Suspected Variables in AAVSO Star Fields

摘要

The master listing of stars observed by the AAVSO is listed in the"Validation File". The file lists commonly observed variable stars but alsolists many "obscure" stars within the fields of view that observers over theyears have suspected of being variable. Over the century-long history of theAAVSO over 1,200 such suspects have been added, but this population hasnever been investigated in detail. Our project first identified each suspect with acatalogue name and position, then using CCD cameras we are now sorting outthe true variables from non-variable stars. A small but significant percentageof these stars turn out to be variable, sometimes of surprisingly large range.Unfortunately, some of these variables have been used as comparison starsby visual observers over the years. And noW with the fields being explored byCCD camera users, even small-range unrecognized variables stars can causeconfusion and skewed data. It is thus important to identify the field suspectsand eliminate them as comparison stars.