Southern Gems Light Curves via VStar

Hi allJoan asked whether I could say something about VStar in the context of Southern Gems. I'll start by saying how you can add a new "Star Group" to VStar. When you select "New Star from AAVSO Database" from the File drop-down menu or click the corresponding toolbar icon, the dialog box shows a "Group" menu which defaults to having one entry: Citizen Sky "10 Stars". The "Star" drop-down menu below that allows you to choose from any of the 10 Star Tutorial stars, in order to view data pertaining to that star.The Southern Gems 10 Stars plus one tutorial shows the light curve for alpha Orionis. If you would like to view the light curve of this or any other Southern Gems star, you can just enter one of the star names into the "Other Star" text box in the "New Star from AAVSO Database" dialog box. But, it would be nicer to select a star from a group called "Southern Gems".You can create a new group that will persist across VStar invocations by doing the following:1. Open VStar's Preferences dialog either via the Preferences item in the File menu or via the corresponding toolbar button (purple cogs icon, 2nd from right).2. Select the "Star Groups" tab.3. Click the "Add Group & Stars" button.4. Type a group name, e.g. Southern Gems5. Copy and paste the following line into the Star List text box: X Sgr, W Sgr, eta Aql, kap Pav, zet Phe, bet Dor, V Pup, alf Ori, R Dor, I Car, R Car6. Click the OK button.VStar will go away to the AAVSO VSX database and retrieve information about each star for future use. Once you see the new group appear in the Group drop-down, you can dismiss the Preferences dialog. If there's any problem with the star list you entered, VStar will tell you.The next time you open the "New Star from AAVSO Database" dialog box, you will be able to select a star from the new group. Choose a star and using the default date range, Click the OK button to retrieve the star's observational data, and start exploring.If you want further information, don't hesitate to ask.Note that we are currently planning a new VStar release before the end of the year which will add new useful features for exploring light curves.Regards,David