[vsnet-chat 559] Re: Eta Carinae periodicies

[Taichi Kato <tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>]

Dear Fraser (and chatters),

> Welcome aboard!  "vsnet-chat" is specially reserved for complaints about
> clouds... ;)

   And about light pollution, and too extreme climate ... ;)

> various chart problems,
> variable star sequences (and their problems),
> the most suitable telescope for variables observing,
> the behaviours of certain objects (Eta Car, WX Hyi, BL Lac, etc),
> announced interesting Web pages and computer software,
> asked all sorts of questions among ourselves,
> organized observing campaigns,

   And I would like to add problems regarding variable star organizations
and groups (the attitude still seems to me too enclosed).  Problems arising
from discoveries of new objects.

   Anyway, thanks to Fraser in summarizing many important topics on behalf
of the VSNET manager, who might be too busy in working with his poster
for the IAU meeting.  I hope your summary would surely help in reviewing
the VSNET activity in the poster.  I myself have almost given up with mine
(;_;).

>    >So far the STScI
>    >refused twice our requests for using the HST/STIS to observe Eta
>    >Carinae spectroscopically, because either they don't think it's
>    >important or do not believe that this event will happen.
> 
> Even if you got HST time I suspect their Press Release would ignore all the
> collaborators and previous work on this topic.  For example their recent
> "discovery" of Mira's companion (VZ Cet, mentioned in many observer's guides!) ;
> and not mentioning that the Mira observation was deliberately scheduled - with
> the help of the AAVSO's lightcurve - for minimum light.

   Even though the scale is much more smaller, such kind of refusals is
pretty common.  "The proposal too much relies on expectations .." or something
like sentences are one of the best met from our referee's reports (should we
reserve a space for complaints about proposal's fates? ;)  Aside from STScI's
press releases, even variable star organization(s) tend(s) to unnotice or
possibly intentionally ignore collaborators and previous work on the same
topic.  Information from outside in some certain cases seems to be very
effectively filtered out.  Our VSNET will never be proud in that manner,
and will keep the network free from such attitudes.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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