A METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF LONG SERIES OF VISUAL OBSERVATIONS OF RED, SMALL AMPLITUDE VARIABLE STARS

This paper proposes a method that corrects the spurious effects induced by systematic differences in the estimates made by a great number of visual observers. Their own systematic error is calculated individually for each observer and the duly corrected estimates then analyzed using weighted means. The method has been applied to numerous series of visual estimates obtained by GEOS observers on variable stars of late spectral type and a comparison with photoelectric measures shows its efficiency. This method could be especially useful in the analysis of visual series secured on long-period or irregular variables.