Observing
Observing
Team Up with a 17,000mph Observatory
Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) have joined the Citizen Sky project!
Through the northern hemisphere summer of 2010, astronauts on board the ISS will attempt to observe epsilon Aurigae while it is close to the Sun. As many of you know, epsilon Aurigae is currently lost in the glare of the Sun for Earth-bound observers. However, from space they can still see it because the atmosphere is not in the way. Although they have to be careful, the Sun appears much brighter in space also.
This web page will be used too keep track on their progress and show you the data as it comes in.
Updates
DSLR Photometry Tutorial
Photometry by itself answers a single fundamental question: “How bright is it?” and if you do photometry over time you can answer another fundamental question: “How does brightness change with time?” These answers to these simple questions can be obtained from just visual inspection of a light curve, or through more advanced techniques, but the main reason why we do photometry is to gain additional insight to the behavior of various astronomical objects. In this tutorial we focus on stars, but the same approach we discuss here can be applied to planets, asteroids, comets, or even galaxies.
Measuring Statistical Precision of Your Data
Or: How do you know how well you know what you know?
One of the greatest challenges of science is knowing how reliable our discoveries are. Ultimately, we want to say not only what we understand about the universe, but also the certainty or uncertainty of that understanding.
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If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, with how much statistical precision can we conclude that it’s a duck?Read more |
Your Non-Visual Observations at Work
10-Day Light Curve of
300-Day Light Curve of
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Your Observation(s) |  |
V+Visual 10-day average |
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Visual Observation |  |
1-sigma Error Bar |
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V validated |  |
V prevalidated |
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B validated |  |
B prevalidated |
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R validated |  |
R prevalidated |
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J validated |  |
J prevalidated |
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H validated |  |
H prevalidated |
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Your Observation(s) | |
V+Visual 10-day average |
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Visual Observation | |
1-sigma Error Bar |
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V validated | |
V prevalidated |
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B validated | |
B prevalidated |
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R validated | |
R prevalidated |
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J validated | |
J prevalidated |
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H validated | |
H prevalidated |
Your Observations at Work
10-Day Light Curve of
300-Day Light Curve of
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Your Observation(s) | ||
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Visual Observation | ||
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V validated | |
V prevalidated |
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Your Observation(s) | |
V+Visual 10-day average |
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Visual Observation | |
1-sigma Error Bar |
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V validated | |
V prevalidated |
Spectroscopy
While the goal of the AAVSO has been mainly concerned with magnitude determination of stars and star systems, spectroscopy is now on the threshold to add significant value to the AAVSO.
Photometry takes the pulse of a star or star system, where spectroscopy examines its soul.Read more
10-Star Observing Tutorial
Observing a variable star takes practice. We have designed a training program that begins with stars that are easy to find and observe. Slowly the stars become more challenging as you go down the list. By the time you reach Epsilon Aurigae at the bottom of the list, you’ll be an expert variable star observer contributing real data to professional scientists!Read more
Visual Observing
There are three main stages for making an observation of a variable star:
- Finding the star
- Estimating its brightness
- Submitting the estimation to the AAVSO
Finding the Star
It's easy to find one star in the sky - the Sun! The rest of the stars? Not so much. At first finding a variable star can take some time. However, soon it becomes second nature. What may take 45 minutes your first time outside will eventually take just a few seconds.
Again, we recommend newbies start with the 10 Star Tutorial. It spells it out for you pretty easily and includes all the charts you need.Read more
