President's Letter
July 2021
In just three months, the 110th Annual Meeting of AAVSO kicks off with a two-day Spectroscopy Workshop--November 3 and 4--followed shortly by the AAVSO Annual Meeting on November 6 and 7. Both events will be held at the Row Hotel in Somerville, Massachusetts. We have four terrific keynote speakers at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the AAVSO: Sara Seager, Joe Patterson, Andrea Dupree, and David Latham.
If you would like to make a presentation or present a poster at the Annual Meeting, please send in your abstracts. Note that the guidelines for submitting an abstract have changed, so we strongly suggest you submit your proposal far in advance of the September 10 deadline so we can offer you feedback if necessary. Full information about the Annual Meeting is online at We invite you to join us: | aavso. And please be sure to check out the Spectroscopy Workshop: 2021 AAVSO Spectroscopy Workshop | aavso. It is an excellent introduction to this exciting field and includes in-depth presentations for experienced spectroscopists. We hope to see you there--in person, too!
As announced earlier, all attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID. In general, the response to this requirement has been very positive, but a few members are critical of this decision. The Board based the decision on CDC guidance and state and local requirements–including guidelines for large in-door gatherings. Vaccines are remarkably effective in providing protection to individuals themselves as well as to others. With the recent case growth among unvaccinated individuals driven by the delta variant, this requirement is vital to the health of meeting attendees. COVID guidelines will likely continue to evolve over the next three months. The meeting will follow the then-current CDC guidelines and state and local regulations.
Board Nominations
We are currently accepting nominations for the AAVSO Board. We are looking for AAVSO members who want to help guide AAVSO into the future and who also will help us prioritize current programs and activities. It is an enjoyable activity for Board members, allowing them to make new friends and work with a group of individuals who have a passion for variable stars and the AAVSO. The workload is about four hours a month for most Board members. Please consider joining the Board: self-nominations are encouraged. More information is available at Call for AAVSO Board nominations | aavso
Appointment of Heather Laird to AAVSO Board
The Board recently appointed Heather Laird to fill the open Board seat in the Class of 2023. She was an active Director in The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada from 2015 to 2020. She worked on their Fundraising Committee from 2015 to 2019 and successfully chaired the committee for three years. Working on their National Inclusivity & Diversity Committee, she also helped expand their membership. In addition, she is an AAVSO Ambassador; she became a member of the AAVSO Diversity Committee in June 2020 and was appointed committee chair in April. In describing her personal goals for being on the AAVSO Board, she said she wants to help AAVSO "attract and keep a diverse group of members, … they are incredibly important to our organization's future, especially youth and students."
Mike Simonsen
We recently lost a former AAVSO member known to many. He was a former staff member and one of our most active observers. I met Mike a couple of times. His deep passion and love for variable star astronomy were contagious. During his work with AAVSO, he received several awards, including the AAVSO Director's Award in 2005, the British Astronomical Association's Charles Butterworth Award in 2011, the Astronomical League's Leslie Peltier Award in 2012, and the American Astronomical Society's Chambliss Amateur Achievement Award in 2015. More about him can be read at these websites:
I hope many of you will be able to attend our Annual Meeting. Come join us as we share our passion and enjoyment of variable star astronomy. It will be a fun time.
Clear Skies!
Gordon