From ce599e4f9f94b4eb00c1b5edb85bce5431ab3df2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: toma Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:56:58 +0000 Subject: Copy the KDE 3.5 branch to branches/trinity for new KDE 3.5 features. BUG:215923 git-svn-id: svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/trinity/kdeedu@1054174 283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da --- doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook | 176 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 176 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook (limited to 'doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook') diff --git a/doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook b/doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook new file mode 100644 index 00000000..344ecc82 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/kstars/lightcurves.docbook @@ -0,0 +1,176 @@ + + + + +Aaron +Price +
+aavso@aavso.org +
 + + + +AAVSO Light Curves +Tools +AAVSO Lightcurve Generator + + + + +The AAVSO Lightcurves Tool + + + + + + + AAVSO Lightcurves + + + + + +Introduction + +&kstars; can display light curves for variable stars from the observing +program of the American Association +of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). 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 AAVSO database via the +Internet, so a network connection is required to use this tool. + + +To use the tool, select a variable star either by +designation 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 Retrieve Curve +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: + + + + +A Sample Lightcurve + + + + + + + Sample Lightcurve + + + + + +Please not these light curves should NEVER 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 AAVSO's strict quality control +measures. We will be glad to give you good raw data simply by requesting +it at http://www.aavso.org/adata/onlinedata/. + + +Specific questions about the data in the light curves can be sent to +aavso@aavso.org. + + + + +About Variable Stars + +Variable stars are stars that change in +brightness. A light curve 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. + + + + +The Data + + +Here is a summary of the various types of data available in the light +curves: + + +Visual Observation: +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. + +Fainter than: +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 fainter thans because the variable star +was fainter than the brightness reported. + +Average: +This is a computed running average of all the data reported. The +bin 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. + +CCDV: +These are observations reported using a CCD with a +Johnson V filter. CCDV observations +tend to be more accurate than visual (but not +always). + +CCDB: +CCD observations with a Johnson B +filter. + +CCDI: +CCD observations with a Cousins Ic +filter. + +CCDR: +CCD observations with a Cousins R +filter. + +Discrepant Data: +This is data that has been flagged by an AAVSO staff +member as being discrepant following HQ rules for +data validation. Contact aavso@aavso.org for more +information. + +Dates: +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. + + + + + + +Updating your local copy of Variable Stars + +The AAVSO publishes the +full list of variable +stars in their monitoring program. This file is updated +monthly with newly discovered variable stars. To sync the list that +&kstars; uses with the AAVSO master list, click +on the Update List button in the +AAVSO dialog. &kstars; will then attempt to +connect to the AAVSO database and download the +latest list. + + + +The customized data stream provided by the AAVSO was implemented for +&kstars; by Aaron Price. Thank you, Aaron! + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.1