Named for Friedrich Argelander, who is considered to be “the father of variable star astronomy,” The Argelander Society offers membership benefits to individuals who have given a certain level of substantial financial support to the AAVSO over many years.
A Lifetime of Giving to the Stars
Once a benefactor has donated a cumulative total of $35,000 to the AAVSO, they are eligible for:
- A lifetime membership in the organization
- Free registration to Annual Meetings
- Invitations to special events
- Other tokens of the association’s appreciation
Members of the Argelander Society have supported some of the most crucial work of the AAVSO in recent years. To learn more about becoming a society member, please contact us.
Current Argelander Society Members
William B. Albrecht
Robert Martin Ayers
Marvin E. Baldwin
Richard L. Berry
John Centala
David H. Collins Estate
Gregory Conrad
Walter R. Cooney Jr.
Charles E. Curry
Margaret Doleman
Clinton B. Ford
Martha L. Hazen
Arne and Linda Henden
E. Dorrit Hoffleit
Jay Miller (inducted in 2025)
James Molnar
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation
Gordon Myers
Richard S. Post
William L. Stein
David J. Sworin
Theodore H. N. Wales
Gary Walker
Thomas R. Williams
About Friedrich Argelander
Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander was the first astronomer to begin a careful study of variable stars. At the time, only a handful of variables were known, and he was responsible for introducing the modern system of naming them using the capital letters R-Z. It was believed that variability was a rare phenomenon and that this would provide plenty of names for the variables yet to be discovered. In a few years this proved inadequate and the naming system was extended to double letters, and then a numbering system. Today, tens of thousands of variable stars are cataloged, with more being discovered all the time.
The “Argelander Step Method” is a visual method of estimating the magnitude of a variable star. It involves comparing the variable with comparison stars of known constant magnitude, and assigning a step value that reflects the brightness of the variable as distinguished from that of the comparison star. The magnitude of the variable can then be calculated from the known magnitudes of the comparisons. This is very similar in practice to methods still used today by visual observers of variable stars.
Argelander is probably best known for the Bonner Durchmusterung, the largest and most comprehensive of the pre-photographic star catalogs. He began mapping the exact positions of the stars in the northern sky in 1852, a monumental task before the use of photographic plates. When finally completed in 1863, it listed the positions of 324,198 stars down to ninth magnitude.