[vsnet-obs 38678] Re: [vsnet-chat 5130] RE: (fwd) RV: Observations of 02/21/2002

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

Re: [vsnet-chat 5130] RE: (fwd) RV: [vsnet-obs 38590] Observations of 02/21/2002
Dear all,

    First of all, please don't take this word as a blame or persecution
to some specific observers.  This is a more general matter, and would be
a key to make observations more reliable.

>   1.. I don't understand comments of Kato.san about "Psychological"
> reasons for wrong etimations in variable magnitude estimations

    If there is no physical or mathematical (or something else) reason
why some erraneous observations is produced, psychology would be a best
approach in explaining them.  Illusion, hallucination etc. are a matter
of psychology.

>   2.. All Professional astronomer should remember that we aren't 
> professional and that we try to harmonize our work, personal and family 
> life  with our astronomical observations

    Your analysis of erraneous observations sounds to more suggest
professional astronomers not to trust in visual (or amateur) observations...
A more important thing is to analyze the reason for the errors.

>   3.. In my own case, I made variable observations after 12-15 work  
> hours (I left my home at 8 a.m. and came back 10,30 p.m) After dinner, I 
> made these observations before going to sleep  (sometimes I send  my 
> observations to VSNET at 1-2 a.m.)

    I think this is a typical situation of an amateur astronomer.  Those
who can see the sunset are usually very lucky.

>   4.. With these questions, I don't expect to justify mistakes  in my 
> observations. I assumed these errors and I think that if observations 
> are wrong, they should simply be removed  from VSNET variable's list.

    I believe that it is the observer who is responsible for correcting
errors.  Only the observer knows the situation when the certain observation
was made, and can know the reason of the error.  More practically, most
of errors are statistical in nature; one can statistically tell "some
observer reports noisy observers than other" or "some observer tends to
report prolonged outbursts than others", but it is often impossible to
exactly tell which observation needs to be eliminated.  If you have a
list of erroneous observations which should be eliminated, please let us
know.

>   5.. I suppose that other observers also have made wrong observations, 
> included Japanese observers (Watanabe Monday night fever, fading of V 
> 838 Mon). For these reason I think that observations mistakes are made 
> by observers worldwide, not only in a "special" parts of the world.

    Statistically speaking, some observers are incredibly void of errors;
even a single positive observation from such an observer has often been
sufficient to make an immediate alert.  Some observers are unfortunately
not.  This seems to suggest that there is a huge difference in quality
control even between observers.

>   7.. I believe that such as I quoted before, that wrong observations 
> should be eliminated from VSNET list, and also that people shouldn't 
> make "foolish" statementss about reasons of these wrong estimations...

    These statements are not foolish.  The most important thing is to
reveal the reason of errors.  Otherwise similar errors will appear
continuously.  If no one can specify the reason of errors, people would
not know any criterion to distinguish reliable and unreliable observations
-- this even could eliminate the usage of reliable observations.

    I tried to reveal the reason why T. Scarmato's observations were
erraneous, and at least some of problems seem to have been solved.
This is not a matter of forgive or excuse, but is a scientific process
to approach the truth.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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