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Observing variable stars is one of the major contributions amateurastronomers make to science. There are 36,000 variable stars listed inthe General Catalogue of Variable Stars, so it is clearly impossible forthe limited number of professional observatories to target even themajority of them. That's where amateur astronomers come in - thousands ofthem turning their telescopes to the sky every night. Variable starobserving is the most popular of "real science" activities for amateurs,and Gerry Good's book provides everything needed. The first part of thebook provides a highly detailed account of the various classes of variablestar, with examples, illustrations and physical descriptions. The secondsection covers practical aspects of observing, everything from preparationand planning, through observing techniques, to data management andreduction.
List of contents
1 Observing Variable Stars.- 2 The Variable Stars.- 3 Eruptive Variable Stars.- 4 Pulsating Variable Stars.- 5 Cataclysmic (Explosive and Novalike) Variables.- 6 Rotating Variable Stars.- 7 Close Binary Eclipsing Systems.- 8 Optically Variable Close Binary Sources of Strong, Variable X-Ray (X-Ray Sources) Radiation.- 9 A General Approach to Observing Variable Stars.- 10 VSO Planning.- 11 VSO Preparations.- 12 VSO Methods.- 13 Variable Star Data Management, Reduction and Analysis.- 14 Variable Star Reporting and Recording Organizations.- 15 Variable Star Observing and Amateur Astronomers.- Appendix A Database Management.- Appendix B Time Series Analysis Using TS11.- Appendix C Analysis Using Spreadsheets.
Summary
Observing variable stars is one of the major contributions amateur
astronomers make to science. There are 36,000 variable stars listed in
the General Catalogue of Variable Stars, so it is clearly impossible for
the limited number of professional observatories to target even the
majority of them. That's where amateur astronomers come in - thousands of
them turning their telescopes to the sky every night. Variable star
observing is the most popular of "real science" activities for amateurs,
and Gerry Good's book provides everything needed. The first part of the
book provides a highly detailed account of the various classes of variable
star, with examples, illustrations and physical descriptions. The second
section covers practical aspects of observing, everything from preparation
and planning, through observing techniques, to data management and
reduction.
