research community. This quarter we:

Received an update from Dr. Bert Pablo on the Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS) campaign and invited Dr. Alec Habig to present a talk on SNEWS at our July 13 webinar.

From the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors has been exceptionally active and engaged this quarter, dedicating significant time and energy to strategic planning and program evaluation activities. While these processes can be detailed and require careful consideration, they are also incredibly rewarding.

Strategic planning is crucial for our organization's future. This quarter the Strategic Planning Committee met every week. We completed stakeholder analysis; started work on our mission and vision; and began reviewing our strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats/challenges (SWOT/C). These documents are already shaping our marketing strategy and guiding content development for the AAVSO’s new website.

Like strategic planning, program evaluation is essential to ensure the effectiveness and impact of AAVSO’s programs and services. This quarter, the Program Evaluation Working Group met weekly to access our current programs and identify areas for improvement. We conducted thorough evaluations of our existing offerings. In doing so, we identified that AAVSO does not have key performance indicators for many of its offerings. This issue has been handed over to the strategic planning committee for integration into our future efforts.

The Board also formed a Nominating Committee to identify candidates for our 2024 election. We would like to extend our thanks to Clay Sherrod, Teja Begari, and Heinz-Bern Eggenstein for their important service.

Looking Ahead

As we move forward, I want to emphasize that the strength of AAVSO lies in the collaboration and communication between all of us—members, observers, volunteers, and staff alike. Your insights, feedback, and active participation are invaluable as we continue to grow and evolve as an organization. Together, we can achieve even greater milestones in our shared passion for astronomy.

Once again, I encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas on any of the topics mentioned in this report. Your voice is important, and I’m eager to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out to me or the Board at any time using the contact information on our website.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to AAVSO.

Clear Skies,
Dr. Brian Kloppenborg
Executive Director, AAVSO

P.S. None of the incredible work of the past quarter would have been possible without the support of our members, observers, and donors. With our work more crucial than ever, your tax deductible donations make a meaningful impact in variable star research. Donate today at https://www.aavso.org/donate-now.