2014 December 3
VSS Database joins forces with the AAVSO
The AAVSO and the BAAVSS are pleased to announce that the variable
star observation archive of the BAAVSS is now available through the
website of the AAVSO. The BAAVSS archives comprise over 2.5 million
variable star observations made mostly by amateur astronomers
world-wide over the past 150 years. These data now join the archives
of the AAVSO in the AAVSO International Database, which consists of
over 27.5 million variable star observations made by observers of the
AAVSO and BAAVSS and several other international organizations
including the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) and
the Association Française des Observateurs d’Étoiles Variables
(AFOEV).
The BAAVSS is the oldest organization of variable star observers in
the world. Since its founding in 1890, it has served as a repository
of its observers’ data, with contributors from all over the globe.
While it continues to maintain its own archive of contributed
observations (which you can actively search or submit observations to
at http://britastro.org/vssdb/) the BAAVSS is now also sharing these
data through the AAVSO International Database. The inclusion of
BAAVSS data in the AAVSO archives will make this important data set
more readily available to the larger community of astronomical
researchers.
The AAVSO, which recently celebrated its own Centennial in 2011, has
become an important resource for the variable star research community,
and its archives are accessed by thousands of research astronomers,
educators, students, and observers every year. By making the BAAVSS
archives available, the AAVSO will provide the research community with
a more complete data resource, and will help the BAAVSS community make
a greater impact on variable star science.
The initial import of BAAVSS data occurred on December 1, 2014, and
included more than 2 million observations, 80 percent of the BAAVSS
archive. The AAVSO will continue working with BAAVSS volunteers over
the coming months to finish reconciling the remaining half million
records, making the full archive available through the AAVSO website.
The AAVSO is pleased to make the BAAVSS archive available to the
community, and we encourage everyone to make use of this wonderful new
resource. The AAVSO International Database is freely available, and
may be accessed from the AAVSO website:
Arne Henden, Director
Sara Beck, Technical Assistant — Science Group
Matthew Templeton, Science Director
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Roger Pickard, Director
Andrew Wilson, Database Secretary
British Astronomical Association Variable Star Section (BAAVSS)
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