Joe Patterson (The Stars Never Set On The CBA), is a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University, who specializes in the structure and evolution of cataclysmic variable stars. Since 1990, he has directed the Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA), a band of astronomical infantry, amateur and professional, spread around the planet, and coordinated observations of rapid periodic signals in variable stars.

Telescope closings have brought bad news to the study of variable stars. However, other developments in technology and the marketplace have occurred, that may prove far more significant in the long run. Powerful, cheaper computers and CCD-based imaging systems are appearing in thousands of backyards and basements throughout the world. No one knows what will happen as a result. The availability of cheap cameras and dry emulsions, starting around 1900, was an earlier trend of this kind -- and the world truly changed. It may be that amateur astronomers are about to reclaim their historic role in the study (as well as the discovery) of variable stars. Joe will describe the efforts of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics to exploit the new tools to study light curves of cataclysmic variables.

For more information, the CBA has a website at: http://cba.phys.columbia.edu