AAVSO 113th Annual Meeting | November 8-10, 2024

Center: Between sessions, attendees may browse sponsor tables to learn about the latest in astronomical products and services. Right: A Saturn V rocket will provide an imposing backdrop for this year's opening reception. Courtesy Tim Lyster (center), and Brian Kloppenborg (right).

We are delighted to host this year’s AAVSO Annual Meeting at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama. Home to Space Camp, Aviation Challenge Camp, Space Camp Robotics, and the U.S. Cyber Camp the USSRC is the most comprehensive U.S. manned spaceflight hardware museum in the world. From a model of America’s first satellite, Explorer I, to next generation space vehicles like Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser, the museum showcases the past, present and future of human spaceflight. USSRC serves as the official NASA Visitor Center for Marshall Space Flight Center and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

Membership Meeting Registration

A recording of the Membership Meeting is available on YouTube.

Schedule

Click on a presentation to jump to its abstract. Schedule subject to change. Presentations on the 9th and 10th will be broadcast via Zoom to remote attendees.

Important: All times are given in Central Standard Time (CST), the local time zone in Huntsville during the meeting.

Keynote Speakers

Arlo Landolt Lecturer: Dr. Bradley E. Schaefer

Dr. Brad Schaefer has been a passionate amateur astronomer since 1969, and has since witnessed seven total solar eclipses, managed—in his own words—a gazillion public skywatching nights and star parties, captured eleven Astronomical League Observing Awards, and authored 29 Sky & Telescope articles. He maintains substantial databases of naked-eye observations for historical applications. In 1973, he submitted his first AAVSO observation, and attended his first AAVSO annual meeting in Concord in 1975.

He earned MIT degrees in 1978 and 1983, worked at NASA Goddard for a wonderful decade, then moved to professorships at Yale and Louisiana State University (where he served as the ‘replacement’ for Professor Landolt on his official retirement).

Schaefer’s scientific highlights include his work in the Supernova Cosmology Program, and as one of the discoverers of Dark Energy, which earned him a share of the 2007 Gruber Prize in Cosmology and the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. For his entire career, he has focused mainly on exploding stars—recurrent novae, novae, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts—making very heavy use of AAVSO data and tools. | Talk Abstract
 

 Dr. John Blevins

Dr. John Blevins is the Chief Engineer for NASA’s Space Launch System Program, managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He helps direct the SLS Engineering efforts and oversees the SLS Chief Engineers Office.

Prior to this assignment, Dr. Blevins served as the SLS Deputy Chief Engineer. He previously served as Technical Assistant in the Structural Design and Analysis Division in the Spacecraft & Vehicle Systems Department, where he was the Aerodynamics sub-discipline lead for SLS, the lead for the SLS Buffet and Vibroacoustics Resolution Task Teams, and the SLS Alternate Discipline Lead Engineer for Structures and Environments.

His other work since coming to Marshall in 1999 include propulsion researcher and principal investigator as well as a combustion devices engineer before becoming a team lead in Aerodynamics. On a detail assignment, he served as Aerosciences Branch Chief in 2016.

Before his work at NASA, Dr. Blevins gained industry experience at Honda of America Manufacturing, and Sverdrup Technology Group (now Jacobs Engineering). He is both an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a licensed Professional Engineer. He is also an experienced pilot with airline transport pilot and flight instructor ratings. Dr. Blevins earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University, and attained both a Master of Science and a Doctorate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. | Talk Abstract

Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti

Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti is the Pei-Ling Chan Endowed Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She has worked broadly across many areas of astronomy, and recently has led the development of techniques and observing campaigns to directly measure the small accelerations of stars that live within the gravitational potential of the Milky Way, which provide the most direct probe of the mass distribution in the Galaxy. These recent measurements now enable the new, highly interdisciplinary field of “real-time” Galactic dynamics that brings together the exoplanet community, researchers in compact objects and eclipsing binaries, and in traditional Galactic dynamics. Our team now has the first direct measurements of Galactic accelerations and dark matter constraints in the Milky Way, and they give us a very different picture of our Galaxy than prior work. | Talk Abstract

2024 Venue Information for Attendees

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is set on a large campus in Huntsville, AL. AAVSO meetings and receptions will be held in a variety of buildings on campus throughout the weekend, so some walking is involved. The campus is handicap accessible. There are several visitor parking lots around the campus for those who prefer to drive. Click on the map above for a larger version.

The Huntsville International Airport is located 8 miles from USSRC.

Charging your electronics

Please note that in this setting there are no plugs for electronic devices at your seats and no desk surfaces as in prior years’ meeting venues. Be sure to bring portable charging devices for laptops, IPADS and phones and remember to charge your devices each night at the hotel. Bring along a notebook with a hard cover if you like to record notes by hand on speaker presentations.

Name Tag Pick Up

Name tags are required throughout the Annual Meeting. They will be available at 6:30pm Friday at the Reception in Saturn V Hall and Saturday at 8:00am in Seminar Room A next to the Auditorium where the main meeting will take place.

Meals & Snacks

Breakfast items will not be served before the Meeting, just coffee, so please eat before you come to the Meeting. The late morning coffee break will have a variety of snack items and lunch will be a full buffet. These are all included in your registration fee.

Group Rate Hotel: Huntsville Marriott at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center

The hotel is located on the campus of USSRC. The group rate is $189/night. Use the link below to reserve a room today. Rooms are limited so please book now. Your credit card will not be charged until you check into the hotel. This hotel is next door to the building where the AAVSO meeting will take place.

Book Your Hotel Room Now! GROUP RATE ENDS 10/17/24!

We are excited to provide a link to the  special group room rate at the the Huntsville Marriott at the Space & Rocket Center for $189 per night. The Marriott is conveniently located on the campus of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Rooms are limited, so plan to book early using the link above. Note, you will not be charged until you check into the hotel. You may cancel your reservation up to 72 hours before your arrival. After that time there is a one night charge at the Group rate.

**** If you cannot book with the link please call them directly at: Marriott Huntsville Reservation line 24/7Phone Number: 1-800-228-9290
Group Code: AAV

Considering a longer stay? Click the button below for things to do in Huntsville.

Testimonials from the 2023 AAVSO Annual Meeting

“I thoroughly enjoyed the annual meeting, finding the presentations both fascinating and exciting. I look forward to the next one!”

“It was a great meeting, with all the right elements!”

“I was excited by the enthusiasm everyone showed towards my work and all of the other presentations.”

Main Meetings page.