In my effort to recruit observers for the PEP group I sent an inquiry to the SCIENCE AND AMATEUR ASTRONOMY CLUB ASSOCIATION (BAAK) in Turkiye (https://baak.org.tr/abouten/). I got quite a response that I excerpt below…
"… we would like to express our sincere gratitude for reaching out to us and proposing a collaboration with our association.
Our core mission is to bridge the gap between science and society, with a primary focus on astronomy and citizen science. In this regard, AAVSO’s longstanding commitment to citizen science and its efforts to engage amateur astronomers in meaningful scientific research align perfectly with the mission upon which our association was founded.
We firmly believe that the night sky is one of humanity’s most precious natural heritages—one that must be protected and preserved for future generations. While we deeply appreciate the aesthetic beauty of astrophotography and its power to inspire interest in space, we also believe that amateur astronomy extends far beyond capturing breathtaking images. Fostering scientific curiosity, gathering observational data, and making meaningful contributions to scientific research are, in our view, among the most valuable aspects of amateur astronomy. We would therefore be delighted to encourage and support our members in participating in AAVSO’s citizen-science projects.
As part of this collaboration, we would be pleased to direct our members and volunteers toward your projects, promote your initiatives across our social media platforms using custom-designed visual materials, and publish joint announcements whenever possible. Furthermore, we intend to leverage our academic network, local astronomy communities, and science communication channels to broaden the visibility and impact of these initiatives.
We would also greatly appreciate a contribution from AAVSO in the form of outreach materials. Given your remarkable century-long legacy, AAVSO has long been a source of inspiration for aspiring amateur astronomers around the world. We would greatly appreciate it if you could share outreach materials with us, such as high-quality images, stories of notable discoveries made by amateur astronomers, examples of impactful citizen-science contributions, and highlights of AAVSO’s achievements. We would also be grateful if you could provide your official logo and a brief overview of your core projects so that we can introduce AAVSO to our community as effectively as possible."
I know that HQ is running flat-out right now, and the level of interaction asked for above is far above what I am in a position to provide. I would appreciate help in addressing this opportunity.
Tom
@tcalderw