Get thee outside to monitor epsilon Aurigae
International Year of Astronomy/US node adopts eps Aur for Citizen
Science campaign!
LINK TO
IAU-IYA HOMEPAGE
AAS Austin poster 106.08 (Jan.2008):
Citizen Science for the International Year of Astronomy
Suzanne H. Jacoby1, L. Fortson2, M. Hartman3, J. C. Lochner4,
A. Price5, M. J. Raddick6, R. E. Stencel7. [Affiliations:
1Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation, 2Adler Planetarium, 3MIT
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research,
4CRESST/USRA/NASA-GSFC, 5Tufts University / AAVSO, 6Johns Hopkins
University / SDSS, 7University of Denver.]
The IYA 2009 working group on Research Experience for Students, Teachers,
and Citizen-Scientists is planning a multi-year project involving variable
stars. The project will begin with training programs of several types of
binary and transient variable stars that are easy to observe from suburban
locations with the naked eye. Eventually it will lead to a capstone
project: monitoring the rare and mysterious 2009-2011 eclipse of Epsilon
Aurigae. In the summer of IYA 2009, third-magnitude Eps Aur will
experience its next eclipse, which occurs every 27.1 years and lasts 714
days, nearly two years! Projects will be developed for three
audiences: amateurs, the general public and educators. Planning is still
underway; advice and offers to help are welcome.