Sleepless Nights

I was able to attend Grant Foster's excellent Astro April talk about uncertainty in determining minima/maxima. Now I'm keen to implement Lowess fit functionality in VStar.

I had intended to get to the last talk about Zooniverse, but just could not quite get up for a 4:30am start. Grant's talk was at around 1:30am, which was okay, given my usual nocturnal nature, although I was a bit sick around that time so even that was a bit of a push. :)

But, last night I went back and listened to the last talk and Rebecca's award announcements section at the end. I was delighted and amused to hear that I had been awarded a "Sleepless Nights" award! Thanks Rebecca, and I suspect others at AAVSO. :)

Yes, I've lost a lot of sleep since May 2009. But I've gained so much by being part of Citizen Sky, by becoming an AAVSO member, and in particular, by developing VStar.

It's hard to adequately put into words what all this has meant to me. It's been wonderful. And as Rebecca said, it's not over yet. A JAAVSO article is being written and VStar will continue to be developed. Just try and stop me! You'll see new releases appear on the AAVSO web site and ongoing activity on SourceForge.

Sara has been a fantastic mentor, AAVSO liason and deployment manager, and has put up with untold questions and IM chats with me. Rebecca, Aaron thanks for Citizen Sky and all your help. Arne, thanks for getting VStar started, for trusting me, and for the Director's Award in 2011. Thanks to all others at AAVSO: Doc, Elizabeth, Matthew, Mike in particular. I hope our association continues for a long time.

In general, I'd just really like to thank every VStar team member and anyone who has helped, tested, or encouraged. Michael, Adam, Nico, Doug, Brian, Ken, Grant, and all. Thanks! Clear skies and keep on VStar-ing. :)

Best Regards,

David Benn