At the AAVSO’s 105th Annual Meeting in November 2016, a key event was the panel discussion on the role of the AAVSO in the era of the large surveys. The six panel members (all associated with the large surveys) and the other meeting attendees had an excellent discussion, with much good dialogue and many insightful questions and answers going in both directions.
It was exciting and very encouraging to see that the AAVSO will have an ongoing vital role in following up on observing the countless targets and in mining and analyzing the data that will come from these surveys. There will be more for AAVSO’ers to do than ever before, and all methods of observing – visual, CCD, DSLR, PEP – will be needed and valued. In addition to the survey targets work, the longterm monitoring of AAVSO Legacy stars and other known variables will continue to be crucial for present and future research. The future is very bright!
From left to right: David Ciardi (Kepler/K2), Octavi Fors (Evryscope), Alessandro Ederoclite (J-Plus),
Stella Kafka (AAVSO Director), Ryan Oelkers (TESS), Joey Rodriguez (KELT), Meredith Rawls (LSST).
Watch the full panel discussion recording below: