Stargazers,cosmology buffs may be interested in new Vatican Observatory website, podcast
https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/ has launched a new website and podcast that offers resources to those interested in the stars, planets, and all things cosmological. The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest active astronomical observatories in the world with its roots going back to 1582 and the Gregorian reform of the calendar. The new website was launched (no pun intended) this week.
The variable star mention is actually variable radio objects such as with the fading of Cas A. I did an Eastern Conference PowerPoint on it a couple years ago as part of the 20m demo, which can be found at:
https://www.radio-astronomy.org/node/200
Look for the Cas A Observation Program. There isn't a team anymore, but Cas A is a good long-term object to observe because of its variability. Some of the challenges with such an observational program for amateurs is obtaining accurate flux measurements (short of a comprehensive statistical analysis) and how to archive the observations if not part of the Skynet Archive.
Steve