Podcaster: Shane and Chris
Title: Variable Star Observing with Dr. Stella Kafka and the AAVSO
Organization: Actual Astronomy
Link : https://actualastronomy.podbean.com/
Description: The Actual Astronomy Podcast presents Variable Star Observing with Dr. Stella Kafka, Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). Founded more than a century ago the AAVSO remains among the most innovative groups for citizen science the world over. Whether you own a telescope, astro-imaging gear or just like looking up, join Shane and Chris as they learn how everyone can contribute to the science of astronomy!
Bio: Shane and Chris are amateur astronomers who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and performing outreach where they help the eyes of the public to telescope eyepieces.
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Transcript:
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Chris Beckett: Welcome to episode 109 of the actual astronomy podcast This is our interview with Dr is still a calf go the director of the aba so.
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Chris Beckett: i’m Chris and joining me is shane we are amateur astronomers to love looking up the nighttime sky in this podcast is for anyone else who likes going out under the stars.
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Chris Beckett: And today, our special guests, as mentioned is Dr stuff like Africa and she is the director of the American association of the variable star observers and well Stella, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the ABS oh.
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Stella Kafka: Absolutely hi everyone, thank you for having me on this podcast.
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Stella Kafka: let’s start with myself because.
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Stella Kafka: It has a connection with the ABS or from Meri jaan I was born and raised in Athens, Greece and they got my bachelor’s in physics from there, and then I came in the US to get my PhD in astronomy from indiana university so i’m sure girl probably wearing the red and white color.
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Stella Kafka: Are you living down.
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Stella Kafka: There connection here is that even when I was a graduate student I was using a via so data from my thesis.
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Stella Kafka: So in principle I am adult daughter of the aba so I My thesis would have been completely different if it wasn’t for that.
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Stella Kafka: organization for the rich database of individuals contributed data on all kinds of variable star objects.
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Stella Kafka: So I gotta appreciate the value of citizen astronomers backyard observers individuals whose passion is to look at the night sky.
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Stella Kafka: Not only for its beauty, but also for its its signs and wonder what’s going on out there and collect data in order to help us figure out what’s going on there from early on in my career.
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Stella Kafka: Now from there, hiding a lot of dumps around I went to chill at the Senator lolo inter-american Observatory, I was a fellow there and the site director of the.
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Stella Kafka: Other program that was green giving us students to chiller for a summer to do some kind of an internship work with staff on projects from there was a caltech.
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Stella Kafka: The speech or science Center where was working with satellite data on the same objects that I might My thesis was on but a different wavelength, so you get to see the dark side of your favorite stars.
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Stella Kafka: I come with sound effects, by the way, so.
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Shane Ludtke: that’s perfect we don’t have the budget for sound effects.
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Stella Kafka: yeah, ladies and gentlemen, yes, they paid me to do that so.
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Stella Kafka: So from there, I went I got the NASA astrobiology institute fellowship I was at the Carnegie institution of Washington and from there, I was working at the American Institute of physics.
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Stella Kafka: When this particular position opened up and what individuals were looking for in their director was a person who had management experience.
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Stella Kafka: And they had that in different assignments, but also knew the culture of their organizations and said i’m a daughter of the year so so.
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Stella Kafka: For me, was a great feats to actually have the privilege to lead an organization like this organization that provided me with so much and give something back to the Community.
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Stella Kafka: i’ve been the executive director since 2015 so six years now, before coronavirus DC you know and from there on.
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Stella Kafka: it’s been.
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Stella Kafka: An ongoing continues evolution both of myself and the ABS or myself within the area so every single day is different, I never bored This is something that they really appreciate, because they have a very, very short attention span.
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Stella Kafka: So the ABS is amazing organization that was founded 110 years ago, so we have an anniversary this year.
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Stella Kafka: It was founded at the Harvard Observatory, it was sort of part of Harvard Observatory area on the den director collected, a group of amateur astronomers take data for his projects.
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Stella Kafka: And we’ll talk about their research later what on earth that data set was but at some point, because of.
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Stella Kafka: Critical directions and strategical directions are changing at the Harvard Observatory the atheists are moved out.
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Stella Kafka: Actually, under the directorship of marker in male, who was the first director of the area, so.
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Stella Kafka: And became its own nonprofit scientific and educational organization that connects professional and amateur astronomers scientific projects.
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Stella Kafka: The mission of the ABS is to enable anyone anywhere to participate in scientific discovery through variable star astronomy so from a small group that started in Cambridge Massachusetts right now we’re an organization that has members and observers.
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Stella Kafka: In 50 different countries all over the world and it’s it’s more of a huge collaboration of both professional and professional astronomer so we have professional services members for trying to understand some of the craziest and most dynamic and unpredictable objects in the night sky.
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Shane Ludtke: Well that’s that’s very interesting, you know Stella one of the one of the like great coincidences of this podcast.
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Shane Ludtke: Is or sorry more so your timing on the podcast is Chris and I are constantly brainstorming you know what What should we talk about next week what’s what’s the topic.
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Shane Ludtke: And I was recently thinking you know what haven’t we covered on this podcast because we’ve we’ve gone across the spectrum of various things whether it’s you know objects to look at whether it’s the gear that amateurs use.
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Shane Ludtke: And one thing that really came quickly, to my mind, is we haven’t talked about variable stars and you know part of yeah I think is our lack of experience, like both Chris and I Chris has a little more than me but.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, other than knowing what a variable star is I honestly have not spent a lot of time studying them and.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, so I think this is, you know found fascinating i’m, this is one of the most anticipated podcasts for myself just.
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Shane Ludtke: To you know gain a better understanding and learn a little bit more about variable stars so maybe you know first question just for you know all of our listeners what is a variable star.
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Stella Kafka: hmm variable stars, the star was brightness is changing, with time within timescales that we can measure and that brightness change has nothing to do with their sadness fear like turbulence or.
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Stella Kafka: Long atmospheric layers or deeper layers or trees, or something like that it has to do with intrinsic properties of that star.
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Stella Kafka: An example where we’re talking about timescales that we can measure we mean changes that can happen within a night or within a week or within a month.
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Stella Kafka: But within a timescale that a human can actually capture those changes in brightness and record them, so what we do with variable stars in principle is go outside take a picture of a star.
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Stella Kafka: Actually, a star is variable with respect to something else that is not variable right, so there are a lot of stars in the night sky.
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Stella Kafka: More or less are the same, no matter how long you look at them, so we take a picture of our variable star, we take a picture of the other stars, as well the the non variables we compare them.
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Stella Kafka: and based on that variation change we we record the brightness of our variable star.
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Stella Kafka: every night and what we see if you record it over time that it’s actually increasing or decreasing in brightness with timing, maybe periodic monitor like a continuous monitor.
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Stella Kafka: or a much more erratic and this tells us something about the properties of that particular star Have you ever solids how we derive properties of.
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Stella Kafka: The fundamental properties in the universe, for example, how do we know how far have way stars are from us.
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Stella Kafka: Sometimes you have a measuring stick in you know measuring tape and you hold one end and I go to PROXIMA centauri with the other end and the hey we’re five meters away.
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Stella Kafka: Have you ever wondered how do we know how old stars, are they don’t come with birth certificates, you know sorry hold on you know send me your.
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Shane Ludtke: house.
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Stella Kafka: Have you ever wonder how we know how big stars are.
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Shane Ludtke: These.
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Stella Kafka: All these are derived from variable star properties so variable stars are everywhere it when it comes to.
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Stella Kafka: Understanding fundamental properties of the universe and that’s why it’s really important to start to them apart from the fact that you know by themselves are full of surprises.
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Shane Ludtke: very, very interesting um you know so Chris and I have a couple of observing buddies.
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Shane Ludtke: That are.
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Shane Ludtke: Heavy contributors to the Ad so Richard who’s yak is one and then here in China Vance petrou is another.
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Shane Ludtke: In vance’s given some presentations at our local club about the a vso and variable star observing and one of the things there’s there’s a number of things that stand out, but one of the things that.
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Shane Ludtke: was really cool to me or really intriguing is occasionally the a via so we’ll send out I don’t know sort of like a call to action to say hey folks there’s a particular variable.
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Shane Ludtke: That we would like to get like an extended light curve of so astronomers around the globe will kind of coordinates so that there’s like a 24 hour capture of the lake curve, which is just an awesome use of an organization, but also technology.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, to.
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to accomplish that because.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, professional observatories and things like that sometimes can’t respond as quickly or prioritize you know, a call to action like that, just at the drop of a hat so that that was a really neat.
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Shane Ludtke: You know just kind of story or or you know action that the vso was able to coordinate I thought that was really good.
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Stella Kafka: We can share a lot of stories like that it’s not only the fact that, because we have observers all over the world, we can observe an object in principle for 24 hours.
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Stella Kafka: it’s also the fact that, because there are many people involved in it as a response to a call for observation, when one person’s site.
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Stella Kafka: Is cloudy somebody else’s is clear, so, even if you have telescope time within one of his big ones here on earth, the telescopes on earth, then what happens when it’s cloudy what happens when the technical problems, so at some point we can.
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Stella Kafka: Help professional astronomers do their job and actually without a visa, so data this type of business would not have been possible.
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Stella Kafka: Exactly because those objects variable stars change really quickly you need some kind of a continuous monitoring their behavior to at least.
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Stella Kafka: understand some of the basic properties of what you’re looking at you’re trying to understand the phenomenon.
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Stella Kafka: And it’s actually becoming more and more difficult nowadays to get that continuous coverage that much telescope time from observatories it’s a you know they’re not many on the planet.
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Stella Kafka: Actually they’re very specialized that have very specialized equipment, so, in principle, if you are to extract a light curve, which is pretty much the recording of the brightness variation of the star with time called Labor.
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Stella Kafka: If you are to extract the lighter wistar you really need dedicated telescope time, and this is extremely difficult to.
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Stella Kafka: To have right now, especially if you want similar donna’s observations with a space mission so, for example, we have a lot of observers who have.
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Stella Kafka: Guaranteed telescope time they have earned telescope time with the shawn Ray X Ray Observatory with the hubble space telescope but back when spitzer was up with spitzer.
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Stella Kafka: And they were going to the looking at the favorite objects through different wavelengths different goals right.
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Stella Kafka: But the same time, these are variable solicitations what they need is similar tanya’s observations from the ground to understand this brightness fluctuations increases or decreases of the favorite object and know what it’s doing at the time of the specialized X Ray hubble.
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Stella Kafka: What every for observations, so this is where we come in as a via so so that’s why i’m describing our observers as a collaboration it’s not only data collection, we are part of somebody’s research project.
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Stella Kafka: And we are contributing a very significant and very meaningful component, you know it’s very interesting, out of all the sciences, that I can think of astronomy is the only one where individuals without a specialized degree can make significant.
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Stella Kafka: And impactful contributions to science it’s it’s amazing the power of the collective power of atheists observers, the passion and motivation, even the expertise that individuals are bringing in their variable SAR world.
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Stella Kafka: Exactly because they do not have an astronomy degree, but they bring skills they bring knowledge they bring experience from their own professional preparation to the field of astronomy making truly multi disciplinary.
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Stella Kafka: it’s very rich is very satisfying to learn from others and actually, that is what pushes us forward so they were such a really fun to observe, because you never know.
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Stella Kafka: And at the same time they’re very satisfying exactly because you contribute leave a legacy of data behind you and that data is pushing science forward.
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Stella Kafka: Yes, we do have a lot of times, where we’re staying.
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Stella Kafka: Worrying what’s going to happen next about something because guess what must know that tend to go off on the weekends.
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Stella Kafka: So, for example, last weekend, we had three different novel Friday Saturday Sunday bright stars and we wanted to alert our Community nowadays we’re very lucky with social media if somebody is.
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Stella Kafka: Aware of an object that requires observations like now let’s capture something that’s really fast right it’s increasing the brightness of the decreasing really fast.
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Stella Kafka: We can send a message through our social media to alert individuals to get on the objects as quickly as possible, but it’s more of a big international party every time something like that happens.
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Stella Kafka: So.
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Shane Ludtke: Very cool reference yeah.
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Chris Beckett: yeah.
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Chris Beckett: So I have a quick question you were talking about having observers all over the world and and the collaboration, both between those amateurs and professionals all over the world how many Members, does the ABS so have globally.
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Stella Kafka: The ad so has 1500 Members, at the same time, we have about 6000 7000 individuals in a roaster so not everybody who has an observer code and contributes data or follows the AV so he’s a member.
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Stella Kafka: So we do appreciate memberships simply because they enable us to do the work we’re doing we’re a nonprofit organization, so our income is is limited so would like to encourage you guys, are you members why aren’t you members.
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Stella Kafka: to join us, because it’s it really helps and actually helps to know that we have people in our corner rights that you know people appreciate what we’re doing, and they want to help us do more of that.
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Stella Kafka: But at the same time yeah it’s a it’s a group of individuals who are highly specialized right they’re interested in a very specific type of SARS.
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Stella Kafka: The interested in the variable star observing that it’s very easy if people think about oh my gosh scientific data so difficult to acquire.
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Stella Kafka: And the truth is it’s very easy and very forgiving, no matter what kind of equipment, you have one of my very best friends, is a an astral photographer and, if you look at her pictures they are amazing she’s very talented.
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Stella Kafka: And she was describing to me how she was doing this kind of work.
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Stella Kafka: And just hearing of the hour, she would spend outside the efforts to align equipment keep them focused and keep them.
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Stella Kafka: tracking the very same point of the sky for hours, and then the hours that were spend on data processing very sophisticated software.
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Stella Kafka: I really strongly admire her for doing that it requires patience he requires intellect in regards expertise variable search term is way way easier than that ways it’s like you take a picture you don’t know yourself he gets the brains of the star of walla you have.
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Stella Kafka: Any actually can happen, even when it’s partly a little bit of clouds in the sky there’s a full moon out there, of course, you know, looking at the moon.
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Stella Kafka: And it’s a you’re a little bit of the focus stuff like that so.
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Stella Kafka: i’d like to encourage individuals, even those who are doing so for those suffering the passion is to bring the beauty and the complexity of the night sky to everybody else and show us what’s what’s out there.
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Stella Kafka: To try variables are strong even as filler targets, whether waiting for the favorite objects to to get high in the sky just take a couple of fields that have variable stars.
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Every point that’s really.
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Chris Beckett: yeah that’s really interesting you know, and it really has me thinking just while we’re talking here I teach an astronomy class just it’s a non credit for fun class and I have a lot of people who.
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Chris Beckett: are learning astro photography i’m not announced a photographer but one of the things that they’re often doing as they, as they are working on their equipment to get it working is.
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Chris Beckett: they’re just taking almost like random photos of the night sky as they’re making adjustments and doing different things and and those images just end up being throwaways but this would be the perfect.
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Chris Beckett: opportunity for.
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Chris Beckett: for individuals, just to snap off some some quick shots as as their test subjects and then you know, there you go, you would have some extra data.
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Stella Kafka: Absolutely, and you know, one of the things that the visa does very well is provide educational and training material for individuals who want to learn how to observe with different names.
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Stella Kafka: So we have manuals that you know from a visual observing you have a pair of binoculars you can definitely do observations.
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Stella Kafka: From the slr CCD spectroscopy you want to play with the fraction greetings and or spectrograph we have manuals for that we have online courses that are very.
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Stella Kafka: focused on different aspects of variables are observing and software, we have software actually around software for data processing and data analysis.
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Stella Kafka: We give you opportunities to individuals to do their own project if they wanted and we even have a journal and somebody comes up with a solid outcome of their own research.
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Stella Kafka: Their own results they can actually publish it to our journal, so that researchers in the future we’re working on the same object can use their results to further their own investigation, so if people want to learn how to.
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Stella Kafka: To take variable star data with their their gear, they can just use our resources are free, on our webpage and also, we have a very active peer mentoring Program.
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Stella Kafka: which actually helps novices to specific observing techniques to get help from more experienced observers, and you know bounce ideas off of their mentor and kind of improve their technique.
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Stella Kafka: That actually worked for me, I tried the visual observing some years ago with my binoculars and I had a mentor who actually guided me a little bit on how to do things so.
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Stella Kafka: I want people to see the AV so not only as an organization that enables science, but also as an organization that helps individuals improve their skills.
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Stella Kafka: come to our webpage maybe so dorjee.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah that’s great it’s nice to know that those resources are available if if somebody is wanting to do this, and they don’t have a camera.
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Shane Ludtke: What what is that process like What would it what would a night a variable star observing look like either naked eye binocular telescope but basically no camera involved.
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Stella Kafka: So no camera means that the detector is your eyes.
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Shane Ludtke: Right.
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Stella Kafka: So the process is you are you decide what kind of objects are appropriate for your sites.
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Stella Kafka: and for your location, so if you’re in a dark side versus your light polluted side if you have a location that has a clear horizon or the horizon, you know it’s full of trees so.
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Stella Kafka: You can select the objects that are appropriate for you, depending on what kind of binoculars telescope you have.
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Stella Kafka: and actually we have a targets tool that would allow you to do that select targets that are visible on your.
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Stella Kafka: location, with a magnitude range that you can approach and then you got the Ad so web pages and you, you print out the finding chart pretty much you need to know where you start is in the night sky.
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Stella Kafka: Also, as I said earlier.
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Stella Kafka: A star is variable respect to another, one that is not variable so you need to compare its brightness with stars that are not variable.
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Stella Kafka: In defining chart actually has is this pointing out two or three stars, that you can make comparison with your star of interest.
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Stella Kafka: For every field that you have you take your your findings are you find your star you look at the.
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Stella Kafka: brightness and you look at the brightness of the recommended comparison stars and you pretty much assess.
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Stella Kafka: How close, which is the closest brightness of this comparison stars that represents your real variable.
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Stella Kafka: Remember it’s a variable star right you don’t know what the breath the brightness is it may be different, a week from the first measurement so with that you record the brightness of the closest you just write it down in a piece of paper and you also record the time and the date.
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Stella Kafka: of your observation right.
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Stella Kafka: So here’s one point to.
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Stella Kafka: just push on a graph leaking go out two weeks later and do the same thing, for your Star and just keep recording.
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Stella Kafka: The first time I selected.
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Stella Kafka: The first time I see my observations with my binoculars I selected a long period variable start a live in Massachusetts most of the time, the clouds out there, so I didn’t want something that is changing from night to night because you never know what’s going to happen next slide right.
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Stella Kafka: So I I took two measurements two weeks apart, and you know something I am a professional astronomer and use a lot of big telescopes big telescopes have digital cameras and.
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Stella Kafka: You know, looking at things staff that are doing crazy things, etc, etc experiencing the brightest brightness change with my eyes, was a completely different experience.
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Stella Kafka: there’s more of oh my gosh it’s really changing, and I saw it.
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Stella Kafka: So this we are we’re creatures that live by experiences right and one of the things that we have been creating for the last year.
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Stella Kafka: So actually sit down right next to our friends and family and have dinner around the table as opposed to zoom right as opposed to some kind of a Skype or or platform online platform.
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Stella Kafka: We want to experience things, no matter how many documentaries, you see, on something like a National Park, for example, three different when you are in the National Park.
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Stella Kafka: So do no matter how many documentaries, or how many grass, you see, of the variable star how many measurements you make from your digital camera.
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Stella Kafka: Seeing it’s changing with your own eyes is a completely different experience almost magic.
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Shane Ludtke: And it’s.
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Stella Kafka: You know, if you think what that change represents right the star is changing in size, for example, just imagine a star, that is, is expanding and contracting with time, like a huge star big Gospel doing that.
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Stella Kafka: In space, if you think of what that change the brightness change represents it’s mind blowing it’s amazing.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah yeah sorry I was just going to say i’m glad you mentioned that Stella because you know that for me personally, and I know a number of our listeners because they’ve commented on this that’s one of the big draws to just visual astronomy.
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Shane Ludtke: Right is when you’re seeing something with your eye there’s such a different connection and experience with that object and.
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Shane Ludtke: You know, when you start to think about the distances and possibilities, you know between here and there.
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Shane Ludtke: And, and you know just again the like in the case of a variable star like you just said, the expansion and contraction.
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Shane Ludtke: it’s such a humbling experience that it’s it it’s almost hard to put words to it as well, you know as to how I feel when i’m looking at some of these objects you almost just have to do it.
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Shane Ludtke: But.
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Shane Ludtke: What i’m always fascinated by is is changes because there’s a lot of things that we look at in the night sky that probably won’t change during my lifetime or 12 lifetimes after.
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Shane Ludtke: But when I see movement of solar system objects, you know that fascinates me when i’m looking at our own son through a hydrogen alpha telescope that fascinates me.
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Shane Ludtke: So this variable straw variable star, you know variability that the changes fascinates me and i’m glad you mentioned the Finder charts that are available on the via so website because that’s that was always kind of one of my.
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Shane Ludtke: Maybe one of my barriers to doing variable star observing was I don’t know how to estimate magnitude, you know, like I you know, when I look at it, like, I really enjoyed double star observing.
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Shane Ludtke: I can tell you which ones brighter you know that one’s always obvious but I Oh, you know, I have to look at the star chart or the guide to tell me that Okay, the the primary is magnitude six the companion is magnitude 11.
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Shane Ludtke: Okay, I observed it, but without that guide you know it would be hard for me to know those magnitudes and one thing that I.
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Shane Ludtke: often thought about regarding variable star observing is that would just make me better and magnitude estimates and the Finder charts available on the site would be ideal for sure, so thank you for sharing that.
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Stella Kafka: Oh absolutely shane, and again I would like to.
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Stella Kafka: to emphasize that for those who want to get started, and they don’t know how to do that that’s why the area So here we have a very active.
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Stella Kafka: help desk at headquarters, you can just go and we’ll find what’s the best way for you to get started.
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Stella Kafka: Maybe it’s a mentor Maybe you can take a class an online class maybe we can send you a couple of manuals you can try yourself and then seek help we provide feedback on data we do a lot of data quality at headquarters and you know, I would like, with that to emphasize that.
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Stella Kafka: Anyone can make mistakes when it comes to to data submissions there’s no correlation zero between discrepant data and the experience of the observer.
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Stella Kafka: And we can get into that a different time but you know you want to improve you want to experience you want to measure you want to contribute a science, we are here for you that’s why the ABS exists so.
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Stella Kafka: You know, try it just.
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Stella Kafka: Do it.
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Stella Kafka: Does this sound like a Nike commercial.
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Shane Ludtke: The new symbol for the.
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Stella Kafka: I should call them and get a sponsorship or something.
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Stella Kafka: To boldly go where explorers let’s explore universe, and because we can’t go and take a scoop of the sun and figure out what’s.
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Stella Kafka: What same there we can’t exactly use a different measuring tape again you holding one and i’m going to different style holding the other end and while we know how far away, we are, or we can’t measure you know masses or.
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Stella Kafka: We do it through our observations we do it through our eyes, through the data we collect we’re trying to be smart on data analysis and trying to to.
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Stella Kafka: analyze and interpret different signals and we’re all putting little pieces of that humongous puzzle that’s called the juniors, so I think this is the only way actually to understand that these complex system that is around us if we all work together, we all contribute together.
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Shane Ludtke: So i’m curious.
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Chris Beckett: i’m really curious about something so in in my in my regular work I do I help with data collection and and storage in a scientific study so i’m really curious to hear once the observations are made by by amateurs and professionals all over the world.
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Chris Beckett: How was that data collected and then, how is it stored and then, how is it, how is it utilized and what is it utilized for.
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Stella Kafka: So we have databases for data storage and so all the data being submitted to the ABS are international database that is a photometer database, we also have a database about solar data, the sun is a variable star.
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Stella Kafka: So we’re really mindful that we have a very active group of actually solar observers were morning during sunspots and the position the sunspot database.
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Stella Kafka: We have we started to new database is not too long ago, one on exoplanet observing, so we are storing exoplanets transit and one on spectroscopy, so we are storing spectra and we that we are we’re.
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Stella Kafka: Taking almost every single data point that comes into our databases, to make sure that the quality of data is what researchers need in order to do their own work.
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Stella Kafka: And with that individuals professional astronomers educators researchers all over the world, come to the database and download the data now in order to submit a request for individuals to get an observer code it’s a unique.
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Stella Kafka: code of individuals initials that actually is connected to the data everybody’s taking we do that, for two reasons first.
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Stella Kafka: We want to give credit to our observers and we want professional astronomers we’re using the data to give credit to the observers, let critic comes in, in terms of acknowledgments right.
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Stella Kafka: In terms of authorship co authorship in manuscript scientific manuscripts in terms of continue collaboration in terms of communication.
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Stella Kafka: And also, we want this is a way for people to leave a legacy behind because you know you take data, right now, you never know when that data will be used in the future, and we want that that part of our observers to be captured in our databases.
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Stella Kafka: Can I give you an example.
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Stella Kafka: Sure favorite favorite astro party that happened last year right when covered K, my goodness.
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Stella Kafka: Remember when villages didn’t.
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Stella Kafka: Yes, and really didn’t.
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Stella Kafka: yeah really, really didn’t.
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Chris Beckett: yeah that was last Christmas.
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Stella Kafka: yeah Christmas the ABS or had 130 years of observations in our database.
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Stella Kafka: Of wow Jews.
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Stella Kafka: And the reason why we know that this dimming was special was because nothing like that was recorded in the previous hundred 30 years.
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Stella Kafka: So, can you imagine the people who took the first 10 years of data, like oh it’s a star that is doing something yea right and then 50 years you know it’s doing something that is more or less you know the two different phenomena happening in there, more or less sort of.
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Stella Kafka: repeating itself but they kept observing and because the variables, are you never know what’s going to do so last Christmas now to Christmas ago.
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Chris Beckett: yeah 2019 Chris.
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Stella Kafka: mikey 19 Thank you.
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Stella Kafka: Thank you, Chris 2019 when he deemed people were like again it’s gone down.
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Stella Kafka: But then it kept going down and really kept going down to the point where from the seventh brightest star the night sky became the the 21st brightness star in the night sky.
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Stella Kafka: And then people not this and by noticing, I mean you can look at orion from a big city and realize that villages is way fender that Rigel.
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Chris Beckett: mm hmm.
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Stella Kafka: You could see it with your own eyes that’s why this was a big deal because people could actually see it.
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Stella Kafka: So we can.
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Chris Beckett: Change like that was amazing, because it really changed.
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Chris Beckett: The look like most most people, especially people who are even casually interested in astronomy are going to know what a Ryan looks like and.
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Chris Beckett: The look of a constellation that’s been known for thousands of years by many cultures.
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Chris Beckett: Exactly yeah.
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Stella Kafka: Exactly that’s what I mean we’re talking about experiencing something like that right you look at it, you like it has changed.
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Stella Kafka: The look and feel it has changed the night sky yeah so.
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Stella Kafka: So yeah because of atheists observers actually our observers capture that phenomenon and follow the big telescopes on the planet, could not observe it was too bright.
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Chris Beckett: yeah.
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Stella Kafka: So, because of that we have a good record of what’s happening with villages.
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Stella Kafka: Professional astronomers in collaboration with our observers collected data with hubble space telescope with.
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Stella Kafka: X Ray observatories they try to do radio as well with something weird with the radio antennas and then builds just recovered we’re like okay that’s one off it will come back to its normal behavior right.
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Stella Kafka: Well guess what this year it’ll just is way way way way way way narrower in the change.
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Stella Kafka: So the know he has not recovered normal chain looks like it’s not doing anything.
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well.
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Stella Kafka: This kind of.
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Law.
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Stella Kafka: For started has been jumping around for 130 years suddenly it shows a demon that is mind blowing now it’s doing absolutely nothing what’s going on in there.
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Shane Ludtke: let’s keep you guessing I guess.
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Stella Kafka: Well that’s research we.
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Shane Ludtke: would keep working on that right.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah yeah very, very interesting um you know another thing too that really appeals to me about variable stars, is the fact that you can do this from your backyard.
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Shane Ludtke: You know.
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Shane Ludtke: dark skies probably you know enable you to observe different variables, but the fact that you can do this just walking out the back door, and you know from a light polluted area is also, I think a great thing that’s one of the reasons why I really enjoyed double stars is.
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Shane Ludtke: Because I I can just do that.
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Shane Ludtke: pretty much any night with very little effort.
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Shane Ludtke: So, you know that that’s really appealing to me.
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Shane Ludtke: Now something something that Vance mentioned during another one of his presentations.
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Shane Ludtke: Was that variable star observers seem to have like a like their own list of variable stars that they you know they watch over a long period of time.
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Shane Ludtke: Is this is this common and what would a if it is common what would like how many stars would a variable star observer sort of keep on their list too frequently come back to and check over and over and over.
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Stella Kafka: Is a common.
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Stella Kafka: Maybe I don’t.
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Shane Ludtke: Know okay.
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Stella Kafka: Have we have observers, whose interests range read very.
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Stella Kafka: Very much so, we have individuals who have their own observing program and what’s your colleague mentioned that you know the following number of stars.
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Stella Kafka: That number can can range from one they love following this one star two ELISE that is like depending on the equipment right there 50 or 100 stars.
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Stella Kafka: and actually yes, you can do that, even if you are a visual observer and have an observer in Australia rob Sarbanes he has a 16 inch telescope but no detector and he’s covering about 150 200 stars at night.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah that’s a credit.
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Stella Kafka: amazing he’s yeah he’s incredible visual observations right it’s not the machine where he’s a machine.
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Stella Kafka: And he’s he has a fantastic data set of ours that he’s been submitting at the ABS or database, so when it comes to.
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Stella Kafka: Our observers pretty much I can do whatever they want, they can actually have a program of their own and follow those stars continuously in a consistent manner and anecdotal.
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Stella Kafka: stories from them, they think that those stars on their best friends, so they see it as a meditation sloshed way to decompress they go after a.
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Stella Kafka: Full busy day they just go outside with their gear and observe the favorite stars come back in we have observers who like being involved in projects, so our alerts our.
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Stella Kafka: targets of interest of immediate interest their product their observers could just.
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Stella Kafka: get our alerts and start collaborating with professionals terms of these particular projects, they are observers who just can’t be out all night let’s face it, a lot of people have this thing is called a job and a family guess what they have.
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Stella Kafka: Right.
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Stella Kafka: But you know, this still want to contribute so.
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Stella Kafka: One or two hours or even like 20 minutes of being outside and taking data, whatever object is available is a it’s something that they want, as I mentioned, we have a target tool that provides.
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Stella Kafka: Targets stars that are in need of observations and you can actually find a star that needs observation anywhere, you are.
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Stella Kafka: And just take a couple of data points tonight that’s great, and we also have a lot of photographers were looking for filler targets so they observe a specific type of object before they start after the end they just take a couple of.
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Stella Kafka: Variable star fields so.
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Stella Kafka: Any data is useful any program is valuable.
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Stella Kafka: When people want to contribute, this should.
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Stella Kafka: Any way they want and for any site that one, as I said, we have a very loyal group of solar observers are people who just don’t want stay up at night it’s perfectly fine.
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Chris Beckett: So I have to ask, talk, talk about a couple different variable stars here, and you talk about making some your own observations, but just with binoculars so desk do you have a favorite variable Star and, if so, what is that or or maybe a fee a favorite type of variable start to observe.
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Stella Kafka: Before I started the idea So yes, I did I studied what we call cataclysmic variables know there are some of them there okay stars are very close together it’s a there’s a wide world that is cannibalizing its companion then stellar cannibalism in it at its best.
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Stella Kafka: And all kinds of.
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Stella Kafka: All kinds of.
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Stella Kafka: phenomena happening as a result of that, but you know after it came at the a via so we get involved in projects and some of them actually come from our community itself.
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Stella Kafka: My favorite star changes from time to time so below just was one of my favorite stars less here.
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Stella Kafka: Recently, one of my favorite stars is a long period eclipsing binary that was discovered by the assassin.
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Stella Kafka: Collaboration it was system that was doing nothing for years and then suddenly dropped in brightness and really dropped in brightness.
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Stella Kafka: And it was the bright side it’s a it’s an eight minute star, so we were observing with a group of observers, we had an alert out there were observing it both automatically and spectroscopic Lee the challenge with that was that was a very, very Southern Hemisphere star.
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Stella Kafka: Because at.
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Stella Kafka: minus 56 and destinations are most telescopes could.
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Stella Kafka: not get it right so we’re working a lot with our southern hemisphere observers and it’s a recovered.
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Stella Kafka: We didn’t even know when it will recover, just imagine you’re observing the keeps in binary for weeks and you’re like okay I we done yet are we there yet what’s happening here.
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Stella Kafka: And it’s recovering right now from the eclipse so once we collect the data, then we can take a step back and figure out what on earth is a cutie what and what the nature of that object is asked me next week you never know it’s gonna be.
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Stella Kafka: Maybe a.
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Stella Kafka: thing or maybe one of the bright stars in the sky decides to do something else.
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Stella Kafka: that’s why it says, you know why my life here at the ABS so is never boring there’s always something going on in there.
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Chris Beckett: I guess that’s the nature of studying stuff that actually you know changes quite rapidly the nighttime sky.
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Stella Kafka: Oh absolutely yeah yeah.
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Chris Beckett: very, very interesting.
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Shane Ludtke: yeah i’m still a so what I guess maybe at a high level what causes a star to be variable I think you mentioned, you know the there’s expansion contraction eclipsing variables.
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Shane Ludtke: Are there other categories.
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Stella Kafka: and
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Stella Kafka: seller interactions so where to start really very close together so one is literally eating up the outer layers of its companion stellar cannibals.
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Stella Kafka: The mergers remember gravitational wave presenters variable stars their spots, like the the sun has sunspots many stars five stars boats that are a result of.
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Stella Kafka: Their well they’re faster rotation and magnetic field also their discs Protestants baby stars and stars are being born, they they have a nice big gases core in the steel.
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Stella Kafka: absorbs being material from their environment and that kind of way that they’re eating from their environment is causing all kinds of variations in the light curves there are stars that have.
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Stella Kafka: exoplanets around them so as planets are passing in front of the star stealing a little bit of the it’s like this, what we call exoplanet transit, the list of reasons why stars oh this doesn’t explode supernova.
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Stella Kafka: die that.
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God.
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Stella Kafka: You know stars tend to be very dramatic in their behaviors throughout their lives, so there are many, many reasons why stars very and again because of those reasons, because of the variability we understand a little bit about how stars for stars interact with the effect of the stars.
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Stella Kafka: Is on their environment, how we’ve been formed heavy metals public forum carbon in the universe scarring that actually comes and finds life.
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Stella Kafka: Or how we form solar system stellar systems planetary systems and hopefully eventually we’ll figure out how we as humans came to be from these little rock around this really boring star.
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Stella Kafka: levy our best life ever.
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Shane Ludtke: Well that’s great.
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Chris Beckett: yeah, thank you for that.
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Chris Beckett: yeah that’s really, really nice, you know there’s there’s some interesting history on the ABS, so that I did just want to touch on briefly mentioned one of the founders I think at Harvard was you were you referring to William Tyler all cod.
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Stella Kafka: Yes, he was he was the one so she was a founder of the aba So the first record there was your incredible.
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Stella Kafka: i’ve heard this Harvard as well, so they were both of.
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Stella Kafka: founders of the first group of atheists or they were employees of the Harvard observatory and then from there, the.
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Stella Kafka: The person who took over from me and combo as a recorder, and then became the first director was Margaret Margaret mile after mile was Janet nadi Janet maddie actually passed away of leukemia.
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Stella Kafka: Really, suddenly, and one of our own.
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Stella Kafka: staff members took over as an interim director Elizabeth bargain, then was on arnie handling and now it’s myself so we’ve had a 410 year old organization, we have just a handful of directors.
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Stella Kafka: Maybe interesting.
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Chris Beckett: They produce some I gotta say they they’ve produced some very interesting work, some of them include portions of variable star observing but William Tyler all caught and Margaret male, in particular the field book to the stars.
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Stella Kafka: And then.
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Chris Beckett: Margaret male worked on the.
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Chris Beckett: Final publication with Dover on the web celestial handbooks which i’m a huge fan of so quite from the earth Margaret meals works.
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Stella Kafka: Actually, the cool thing with my other male is that.
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Stella Kafka: When she got her master’s from radcliffe because back then you could not get the women were not accepted the hard work right she spent her senior year and then afterwards some internships with our new Jay can.
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Stella Kafka: you hear me kind of.
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Stella Kafka: yeah yeah and classifying spectra so actually went and kind of passed away Margot mile finish the Atlas that I was working on.
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Chris Beckett: Oh, really.
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Chris Beckett: wow that’s really any jump cannon.
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Stella Kafka: I think that, yes, any jake yes.
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Stella Kafka: The the kinda yeah.
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Chris Beckett: yeah very cool very cool, so what else we had some other notes in here yeah so let me there’s some interesting variable stars.
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Chris Beckett: i’ve done a little bit like she mentioned i’ve done a few, the one that I really get interesting was our corona borealis because it’s a corona borealis is a constellation team boots.
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Chris Beckett: And and Hercules which are prominent sort of springtime constellations right now and corona borealis is sort of a lesser known constellation but the forums this you shape.
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Chris Beckett: And kind of just sort of to the to the east of Center of that is this little Star and it will it will brighten up and then it will.
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Chris Beckett: Go back down again it really changes that that whole look of that region of sky and that’s sort of one of the things that that I became interested when I I just observed just a handful of them, but but they’re really interesting to watch over the over the years and months.
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Stella Kafka: The next time you observe it says the data.
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Chris Beckett: I really.
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Chris Beckett: I really should I mean if I had, I never had intended to observe it this long and I don’t really log it I just every time an hour and I like looking at corona Braille is is really not that much else to look at in corona borealis except for our current.
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Chris Beckett: list so if I had been flying that all along, I would have had a nice set of curves for the better part of two and a half decades free Unfortunately I didn’t do.
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Stella Kafka: it’s never too late, please.
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Chris Beckett: I really should yeah.
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Stella Kafka: yeah it.
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Chris Beckett: really should but.
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Chris Beckett: But maybe you mentioned this when we first started chatting today.
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Chris Beckett: You talked about some some webinars they that the vso puts on on a monthly basis sounds like there’s there’s two sets.
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Chris Beckett: of how to series and a research highlight.
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Chris Beckett: series, can you talk about about those a little bit they sounded really interesting, I think the listeners would love to hear about them.
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Stella Kafka: Oh absolutely it’s came as a result of conveyed where we were all frustrated know being able to go to star parties and see each other and spend time with each other, have conferences.
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Stella Kafka: And we decided to launch our webinar series online webinars that feature from research results from the ABS so by the professional astronomers we use the data to all kinds of.
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Stella Kafka: Observing sections what’s happening with fund stars, etc, these are happening twice a month, and you can lead on Saturdays at two o’clock in the afternoon, and you can find information actually on our webpage so under our Community tab you can see events, and these are webinars there.
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Chris Beckett: And the web pages ABS so.org correct okay.
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Stella Kafka: Baby so that orgy.
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Stella Kafka: And also, we have what we call how two hours this start started actually at our Conference or meeting the annual meeting that we have as presentations that focus on one specific aspect of variables are observing like, for example, how to do visual observing.
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Stella Kafka: Right, so you have a pair of binoculars and now what.
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Stella Kafka: What are the steps so these these are online as well now and again, focusing on specific aspects of observing they happen, the first Saturday of every month at they’re still at two o’clock Eastern time.
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Stella Kafka: And they are they cover subjects from, for example, how to do the slr photography Okay, you have your diesel our camera you know what.
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Stella Kafka: Last time we talked about how to do spectroscopy and the budget, so you wanted the spectrum of stars right, so you might be able to afford the diffraction grading but you don’t want to build those $50,000 Observatory, how do you do that.
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Chris Beckett: Do you want to build one I just can’t afford to you.
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Stella Kafka: Know that’s for all of us.
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Stella Kafka: All of us wants to have both are heirs heirs.
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Stella Kafka: Based and space space Observatory.
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Stella Kafka: But you know the next one.
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Stella Kafka: The first Saturday of may we’re going to cover how to do CCD forever.
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Stella Kafka: Okay Okay, you have a security camera you have two options either you just purchased a very expensive paperweight or you can actually use it so let’s cover.
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Stella Kafka: So how do you how do you get started with that.
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Stella Kafka: And this give opportunities for experts in the field, which are not professional astronomers necessary to discuss different.
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Stella Kafka: techniques and for our audience to ask questions as in you know, so you mentioned blah, I have this kind of equipment is it.
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Stella Kafka: Do I have to change something or is it appropriate for this technique or please clarify a B or C so again they’re all free.
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Stella Kafka: You can just register for as many as you want and enjoy them to your heart’s content.
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Stella Kafka: This is an opportunity for us to connect remember social distancing is not social isolation so cow every part of our Community join the discussion ask your questions there’s no such thing as a dumb question.
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Stella Kafka: and
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Stella Kafka: yeah take advantage of this free events, because exactly we put them together for you, for our Community right to celebrate science to learn about science and figure out what’s cool and exciting what’s coming out of the ABS so data bases.
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Stella Kafka: Collaboration manpower people power of data.
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Chris Beckett: mm hmm yeah.
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Chris Beckett: yourself yeah it’s it’s amazing you know this, this is one of those places you referring to this really on as well, where.
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Chris Beckett: You know, regular people if we call ourselves regular people are able to contribute to science and you know wow there’s professional astrophysicist that are using this data that’s collected by the these observers all over the world who belonged to your organization to the idea, so.
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Chris Beckett: that’s actually where you know regular folks can actually make astrophysical contribution, so you know what what an amazing organization and a great opportunity for people who who do just consider themselves casual stargazers or amateur astronomers to make a contribution, absolutely.
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Stella Kafka: And it’s again it’s a collaboration so we’re all learning from each other here professional astronomers do learn from our observers as well, and we just.
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Stella Kafka: exchange ideas and we change expertise and actually if you think about it, nowadays, professional astronomy or research is not something that one person does.
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Stella Kafka: behind closed doors it’s something that is requires collaboration to national collective activities of people who contribute one piece.
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Stella Kafka: A person and you put them all together, and you have a good result, so the AV so is part of that collaboration and significant part because we provide in key data.
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Stella Kafka: There are lots of professional astronomy projects that would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the area, so if it wasn’t for your what you call.
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Stella Kafka: Call when people system testing and, conversely, if it wasn’t for for that amazing group of people who take data mm hmm excellent.
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Chris Beckett: Well i’m getting the note from shane that we have maybe time for one one last bit seen did you have a final question to ask.
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Shane Ludtke: Not a question, but maybe I would just turn it over to you Stella was there is there anything you wanted to say that maybe we didn’t ask you, or is there any questions you have for us.
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Stella Kafka: The one thing I want to really, really emphasize is that the astronomers for all it’s not for a.
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Stella Kafka: an elite of people it’s not for those who spend 50 years in school astronomy is a science field that requires help from everybody and is enriched because of health.
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Stella Kafka: Because of the contributions of everyone so again, I would like to encourage your your listeners.
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Stella Kafka: to join us try it themselves, and even if they don’t want to try it because you know, maybe staying up at night and taking measurements of variable service know where they want to do.
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Stella Kafka: join the conversation coming find out what people are discovering support citizen science support an organization has been around for 110 years and pushing science to boldly go where no one has gone before.
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Stella Kafka: it’s it’s our way of exploring the sky it’s our way of exploring the universe and it’s, the only way of exploring the universe so.
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Stella Kafka: And another thing I want to actually say is that astronomy has no borders, one of the things that I value and appreciates from the area so communities that’s a group.
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Stella Kafka: A diverse group of individuals from all over the world who respectfully interact and learn together, so if you want to be part of this Community join us.
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Shane Ludtke: that’s that’s wonderful and I think that’s a great way to end the podcast Hello Thank you so much for, thank you for joining us today this is been Maybe my favorite one that we’ve recorded so far and I.
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Chris Beckett: Think So yes.
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Shane Ludtke: you’ve inspired me, I will be doing some variable star observing and i’ll definitely be looking at a membership into the via so so thank you very much.
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Stella Kafka: Oh, thank you it’s a privilege to talk to you guys and I hope sometime in the near future we get to meet in person.
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Shane Ludtke: Thanks for yeah.
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Shane Ludtke: Thank you.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
=====================
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