Special Notices

August 24, 2011: P. Nugent et al. report in ATel #3581 that a possible Type-Ia supernova has been discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory shortly after eruption in the galaxy M101 and has been designated "PTF11kly".  The object is currently at a magnitude of g=17.2, but may well rise by several magnitudes. The object is well placed within M101 for good photometry, and observations of this potential bright SNIa are strongly encouraged.

The (J2000) coordinates reported for the object are

    RA: 14:03:05.81 , Dec: +54:16:25.4

February 15, 2011: Dr. Colin Aspin (U. Hawaii) has requested archival images and other observations of the FU Orionis variable V1647 Ori and the surrounding field over the previous 10 years in support of a study of this star.  Aspin writes that he is hoping to obtain more data with which to create a multi-year light curve of this star to put present-day observations in context of its past behavior.

February 14, 2011: Further to AAVSO Alert Notice 428 (2010 Nov 30), the dwarf nova FS Aurigae appears to be in outburst.  The current outburst was detected simultaneously by P. Lake (Wonga Park, Victoria, Australia) at m(vis)=14.5 on 2011 Feb 14.0969 (JD 2455606.5969), and confirmed shortly after by G. Lubcke (Middleton, WI, USA) at around V=14.4 in time-series observations made simultaneously to the observation of Lake.  Follow-up photometry of this star is encouraged.

November 2, 2010: As reported by Tim Parson (Circle Pines, Minnesota, USA) and confirmed by Pavol Dubovsky (Kolonica, Slovakia), the infrequently-outbursting dwarf nova HT Cas is in outburst.  Parson observed HT Cas in outburst at m(vis)=12.9 on JD 2455502.93 (2010 November 2.43), and the outburst was confirmed by Dubovsky at m(vis)=12.4 on JD 2455503.3 (2010 November 2.8).  The last confirmed well-observed outburst of this star occurred on 2008 January 10.  Observations of this variable are strongly encouraged at this time.  Both visual and CCD observations are en

HMXB campaign extended until further notice.  -  Elizabeth O. Waagen, 17 April 2020

It has been updated numerous times and covered in AAVSO Alert Notices 348, 354, and 377, and in AAVSO Special Notices #118, #129, #143, #213, and #220.

October 1, 2010: Dr. Colin Aspin (U. Hawai'i) has requested the help of AAVSO observers in performing long-term photometric monitoring of the two new young stellar objects (YSOs) in Cygnus, HBC 722 and VSX J205126.1+440523 (see AAVSO Special Notice #216).  

The AAVSO offers several methods of getting the news out that your favorite star has been observed, or something odd and interesting is going on in the sky.

Alert Notices

AAVSO Alert Notices are detailed, formal descriptions of special stellar events such as a nova or of observing campaigns; they nearly always include a request for observations. (See recent AAVSO Alert Notices.)