Introduction: Variable Star Astronomy in the 21st Century

Volume 40 number 1 (2012)

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John R. Percy

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto ON M5S 3H4, Canada

Abstract

The AAVSO has just celebrated an exciting and important milestone in its history—its centenary. At the age of 100, it is in excellent health (unlike most people), with a new(ish) home, an able and dedicated staff and council, a worldwide network of volunteer observers and friends, respect and support from professional astronomers, impressive technology, and a continuing mandate to engage in and facilitate research in variable star astronomy. It therefore seems appropriate to review variable star astronomy in 2011–2012. Several years have gone by since my book (Percy 2007) attempted to review the field and, as in most areas of astronomy, much has happened in a short period of time. We therefore commissioned a set of short reviews of variable star types which are of special interest to AAVSOers by professional-astronomer friends of the AAVSO with special expertise on these topics. We thank them for taking the time, in their busy schedules, to provide these reviews.