Proposal #288

One of my high school students would like to do a photometry project on KIC 8462852 over the course of two months. KIC 8462852 has an unusual, non-periodic, variable light curve that caught the attention of several of my students because of the curious nature of its light curve and possible explanations. Over the course of the next two months, we are hoping to make daily (or every other day) observations of the star that comprise 5 - 10 images each day. We would like these observations to continue until the 16th of December using a clear filter.

In the past, the variability of KIC 8462852 has been substantial and well within the ability of AAVSOnet to detect. However, because of the stochastic nature of the variability, there is no guarantee this will happen during the relatively short observing window we have. Despite this, the observing project is an excellent educational opportunity for my students, and even if the end result is that no significant variability is detected students will have had the opportunity to develop several important astronomical and photometric skills that will serve them well in future research.