[vsnet-chat 266] Re: New variable stars, etc.

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

Fraser Farrell wrote in [vsnet-chat 263]:

> The boundary between amateur and professional is indistinct for many of
> us.  I know many amateurs here who invest much time and money into their
> astronomy, and dream of retiring from their daytime jobs!  Maybe we
> should rename ourselves "paid" and "unpaid" astronomers?

    Probably the definition of amateur/professional astronomers does not
matter in discussing the topic of concern, though some "professional"
astronomers tend to make sport of this kind of definition, and all effectively
hide more subtle problems.

> The VSS RASNZ policy is to encourage discoverers to "contact VSS
> Headquarters first" - especially if the discoverer is of limited
> experience or has no access to major catalogues. Because Frank Bateson
> is already working eight days a week on hundreds of other matters; I try
> to act as a filter by encouraging local amateurs to contact me first.

    It would be good to encourage "novice" observers to consult local
headquarters first on their possible discoveries.  This process is working
quite successfully in Japan also.  However, the more important problem is
rather in experienced observers, who have often gone so far as to be
requested to confirm other person's discovery reports.  They probably know
"they have discovered", but in order to secure their priority of discoveries,
they are unwilling to (or I understand incorrectly -- they may be suggested
not to do so) disseminate their discovery reports before the official criteria
of discoveries are satisfied (or the reports are "officially" announced),
even if they are sufficiently confident of their discoveries or if they
know there are investigators in need of early information.  Things might
go well if contact office really knows the importance of discoveries, but
I can hardly believe so in view of that incredible delay of more than two
weeks of the official announcement in IAUC after the discovery report of
Nova Sgr 1996.  I even first thought the discovery was done from old patrol
films!  If announced two weeks earlier, some of us could have done first-aid
photometry or spectroscopy of the very first oscillation cycle of the nova,
even if it was not spectroscopically confirmed.  Or should we remove any
minute possibilities of false alarms at the expense of early discovery alerts?
(For the sake of the discoverer, I should comment that he told he rather
wished to disseminate the discovery more, if the official confirming process
is too slow.)

    The once-in-lifetime cosmic message is thus delayed, light has gone.

    "Novice" observers then learn the success story from the famed.
Japanese "how-to" articles are full of descriptions of such stories and
official rules.  Variable stars without "the official criteria of discoveries"
even would have then no chance to be reported.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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