[vsnet-chat 278] Re: New variable stars, etc.

[Stan Walker <astroman@voyager.co.nz>]

>> ... but I think that any competent observer
>> should be encouraged to get his "discovery" out on VSNet as soon as
>> possible. Better a little wasted time than missing a few important hours on
>> a nova.

Taichi Kato wrote:
>
>   I fully agree on this point, and have indeed encouraged some of these
>observers even before VSNET started to work.  At least some of them seemed
>unwilling to do so; their reasoning was that prevailing these premature
>discovery announcements may prevent other competing observers from
>independetly discovering the object.  I was rather discouraged to hear the
>same reasoning from several different persons -- stereotypical enough to
>believe there is some sort of dogma.

This attitude seems to prevail more than it should. You begin to suspect
that many people are in the game mainly for their tiny share of immortality.
And it's not restricted to amateurs, although it seems pretty prevalent in
some areas. Like the reason given recently for discovering new minor planets
is that you get to give it a name. If this is all that keeps the enthusiam
going then we should change the rules and let the IAU name all minor planets
and comets in some impersonal manner.

I've been amused by three or four instances of relatively unimportant
variable stars discovered in this country and the initial investigations
being shrouded in great secrecy with the result that the discovery papers
have shown the lack of observation with great gaps in the light curves or
even incorrect conclusions as to type or period. What could a joint approach
have done?

Regards,
Stan Walker

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