Award for Søren Toft
The Section for Mathematics and Astronomy as a place of research includes the Kepler Observatory at the Goetheanum. It is from there that Søren Toft observes the star R Coronae Borealis.
The astronomer Søren Toft has been observing and photographing the star R Coronae Borealis at regular intervals since 2015, using the telescope of the Goetheanum’s observatory. This star is displaying major unpredictable fluctuations in brightness. At times it was possible to see it with the naked eye in good conditions, and then again there were times when it was «hiding», as its brightness faded by a factor of 400. It is this feature in particular that renders this star, which is on average the eighth brightest in the Corona Borealis constellation, so very interesting.
Søren Toft was born in Denmark in 1950. He studied astronomy at Copenhagen University and was a teacher at Virum Secondary School near Copenhagen from 1982 to 2015. He joined the Section for Mathematics and Astronomy in 2015, using the Goetheanum’s Kepler Observatory for his observations.
AAVSO Observer Award for Søren Toft
Søren Toft has presented the results of his investigations in the colloquia of the Mathematics and Astronomy Section and also added them to the database of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). In late 2018, at the Association’s 107th annual meeting, he was granted the aavso Observer Award for over 500 high-class observations. This year, the aavso appointed Søren Toft «Proud Parent of Variable Star R CrB». From the Mathematics and Astronomy Section, we congratulate him warmly on this achievement!