A little extra education

Here's one for all my fellow rookie visual observers, a little help in finding out more about variable stars. We've observed the stars in the 10 star program and have been helping contribute to science, hooray for us! Now that we've done the 10 stars in the program, where do we go from here? Aside from all the excellent information here and at the AAVSO website, I have a couple of books that I've picked up to help me learn more that I wanted to pass along to my fellow rookie visual observers. 

First on the list is the excellent Manual For Visual Observing of Variable Stars published by the AAVSO. You can download it free from the AAVSO website or get a printed copy when you join, which I highly recommend. Not only do you get a great printed manual that you can read anywhere (I'm a big fan of paper books) but you can support an excellent organization that puts together programs like this one!

Second, Observe and Understand Variable Stars by Roger Kolman. You can pick this up at the Astronomical League bookstore for $18 and it's a handy, easy to understand and read manual for observing variables.

Third, David Levy's Guide to Variable Stars is an excellent primer for the new observer. Although I'm only halfway through, I really am enjoying Levy's writing style and how he breaks down the variable types in his explanations and from his own experiences.

Fourth, Understanding Variable Stars by John Percy. I bought that as an early birthday present for myself this year and from my initial browse through it find it similar in style to Levy's but much deeper. I look forward to reading it.

If you've gained an interest in variable stars, you can't lose by picking up any or all of these books. Don't feel intimidated to pick them up and read them, they're all very accessible to even us new observers. 

Hope that helps!