The AAVSO Data Validation Project: Opening the Treasure Chest (Abstract)

Volume 33 number 1 (2005)

Elizabeth O. Waagen

Abstract

(Abstract only) The AAVSO Validation Project is a 2-year project funded by NASA to validate (check for transcription and digitization errors and perform quality-control checks) over 9.5 million variable star observations made between 1911 and 2001 by over 6,000 observers worldwide and contributed to the AAVSO International Database. When the project is completed in the fall of 2004, the data, already available on the AAVSO website, will be placed on Caltech’s NASA IPAC-IRSA site and in other NASA databases so that the data are publicly available for astronomical research, education, and public outreach. The AAVSO International Database, with its 11+ million observations going back to 1911 or earlier, was described by the late AAVSO Director Janet Mattei as a treasure chest waiting to be opened and explored. Validation makes this exploration possible. This paper addresses the questions: what is validation? why is it necessary? how is it done? and shows several examples of the “treasure” becoming available to everyone.