Re: [TASS] publication of variable stars

[Tom Droege <droege@WWA.COM>]

Hmmmm!  I am trying to recall the exact process.  First we wait 5 years.
(Sometimes we waive this waiting period.) Then we bless the star.  Then we
wait for two miracles associated with the star.  Then we wait another 17
years.  Then we convene a convention in Rome and all the Cardinals vote.

Actually, I like the idea of having a set of lists where the lowest level
is "suspects" and the highest level is "confirmed" with good light curves,
periods where appropriate, and classification.  Three levels seem about
right.

Tom Droege

At 03:17 PM 9/7/99 -0700, you wrote:
>mgutzwiller@LANVISION.COM wrote:
>
>>
>> I will take it upon myself to design and publish for comment a series of
>> tables for addition to the TASS database.  I know I could add my own tables
>> but I'd like to have some consensus from both the users and designers
>> present and add the tables to the official TASS database.
>
>
>The hard part isn't designing the tables.  It is getting data into the
tables.
>The even harder part is keeping the data correct, complete, not duplicated
and
>so on.
>
>The worst case would be a new table open to the world were people use the raw
>SQL "insert" command to put stars into the table.  It is pretty clear what
would
>happen after a few thousand entries were made this way.  The process that
we use
>to populate the table should have traceability built in.  For both science
and
>our credability as a group we should be able to answer the question "how did
>that
>star get into this table?"  For example every point
>in the tass catalog can be traced back to the FITS image it came from.  This
>allows
>a processing error (messed up flat) to be backed out of the TASS database.
>
>One suggestion:  Maybe we use a "promotion" process.  Stars move from
"suspect"
>variables to "candidates", then finally become "TASS Variables".  Whenever a
>star
>is promoted we can record when, by who, and the criteria for promotion.
>This way data
>is never entered directly into the "TASS Variables".  It must first move
through
>some multi-step process with some kind of quality check at each step and we
>record
>enough information that we can back out mistakes.
>
>
>  Chris Albertson
>
>  calbertson@logicon.com                  Voice: 626-351-0089  X127
>  Logicon, Pasadena California            Fax:   626-351-0699
>
>