The 105th AAVSO Spring Meeting will be held in St. Louis, Missouri on May 5-7, 2016. The venue will be the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Louis and guest rooms have been reserved there at a reduced rate for the use of attendees.
This year’s meeting theme will be Pulsating Stars, and three distinguished astronomers will be our keynote speakers. The meeting will begin on Thursday evening with a keynote address by Dr. Horace Smith, Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University and a noted expert on RR Lyrae stars. Friday’s schedule includes a keynote address by Dr. Lee Anne Willson, Professor Emerita of Iowa State University and expert theoretician on pulsating variables, and a past AAVSO President, a special session on pulsators, and an evening visit to the St. Louis Science Center and Planetarium. Saturday will include the Membership meeting in the morning, and a multi-topic paper and poster session in the afternoon which will feature a keynote address by Dr. Virginia Trimble, Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, who specializes in the history of astronomy and in stellar and galactic structure and evolution. The meeting will conclude with a banquet at the hotel on Saturday night.
If you have never attended an AAVSO meeting before, now is your chance! St. Louis was chosen partly because of its central location (a mere 450 miles from the geographic center of the continental US!) and convenience to a major airport. It is also home to a fantastic science museum with planetarium, two local astronomy organizations and plenty of interesting things for spouses to see and do.
As with all AAVSO meetings, we are working to ensure be a very full program of talks given by both professionals and amateurs with something of relevance for everyone interested in variable stars. If you would like to deliver a talk or display a poster yourself, you will be invited to submit your abstract closer to the time.
The other important feature of all AAVSO meetings is that they provide a perfect opportunity to meet and chat with others who share a similar interest. No one leaves an AAVSO meeting without making new friends, connecting with old ones, finding solutions to observing problems or becoming inspired with new projects.
We are still working on the program, but plan to post further details along with a preliminary schedule on our website in the next few weeks. The AAVSO has reserved a number of rooms at the hotel, but if you wish to book yours, please contact the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Louis (not the Crowne Plaza at the airport!) at (800) 925-1395 or (314) 621-8200. Please be sure to mention that you are with the AAVSO Meeting in order to receive our special discounted rate.
Hope to see you there!