[vsnet-alert 9355] Re: [baavss-alert] AL Com

[arne]

Gary Poyner wrote:
> A recent AAVSO MyNewsFlash has AL Com to be in outburst
> on May 16.274 at 13.9 visual.  Confirmation is urgently
> requested.
> 
This is one of the unfortunate side-effects of rapid notification;
no checks of data are made before things like newsflash are run.
For our professional colleagues who may be needing to trigger
ToO observations, we generally prefer that they enlist AAVSO
HQ staff to help them interpret the submitted observations, or
at least wait for a confirming observation.

In this case, the comments say "139 comp star sw used" and the
reported magnitude was 13.9.  If I were to guess, I'd say it was
a typo and it was supposed to be a "less than 13.9" observation,
especially since the observer has done this several times on
earlier nights.

A computer cannot catch such a discrepancy without a lot more
smarts than I'm able to program!
Arne