I am pleased to announce that AAVSO Bulletin 76 - predicted dates of maxima and minima of long period variables for 2013 - has been published and is available via the AAVSO Bulletin page.
On the Bulletin 76 page you will find a letter from me, an Introduction to the Bulletin, instructions on how to use the Bulletin, and various forms of the Bulletin itself (.pdf, .csv for spreadheets), including a generator you can use to create your own customized version! There is also a file containing the Bulletin stars in order of increasing need (that is, from those receiving the fewest observations last year to the most).
Please note that for the three double-maxima stars (V Boo, R Cen, R Nor), their predicted dates are not the in main Bulletin file or generator-created file but are in a separate file on the page.
THANK YOU to those observers whose contributions made the Bulletin possible, and THANK YOU to those of you who will contribute this year. You and your valuable observations make research on these important stars possible now and into the future!
Good observing - Elizabeth Waagen, AAVSO HQ
Awesome! Thanks for all your hard work. Now can you do something about the clouds :-(
Michael
I am still waiting for the info related to the variables that appeared in the bulletins before 2011 change. Before 2011 the number of variables attained the figure of 562 (for instance in the 2007 bulletin). I keep observing those forgotten variables, specially when I observe with large aperture and under dark skies).
Are you going to increase someday the list included in the bulletins since 2011 ? Since then the number remains stable and attains 381 variables, nearly 200 less than in previous bulletins.
Two years after the severe modification of the annual bulletins I wonder whether we should finally forget those less observed variables and try to concentrate in the 381 listed in the bulletins available now.
Clear skies.
PUJ
Hi Paco,
As Arne said, we focused on the Bulletin stars with mean curves because their max/min determination could be done most accurately. For those stars without mean curves, some of them actually have had good coverage over the decades, and we plan to generate mean curves for those among them that we can. We simply have not had time to work on this project, but we will as soon as we can devote the time to it. As Arne says, please concentrate on the Bulletin stars but feel free to continue to follow the former Bulletin stars (particularly those with good coverage so that mean curve determination will be as accurate as possible) as your schedule and observing program allow.
Many thanks and good observing! Elizabeth Waagen
Hi Francisco,
Bulletin 73 in 2010 had 562 stars; bulletin 74 in 2011 reduced this to 381 stars. The remaining stars did not have an AAVSO mean curve, so the min/max analysis was not of high quality, and they were not observed often enough and over a long enough time span to be scientifically useful. We suggest that you concentrate on the current set of 381 stars, and be sure to include the LPV legacy stars as your first priority so that those light curves continue to get dense coverage. You can always observe some of the "lost" 181 stars on your own after doing the high-priority targets. Thanks!
Arne