Up until 3-4 or so years ago the LPV Section published several items on a regular basis. These were the LPV Circular, the LPV Bulletin, and the Maxima and Minima of LPVs. On the LPV section website we still offer several lists: the Binocular LPVs, the AAVSO Legacy List, and the John Percy list of interesting LPVs. These look to be of continuing relevance and interest, so we maintain these. Of the recurring publications first described the Maxima and Minima LIst was discontinued because it occupied a lot of AAVSO staff time to keep it current and published regularly. However, what do you LPV observers think about the other pubs? Is there interest in bringing these back? If so, what changes and additions could be made? Let me know your thoughts.
Mike Soukup
LPV Co-section Leader
I would appreciate it very much if the LPV Bulletin with the minima and maxima of the LPVs would exist again. For years I could plan my observations this way, the list was really a big help.
Ideally, one could again, as already a few years ago, with a simple selection on the AAVSO website, limit the desired selection of LPVs via filter criteria and have them prepared for the next 12 to 14 months as a CSV or Excel file.
Two specialist groups, here in Switzerland (computers and variable observers), are indeed trying to find a solution for the future on the basis of the https://github.com/edose/bulletin2 project. But unfortunately, due to time constraints, the project has not progressed very far.
So a solution, respectively a new edition of the AAVSO Bulletin would be most welcome!
Many thanks for your input! This is much appreciated and just what I am looking for! Hopefully more observers like you will make their thoughts known. After I get more input I will look into bringing back the Bulletin and the Max and Min of LPV publication (though I have been told this particular publication required a lot of effort to keep it going, but perhaps we can come up with a better way such as your suggestion).
Hello,
I appreciate the current circular which highlights recent observations submitted. Please continue that publication. What might be welcome in addition would be a seasonal notice of currently visible "under observed" LPVs. While I do not maintain a large list of target stars, approximately 1/2 of my targets would be considered under observed. Pointing a finger in those stars direction might help fill the gaps that occur in their observations.
Clear Skies!!
Jamey (JENJ)
Hi Jamey! Can you further describe what is in the "current circular" of what you say are of recent observations? Does it have a title (such as "Circular" or something else)? I know I receive a monthly email that is a list of all the observations made of a variable for that month. Is this what you mean? Regarding a listing of under observed LPVs that would be updated seasonally please bear in mind that, given there are an enormous number of LPVs that can be observed and have data on them submitted to AAVSO, this would be a mighty big undertaking that would never be complete. Because of the great numbers of Miras and semiregulars we observers are simply too few to collect a lot of observations for each one. To play the LPV observing game effectively we get more bang for the buck by collecting many observations by many observers over a long time period. So, we maintain a "legacy" list of LPVs for which we have data going back many years and we hope to continue to concentrate on the stars in this list and gather the most observations into the future. We encourage observers to use this list. On the other hand, any data on any star is potentially quite useful. If you can pick your favorites of under observed variables and make a lot of observations for each one over a long time period you will be doing useful work. Sporadic observations made by one observer of an LPV are usually of minimal use UNLESS the observer just happens to catch one doing something unusual! Personally, I often go after a bunch of under observed stars for my own satisfaction. Thus, keep on doing what you are doing! I suggest using the AAVSO target tools that you can use for your location and time that will present you with a rather lengthy list of LPVs to observe and that are worthy of more observing. I also suggest using VSX to generate lists of various types of LPVs. Each data entry will give you an indication of how many observations there are of each star in the AAVSO database.
Mike (SOI)
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the reply. The current circular that I am referring to recently came in my email with the subject line "AAVSO LPV Circular for Oct 4, 2023 to Nov 3, 2023". So, yes we are discussing the same publication. It's the monthly update, and it's nice to see one's observations noted there.
I thought about my suggestion of under observed LPVs after the fact, and realized that the number of potential target stars makes such a list impractical...sorry 'bout that. I've culled my own target list down to a size that I can manage, and try to provide data on those stars as best I can, following the recommended cadence period.
Great suggestions, and again thanks for the speedy reply!
Clear Skies,
Jamey (JENJ)
I currently get the LPV Circular which is great, the LPV Bulletin would be nice as well if that were to be made available.
Thanks!