What to Expect from Year 3

The third (and final?) year of Citizen Sky began October 1. The first year of the project was aimed at making observations of epsilon Aurigae. So it was focused on training and building the data pipeline and communication infrastructure to support it. The second year was focused on analysis, while continuing support of the observations. So we focused on writing analysis tutorials, making videos, publishing software (such as VStar and our interactive modeler) and organizing projects for the teams to work on.

This final year will be focused on the last stage of the scientific method - publication. That's the stage that turns information into knowledge. If you don't share it with the world, then it isn't science. It's the sharing that allows it to be independently verified by others. We have issued a formal Call for Papers for a special edition of the Journal of AAVSO dedicated to Citizen Sky and epsilon Aurigae related papers with a nominal deadline of March 1. We have reports of about a dozen papers currently in various stages of development (three have already been submitted). CS staff will be focused on helping authors of these papers prepare them for publication and also helping the editorial staff with processing them. (There is still time for new submissions, click here for more information and resources for new authors.)

While the focus will be on getting the journal prepared, activity on the web site will not be neglected. The public forums may not be as active as before as people move from questions about observing to working within their private team forums. But we will try to keep up some discussion. Also, we'll be adding blog posts every 2-3 weeks to keep you updated on the latest in epsilon Aurigae research. Now that the eclipse is formally over, many researchers are rushing to analyze data and submit their own publications. So we expect them to be showing up in the journals and various pre-print servers quickly. As they appear, we'll describe them to you here.

Brian is currently planning to defend his dissertation in May. We'll attempt to have full coverage, and maybe even some video of the event, when the time comes. I am working with Ryan to update the planetarium show with the latest epsilon Aurigae models and to make it "evergreen" (not focused on a specific time or event). Rebecca is going to be heavily focused on Citizen Sky for next 11 months and we will continue to host online chats with special guests and topics.

Please don't stop observing! The out-of-eclipse variation never stops and we need more data to characterize it so it can be studied separately from the eclipse. Brian and Dr. Bob both have plans for much more observing at professional observatories in the next year.

Your data has been in great demand. Within the last year, the AAVSO has received requests for copies of all epsilon Aurigae data by 11 self identified professional astronomers. They have received 63 requests for data from all types of researchers (including students, amateurs, etc.). And the light curve for epsilon Aurigae has been downloaded 8,429 times in the last year. Remember, submitting your data to Citizen Sky/AAVSO is the only place where your data is made available to the entire public with absolutely no conditions on its use. And your data will stay that way for the indefinite future, protected by an organization over 100 years old. This insures your data will be of use to researchers of the 2038, 2065 and 2092 eclipses!

So what comes next? The journal will be published late next summer. We are also attempting to organize something special for early next summer. We can't announce anything yet because funding is not secured. But the odds look decent so far. And the AAVSO is making plans for a post-epsilon Aurigae Citizen Sky. Those plans will likely be announced in the March-May time frame. (I was going to say "spring", but then remembered we do have a few southern hemisphere participants. :) ).

So stay tuned to the web site. We'll keep you informed on the progress of epsilon Aurigae, other interesting citizen astronomy events, progress on the journal and possibly other surprise announcements. As always, feel free to contact us or comment with any suggestions or questions.