Times-of-Minimum Databases

The AAVSO does not maintain a current database of times of minima, because there are several other groups already doing so.  Here are links to the most extensive of those resources:

  • The Lichtenknecker Database of the German variable star society, the Bundesdeutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Veränderliche Sterne e.V., a.k.a. the LkDB of the BAV.  This interface to O-C diagrams (with access to the underlying ToMs) also lets you add your own data points to the O-C diagram, and re-generate the diagram with a different linear ephemeris.
  • The "O-C Gateway" of the Variable Star and Exoplanet Section of the Czech Astronomical Society.  The same features as the LkDB, but more stars.  It's O-C plots are sized more conveniently that the LkDB's.
  • Bob Nelson's Database of Times of Minima was created by Bob Nelson of Prince George, B.C., who maintains more than 5200 Excel spreadsheets, each one containing times of minima for an individual eclipsing binary star.  This collection is hosted on the AAVSO website.  You can also find it by going to the AAVSO's Observing Sections page, and looking under Tools, Resources and References.  Please direct any questions about the spreadsheets to Bob Nelson.
  • At the same location, you can find text and spreadsheet files listing times of minima previously published in AAVSO "EB Monographs".  The data in those files are generally already in the 3 previously listed data sources.