Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is a recording of our webinar originally held on January 9th, 2021. The webinar features talks by two figures in astronomy research: first, Dr. Matthew Kenworthy, "Shadows of Circumplanetary Disks: J1407 and J0600," and second, Dr. Hans Moritz Günther (start time @ 44:23) "Variability in young stars: From the AAVSO to X-rays."
Dr. Kenworthy discusses how when circumplanetary disks transit in front of their parent stars, the transits can last hundreds of days, with individual ring structures causing fluctuations on timescales of one day or less. The AAVSO has proved crucial in monitoring several stars in which we believe we are seeing circumplanetary disk transits. From the star J1407 and its eclipses in 2007, through to the current monitoring campaign of J0600, Dr. Kenworthy shows what we can discover through multiband light curves and what we hope to see in the next few years.
Dr. Günther discusses learning how star and planet formation work. He shows how we can use variability on many different time scales, from hours to centuries, to understand how young stars work and evolve. He describes observations of varying types for several specific stars, such as RW Aur and T Tau, the star that named the group of T Tauri stars. Only when we combine observations from the Chandra X-ray observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and AAVSO data, can we learn about the physics of star formation. For a few examples, he explains how observations on space telescopes are allocated and planned, and why the generous and flexible support by AAVSO observers is so crucial to their observing programs.
This is a recording of our webinar originally held on January 9th, 2021. The webinar features talks by two figures in astronomy research: first, Dr. Matthew Kenworthy, "Shadows of Circumplanetary Disks: J1407 and J0600," and second, Dr. Hans Moritz Günther (start time @ 44:23) "Variability in young stars: From the AAVSO to X-rays."
Dr. Kenworthy discusses how when circumplanetary disks transit in front of their parent stars, the transits can last hundreds of days, with individual ring structures causing fluctuations on timescales of one day or less. The AAVSO has proved crucial in monitoring several stars in which we believe we are seeing circumplanetary disk transits. From the star J1407 and its eclipses in 2007, through to the current monitoring campaign of J0600, Dr. Kenworthy shows what we can discover through multiband light curves and what we hope to see in the next few years.
Dr. Günther discusses learning how star and planet formation work. He shows how we can use variability on many different time scales, from hours to centuries, to understand how young stars work and evolve. He describes observations of varying types for several specific stars, such as RW Aur and T Tau, the star that named the group of T Tauri stars. Only when we combine observations from the Chandra X-ray observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and AAVSO data, can we learn about the physics of star formation. For a few examples, he explains how observations on space telescopes are allocated and planned, and why the generous and flexible support by AAVSO observers is so crucial to their observing programs.
![AAVSO How to [Observe Optical Counterparts of High Energy Astronomical Transients]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bQfXWKMjWkc/mqdefault.jpg "AAVSO How to [Observe Optical Counterparts of High Energy Astronomical Transients]
Originally broadcast Feb. 5, 2022. In AAVSOs first How-to Hour of 2022, Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein leads us. He is an AAVSO observer and co-lead of AAVSOs High Energy Network Observing Section.
Heinz-Bernd focuses on discussing the observation of three of the most energetic and interesting phenomena in the universe: the Gamma-Ray-Burst (GRB) and its optical afterglow, the Binary Neutron Star (BNS) Merger resulting in a “kilonova,” and the Core-Collapse Supernova (and here specifically the next such event in our own galaxy).
At first glance, none of these three event classes seem to be well suited for the amateur astronomer because their first signals reaching us can only be seen by professional observatories: the Earth’s atmosphere shields us against gamma rays, so Gamma Ray Bursts are typically detected by satellites like FERMI and SWIFT. Binary Neutron Star Mergers so far can only be detected with high confidence by huge gravitational wave observatories. And, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the very first signal of the next galactic core collapse supernova will actually be a burst of neutrinos, minutes to hours before the optical supernova signal can be seen.
However, in all three cases, professional astronomers broadcast “alerts” of such events through channels that are now available to the public, some more well known than others. We discuss how amateurs can use these channels and join professional-amateur collaboration projects to make meaningful observations of these most fascinating events. While observing these transients remains challenging for various reasons, being prepared for “target of opportunity” observations should be a skill that can be rewarded by outstanding and important amateur observations.
Interested in AAVSO? visit aavso.org
Interested in our HEN observing section? aavso.org/aavso-international-high-energy-network")
