Friends,
The upcoming AAVSO Annual meeting is in less than 6 weeks, and we are excited to host a panel discussing the role of the AAVSO in the Age of large surveys. Panel members are a very select group of scientists, representing LSST, Kepler/K2, TESS, KELT, J-Plus and Evryscope, and they are looking forward to discussing those projects with our community and the continuing role of AAVSO observers in cutting edge science.
At the same time, this panel discussion should be driven by you. Please participate by sending questions for our panelists at aavso@aavso.org by October 20th. We will start the discussion by answering to questions received in advance of the meeting, and continue by accepting questions from our audience. I hope we will hear from you!
Best wishes – clear skies,
Stella.
I'm curious to know what data products, in what magnitude ranges, will be publicly released from these surveys, and in what time frames.
Many thanks to Stella and everyone who worked so hard to put together such an inspiring program! I look forward to meeting everyone who attends in person in November and welcoming all of the virtual attendees online!
KL
Maybe it will be awesome, but it's not being made very easy to find out just how awesome! The hotel is 10 miles from the nearest subway station and the taxi fare is $69 one-way? That's before you include flights and the rest. I'd love to attend but can't afford to. I notice there are very few non-US citizens attending. Don't forget, not all AAVSO members are millionaires.
Friends,
We will hold our panel discussion on Saturday November 12 (2016) at 11:00 EST, and I would like to give our community the opportunity to attend and ask questions. Therefore, this part of the meeting will be open to everyone. Please register with GoTo webinar for the panel discussion, using the following link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8143336436959120129
You will then receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar on Saturday.
I hope the discussion will give you new ideas which will enhance your observing program, furthering exciting scientific discoveries in variable star astronomy.
Best wishes – clear skies,
Stella.
Stella,
I am planning to attend the June 15-17 2017 joint AAVSO/SAS meeting in Ontario, CA. I know that it is many months off and you will all be focused on upcoming annual meeting but would appreciate some further information at the earliest opportunity as I travel from that mystical, far-off place - Tasmania!
In particular:
I note Ontario is 35 miles east of LAX. Presumably there are good bus/taxi services from LAX to Ontario?
Terry Moon (Tex)
Hello Terry,
It will be great to see you again in the spring in Ontario! This will be a joined SAS/AAVSO meeting and SAS is making all relevant arrangements. The dates are already fixed (June 15-17), with June 15 reserved for workshops (and the AAVSO council meeting) and 16-17 the actual conference.
After this week’s annual AAVSO meeting, I will get the ball rolling on the spring meeting. We have not decided on a theme yet, so please stay tuned. The SAS is kindly taking care of all logistics, and all relevant information will be on their web page (we will link that web page to ours, so any updates will be communicated to all). Over the last several years, the SAS meeting took place at the Ontario Airport Hotel (Ontario, CA). There is transportation to/from the local airport. More information soon…
I hope you will attand the annual meeting remotely!
Best wishes – clear skies,
Stella.
Whew! I saw 'Ontario, CA' as meaning 'Ontario, Canada' and was rather surprised to see that it was a few km East of LA! Interested in this one, looks a bit more accessible than Burlington.
The Ontario airport (ONT) is very close to the meeting site, so the hotel has a shuttle to/from the airport. The main issue is that Ontario is not a common destination for airlines, as most fly non-stop to LAX, but you have to work at it to get to Ontario. There was no "airport shuttle" as of last year; you could take SuperShuttle or some other commercial venture to get from LAX to ONT, at about $70 each way as I remember it. I don't think the light rail goes out as far as Ontario yet. The best way to get from LAX to the meeting is to rent a car; it is about an hour's drive and the rentals are cheap. So I'd suggest either carpooling, or finding an airline leg that goes to ONT even if you do have to stop along the way.
The upcoming Fall meeting sounds great, and I hope a large turnout happens to take advantage of talking to researchers and listening about some of the big surveys. SAS next year will also be a great meeting, so if you can't make the Fall meeting (or listen to it), keep June 2017 open on your calendars and head to California!
Arne
Thanks to all for additional information. I can now start process of booking well in advance so as to avail myself of cheaper flights. As I'm also a SAS member I will explore accommodation etc on their website.
Tex
Here's a good comentary on the issue of large astronomical surveys.
Rodney