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+<sect1 id="tool-aavso">
+
+<sect1info>
+<author>
+<firstname>Aaron</firstname>
+<surname>Price</surname>
+<affiliation><address>
+<email>aavso@aavso.org</email>
+</address></affiliation>
+</author>
+</sect1info>
+
+<title>AAVSO Light Curves</title>
+<indexterm><primary>Tools</primary>
+<secondary>AAVSO Lightcurve Generator</secondary>
+</indexterm>
+
+<screenshot>
+<screeninfo>
+The AAVSO Lightcurves Tool
+</screeninfo>
+<mediaobject>
+  <imageobject>
+    <imagedata fileref="aavso.png" format="PNG"/>
+  </imageobject>
+  <textobject>
+    <phrase>AAVSO Lightcurves</phrase>
+  </textobject>
+</mediaobject>
+</screenshot>
+
+<sect2 id="aavso-intro">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+&kstars; can display light curves for variable stars from the observing 
+program of the <ulink url="http://www.aavso.org">American Association 
+of Variable Star Observers</ulink> (<abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev>).  This 
+program monitors over 6,000 variable stars and consists of 10 million 
+observations going back almost a century.  &kstars; downloads the very 
+latest data directly from the <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> database via the 
+Internet, so a network connection is required to use this tool.
+</para>
+<para>
+To use the tool, select a variable star either by 
+<firstterm>designation</firstterm> or name in the left panel, and 
+set the start and end dates to be plotted.  In the right panel,
+select the type of data that should be plotted (see below).  When you have 
+made you selections, press the <guibutton>Retrieve Curve</guibutton>
+button.  &kstars; will automatically connect to the AAVSO server, 
+which will generate the lightcurve plot and send it to your computer for 
+display.  A sample lightcurve plot is shown below:
+</para>
+
+<screenshot>
+<screeninfo>
+A Sample Lightcurve
+</screeninfo>
+<mediaobject>
+  <imageobject>
+    <imagedata fileref="lightcurve.png" format="PNG"/>
+  </imageobject>
+  <textobject>
+    <phrase>Sample Lightcurve</phrase>
+  </textobject>
+</mediaobject>
+</screenshot>
+
+<para>
+Please not these light curves should <emphasis>NEVER</emphasis> be used 
+in research, papers, presentations, publications, &etc;. They are only 
+meant to be used as a source of info for &kstars;. They have not been 
+validated and passed the <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev>'s strict quality control 
+measures. We will be glad to give you good raw data simply by requesting 
+it at <ulink url="http://www.aavso.org/adata/onlinedata/">http://www.aavso.org/adata/onlinedata/</ulink>.
+</para>
+<para>
+Specific questions about the data in the light curves can be sent to 
+<email>aavso@aavso.org</email>. 
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="aavso-about">
+<title>About Variable Stars</title>
+<para>
+<firstterm>Variable stars</firstterm> are stars that change in 
+brightness.  A <firstterm>light curve</firstterm> is a plot of a 
+variable star's brightness over time. By looking at a light curve you 
+can see how the star has behaved in the past and try to predict how it 
+will behave in the future. Astronomers also use this data to model
+astrophysical processes in the star. This important to help us 
+understand how stars work.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="aavso-data">
+<title>The Data</title>
+
+<para>
+Here is a summary of the various types of data available in the light 
+curves:
+
+<itemizedlist>  
+<listitem><para><firstterm>Visual Observation</firstterm>: 
+This is an observation of a variable star by an observer with a 
+regular telescope.  It means that an observer saw the star at Y 
+brightness on X date and time.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>Fainter than</firstterm>: 
+Sometimes the star is too faint to be seen by the observer. When that 
+happens, the observer reports the faintest star seen in the field.  
+These are called <quote>fainter thans</quote> because the variable star 
+was fainter than the brightness reported.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>Average</firstterm>: 
+This is a computed running average of all the data reported. The 
+<firstterm>bin</firstterm> number tells the computer how many days to 
+use in each average calculation. This will need to be adjusted based on 
+the frequency of observations. The error bars represent the 1 sigma 
+standard deviation of error.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>CCDV</firstterm>: 
+These are observations reported using a <abbrev>CCD</abbrev> with a 
+Johnson <abbrev>V</abbrev> filter.  <abbrev>CCDV</abbrev> observations 
+tend to be more accurate than visual (but not 
+always).</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>CCDB</firstterm>: 
+<abbrev>CCD</abbrev> observations with a Johnson <abbrev>B</abbrev> 
+filter.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>CCDI</firstterm>: 
+<abbrev>CCD</abbrev> observations with a Cousins <abbrev>Ic</abbrev> 
+filter.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>CCDR</firstterm>: 
+<abbrev>CCD</abbrev> observations with a Cousins <abbrev>R</abbrev> 
+filter.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>Discrepant Data</firstterm>: 
+This is data that has been flagged by an <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> staff 
+member as being discrepant following <abbrev>HQ</abbrev> rules for 
+data validation. Contact <email>aavso@aavso.org</email> for more 
+information.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para><firstterm>Dates</firstterm>: 
+The observational database the light curves are based on is updated 
+every 10 minutes so you can get data in near real-time. Right now 
+light curve data is only available back to 1961, but this will likely 
+be expanded further back in time in the future.</para></listitem>
+
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="aavso-update">
+<title>Updating your local copy of Variable Stars</title>
+<para>
+The <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> publishes the 
+<ulink url="http://www.aavso.org/valnam.txt">full list of variable
+stars</ulink> in their monitoring program.  This file is updated 
+monthly with newly discovered variable stars.  To sync the list that 
+&kstars; uses with the <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> master list, click 
+on the <guibutton>Update List</guibutton> button in the 
+<abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> dialog.  &kstars; will then attempt to 
+connect to the <abbrev>AAVSO</abbrev> database and download the 
+latest list.
+</para>
+<note>
+<para>
+The customized data stream provided by the AAVSO was implemented for 
+&kstars; by Aaron Price.  Thank you, Aaron!
+</para>
+</note>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+