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Re: [vsnet-chat 6111] Re: NMO Campaign > I am glad to see this initiative has created discussion and, hopefully, > enthusiasm for observing these particular stars from AAVSO Bulletin 66. > > Much of the concern I see expressed about the scientific wisdom of such a > project can be traced back to my use of the word "campaign" to describe it. > > My real intent was to merely bring attention to stars that do not have a > mean curve, making predictions of their maxima and minima questionable, and > those stars not behaving predictably, with questioned maxima and minima. The > list, sorted by status, available data, RA, etc., is intended to be a > planning toll for observers, not a list of the most important stars in the > AAVSO program, nor a list of "priority" targets. Thank you Mike, your explanation is clear and constructive. And I also appeciate discussions related to these "campaign" matters, which clarifed many points of view to an unprecedented degree. Certainly, a combination of "needs more observation" and "campaign" would have given me such an impression, although we are familiar with tons of different campaigns ;-). I confess that I felt some sort of generalization with a combination of "needs more observation" and "campaign", which would allow a broader interpretation and some of which may not be very constructive. > For some of us, the fact that many of these stars are challenging to > observe is reason enough to add them to our programs. Assigning scientific > justifications or political motivations to our efforts misses the point. > > Many of us observe because it is intellectually challenging and the output > is potentially scientifically useful. I am well aware of that! I had long been a visual observer, and enjoyed challenges, and enjoyed somehow contributing to science. I think we can share these experiences. A pursuit of a fainter limiting magnitude by Hasegawa-san (as expressed in an earlier thread) led to a discovery of the nature of V1413 Aql, and I know a plenty of similar exciting examples. What is risky would occur when if similar "campaign plans" are conducted by people who don't share these feeling or experiences, and this is one of the reasons why I spoke of a campaign design or the role of campaign organizer. Regards, Taichi Kato
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