The Fascinating Universe of Variable Stars

Historians debate whether the first confirmed variable star was Mira (a.k.a. Omicron Ceti, with observations recorded in 1596), or Algol (a.k.a. the Demon star, with observations recorded in 1667 - but which may have been known in antiquity).  Since then, thousands of variablestars have been identified. Over the past century, astrophysicists have started to understand why these “stars” rapidly change brightness.  Yesterday’s “variable stars” are now realized to be a menagerie of strange celestial objects – including stars in birth throes, eclipsing binaries, stars in death agonies, and the bizarre world of cataclysmic variables. These objects give us insight into star formation and evolution, distances in the universe, exoplanet detection, and the high-energy physics of nova, supernova and cataclysmic variables.

The presentation will briefly describe various objects we measure as variable stars.  It will also describe the role the AAVSO has played since 1911 collecting data from amateurs around the globe and coordinating research with professionals.  Current activities helping astrophysicists collect and analyze data, supporting space borne telescope observations, and enhancing collaboration between amateurs and professionals will be described. Finally, opportunities for individual amateurs to become involved will be presented.

Speaker: Gordon Myers is a life-long astronomy enthusiast. He graduated from Caltech and worked with NASA on the Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs.  After retiring from a career with IBM, he became an 'Earth and Space Explainer' at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Over the last four years he's taken astrophysics courses at Columbia University, and is an active variable  star observer using remote telescopes operated over the Internet.