[vsnet-chat 1027] Re: [vsnet-obs 13026] Re: (fwd) On SV Sge magnitudes

[GeneHanson@aol.com]

Colleagues,

Marc Biesmans' analogy of the observations of SV Sge with RX And
brings up some interesting questions.  However, for me at least,
the analogy does not hold.  Marc is not aware of the
communications between myself and Gary Poyner.  As with RX And,
SV Sge has a faint companion that can lead to misidentification. 
However, the problem with RX And as I recall was that the
position of the variable was slightly off and it had faded well
below the charts many of us were using.  When the AAVSO (Charles
Scovil) finally issued a smaller field chart with a much fainter
sequence, it became very clear which was RX And and which was the
close companion star.

In the case of SV Sge, however, Gary and I were well aware of
the existence of the 149 companion, long before the message from
Marc.  The reason for my communication with Gary was over this
very issue of identification since the 149 star didn't look right
to me.  Therefore, the similarity with RX And ends there since we
both knew about its existence.

I don't think it should be surprising that there is disagreement
in such a difficult field.  There is also a direct relationship
to working near the limits of our instruments and uncertainty.

I have no direct problem with Marc pointing out the
inconsistencies of the SV Sge data.  I saw this myself, and I've
seen instances of it in the past and we'll see it in the future. 
Furthermore, I don't personally have a problem with Marc using
this as an attack against my visual observations.  I made over
15,000 estimates last year and the probability of a gaff here and
there is a certainty owing to the sheer number of observations. 
Looking at the same fields night after night is also problematic
in that a field can become too familiar so a mistake can be
repeated time and again.  But I've been doing this work far too
long and I go by the principle that *every* visual observer
should adhere: I report what *I* see.  Furthermore, I report it
daily -- for the whole astronomical community to see and
scrutinize.  If I make a mistake, it can be very public.

But therein lies the problem.  What are other observers to think
about this public flogging?  This will certainly hurt VSNET since
any observer who was thinking of submitting data will now be less
inclined.  I was already aware that my contributions were not
only hindering other observers from participating, but in some
cases from observing at all!  Perhaps I should now think that the
drawbacks of contributing outweigh the benefits.  The actual
number of participants is now only a select few, so maybe there is
something to this.  

I welcome any comments.

Regards,

Gene         

P.S.  Our summer monsoon has arrived so my contributions will be
at a minimum over the next month.

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