DOCSLIB.ORG

Firstlight Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Firstlight Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club FirstLight Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club 29° 39'N, 82° 21'W March 1996 Upcoming Club Meetings and Events March Club Meeting Date Tuesday, March 12 topic is titled: "One Dwarf, Two Dwarf, Red Time 7:30 p.m. Dwarf, White Dwarf" He will present Place Auditorium, Doyle Conner observation data and computer modeling Building, 1911 SW 34th St ideas about the bright emissive region on a red Speaker Mr. T. J. Vaccaro, Department of dward star as a result of flourescence f r o m a Astronomy, University of of Florida, will companion white dwarf star. present a talk about the star V471 Tauri. His 0 April Club Meeting Date Tuesday, April 9th Speaker Dr. Howard L. Cohen , Associate Time 7:30 p.m. Professor,UF Astronomy, and VP of AAC. Place Auditorium, Doyle Conner His topic is "Should the Lord Architect Have Building, 1911 SW 34th St. Left That Space Empty." 0 Upcoming Star Parties Star parties begin at sunset and meet at Bob Jacobs' unless otherwise stated. Address 9617 NW 143 St. (HWY. 241) —1.7 mi. North of Millhopper Rd. (HWY. 232). Look for Hurricane Harbor sign just past brick mailbox on right side of road. Go a few hundred feet up paved driveway to Bob's house. (Do not continue up onto dirt road) arriving before the sun goes down as a • Mar. 16 (Sat. Night); rain date Mar. 23. courtesy to the other astronomers. Maps will be available at the March 12 AAC meeting. Also on March 16, some AAC members are planning on a camping trip to the Chiefland No date set for April yet, on Thursday, Apr. 4 site; everyone is welcome, but please plan on there is a partial lunar eclipse. it FirstLight: Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club Page 2 March Executive Council — Pamela Mydock (Tuesday, 6 P.M., March 5, at Shoney's Rest* nt on NW 13th Street) President John Brandorff conducted a Howard has passed an invitation for AAC club leisurely meeting, over dinner with eight club members to volunteer our time when UF members attending. classes are in session, on Friday evenings from 8:30 to 10, when it is clear. You don't Spring Events: First on the list was a have to bring a scope, just yourself. Come on discussion about Spring Arts Festival, down and greet the public and help out where Astronomy Day at the Oaks Mall on April 20, you can. 10 to 4, and the next Moonlight Walk at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. It was decided ft that due to the lack of sunspot activity this year, the club would decline the invitation to participate in Spring Arts. Everyone feels that we need to concentrate our efforts at the Oaks and Kanapaha this year. More about this at the club meeting, but we will need volunteers to man the table at the Oaks in two shifts, from 10 to 1 and 1 to 4. This is a chance for us to FirstLight is the official, monthly publi- talk to the public about our hobby and show cation of the Alachua Astronomy Club our equipment. There will be no observing in (AAC), Gainesville, Florida. © 1996. All the parking lot. rights reserved. Send all written corres- pondence to: Astronomy for Money: The most important P.O. Box 13744 new development was a star party request by Gainesville, FL 32604-1744 USA 150 middle school children camping at Camp Send all E-mail messages to Kulaqua. They have offered to make a [email protected]. Send address donation to the club in thanks for our changes to AAC P.6; Box given above. For participation. We decided to use that money membership information^ contact Ryan for the monogram set-up fee, so we can order Loftus, AAC Treasurer, at 3 52^162-1227: AAC shirts. The date is Wednesday, March 20. Come out and help us look for Comet FirstLight Deadline: Submit articles for Hyakutake; the skies are very dark outside of the club newsletter by the third Tuesday High Springs. of each month. Send all material to Pamela Mydock, FirstLight Editor, P. O. Box 42, Brochures and Posters: Howard Cohen will Lochloosa, Florida 32662. (Send all other have the new brochures ready for us to hand correspondence to club's P.O. Box address out at the spring events. He also has a new above.) Submit articles printed in dark type; use a simple font (at least 14 pt. if possible). poster for club members to distribute at Double space between new paragraphs (do schools, libraries, etc. not indent). Better, E-mail articles in plain Public Nights at UF Campus Observatory: ASCII text to [email protected]. FirstLight: Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club Page 3 Minutes: February Meeting — Pamela Mydock (Tuesday, 7:30 PM, February 13 at Doyle Conner Building, Gainesville) Treasurer's Report by Ryan Loftus: $355 application to the Oaks Mall for the club for dollars with fourteen members paid for 1996. Astronomy Day, April 20. Howard and John will design some posters. Star Party Report by Bruno Pancorbo: There was no report at the meeting because Misc: Hunter's Crossing McDonalds wants a Bruno was at the Winter Star Party. See his star party. The AAC resource directory needs written report elsewhere in this issue. to be updated. Brasington's has planospheres for $9. Rollo told a UFO story. Bob Jacobs Shirt Samples by John Brandorff: There is plans to attend the NEAR launch at the Cape a one time set up fee converting our logo into (see his written report elsewhere in this a monogram; John brought some samples of newsletter). the quality available locally. No minimum is required. Speaker: Howard Cohen introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Francisco Reyes. <Jt Spring Events: Don Loftus will submit an North Central Florida's Amateur Astronomy Club AAC meets every second Tuesday of e a c h month, at 7:30 p.m., in the Doyle Conner Building, 1911 S.W. 34th Street (at S.W. 20th Avenue), Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, USA. General public and beginning stargazers are invited to all meetings, star parties and club events. No equipment needed. Call an officer (area code 352) for more info or e-mail [email protected]. President John Brandorff Star Parties Bruno Pancorbo Gainesville (375-1043) Gainesville (373-0279) Vice-President Howard L. Cohen FirstLight Gainesville (376-5833) Editor Pamela Mydock Lochloosa (481-5238) Treasurer Ryan Loftus Alachua (462-1227) Publisher Chuck Broward Secretary Mark Cowan Melrose (475-1014) Gainesville (375-2564) World Wide Web Home Page at URL http://wyw.asrro.uiLedu/-<ohen/aac FirstLight: Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club Page 4 Project NEAR Satellite Launch — Robert Jacob The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory launched the first Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission from the Cape. As the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, the goal is to answer fundamental questions about the nature and origin of asteriods and comets in the vincinity of our planet iursday, February 15,1996, prior to and gave the Planetary Society members Tthe launch of the Project NEAR a detailed account of the planned launch sattelite from the Kennedy Space Center, using a Delta rocket. scheduled for Saturday, the 17th, a Cheng described the "slingshot" method Planetary Society preview meeting was of getting the payload sattelite to the held at the NASA Visitor Center at the region of the Asteroid Belt, by way of Cape. The program entitled "A New Era near-Earth proximity on its second Earth of Discovery is NEAR," featured orbit intersection. The sattelite will reach speakers from N A S A and Johns Hopkins Eros, the target asteroid, at a distance of University. 1.78 A.U. in January of 1999. It will then For NASA, Wesley T. Huntress, go into a differential orbit around Eros for Associate Administrator, Office of Space one year. During that time it will test, Science, gave the attendees background measure, and otherwise probe the surface on the Discovery series of planned and composition of the asteroid with the launches to explore planetary objects. devices on board. This first launch will test out the philosophy of "faster, better, cheaper" in Cheng also commented briefly on the designing future missions on relatively Mars Global Surveyor project with the modest budgets. introduction of a video, showing the design phases of the Mars Lander and Following Mr. Huntress to the podium Rover vehicle. was Dr. Andrew Cheng, NEAR project scientist for the Applied Physics For those interested in accessing updates Laboraroty and featured speaker. The on Project NEAR, the web address is introduction of Dr. Cheng indicated he http://www.jhuapl.edu. The Planetary attended Columbia University before Society web home page address is attaining a doctorate, from Princeton http://planetary.org. University. His talk was well illustrated FirstLight: Newsletter of the Alachua Astronomy Club Page 5 "Orange Blossom Special" Star Party — John Brandorff On Saturday, February 17, John Brandorff and Dale Neideritter attended the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club (SPAC) star party at Hickory Hill in Brooksville ecause the night temperature was inside by 10 or 11 PM. Wimps! We had Bexpected to get below freezing, plenty of warm gear on, so we stuck it out Dale and I didn't expect much of a until about 3 AM, when the clouds crowd. So we were pleasantly surprised started to roll in. We spent most of our to see about 20-25 'scopes when we time looking through my C-14, and of a arrived. The site, called Hickory Hill, nearly 18" Dobsonian.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Martian Ice How One Neutrino Changed Astrophysics Remembering Two Former League Presidents
    Published by the Astronomical League Vol. 71, No. 3 June 2019 MARTIAN ICE HOW ONE NEUTRINO 7.20.69 CHANGED ASTROPHYSICS 5YEARS REMEMBERING TWO APOLLO 11 FORMER LEAGUE PRESIDENTS ONOMY T STR O T A H G E N P I E G O Contents N P I L R E B 4 . President’s Corner ASTRONOMY DAY Join a Tour This Year! 4 . All Things Astronomical 6 . Full Steam Ahead OCTOBER 5, From 37,000 feet above the Pacific Total Eclipse Flight: Chile 7 . Night Sky Network 2019 Ocean, you’ll be high above any clouds, July 2, 2019 For a FREE 76-page Astronomy seeing up to 3¼ minutes of totality in a PAGE 4 9 . Wanderers in the Neighborhood dark sky that makes the Sun’s corona look Day Handbook full of ideas and incredibly dramatic. Our flight will de- 10 . Deep Sky Objects suggestions, go to: part from and return to Santiago, Chile. skyandtelescope.com/2019eclipseflight www.astroleague.org Click 12 . International Dark-Sky Association on "Astronomy Day” Scroll 14 . Fire & Ice: How One Neutrino down to "Free Astronomy Day African Stargazing Safari Join astronomer Stephen James ̃̃̃Changed a Field Handbook" O’Meara in wildlife-rich Botswana July 29–August 4, 2019 for evening stargazing and daytime PAGE 14 18 . Remembering Two Former For more information, contact: safari drives at three luxury field ̃̃̃Astronomical League Presidents Gary Tomlinson camps. Only 16 spaces available! Astronomy Day Coordinator Optional extension to Victoria Falls. 21 . Coming Events [email protected] skyandtelescope.com/botswana2019 22 . Gallery—Moon Shots 25 . Observing Awards Iceland Aurorae September 26–October 2, 2019 26 .
    [Show full text]
  • Cincinnati Observatory
    FAQ's | Rent the Observatory | 513.321.5186 JOIN/RENEW JOIN US ABOUT PUBLIC EVENTS SCHOOL PROGRAMS DEAN REGAS GALLERY DIRECTIONS CONTACT DEAN REGAS ABOUT DEAN DEAN REGAS: YOUR ASTRONOMER 100 THINGS TO SEE IN THE NIGHT SKY Recently featured in the New York Times Dean has been the Astronomer for the Cincinnati STAR GAZERS Observatory since 2000. He is a renowned educator, a national popularizer of astronomy and an expert in LOOKING UP observational astronomy. PODCAST Dean is the co-host of Star Gazers, a new twist on an SPEAKING EVENTS iconic backyard astronomy program which airs on over 100 PBS stations around the world. He is the author of the books "Facts From Space!" hit the shelves in October 2016 and "100 Things to See in the Night Sky" came out this November. Dean is a Contributing Editor to Sky and Telescope Magazine and a contributor to Astronomy Magazine, where he won 2008 “Out-of-this-World” Award for astronomy education. Dean has written over 120 astronomy articles for the Cincinnati Enquirer, blogs for the Huffington Post and is regularly featured on television and radio. Since 2012 Dean has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow, and this year he began an astronomy podcast with Anna Hehman called "Looking Up!" At the Cincinnati Observatory, he has developed his skills as a dynamic writer and public speaker who brings the complicated field of astronomy down to Earth for students of all ages. 100 THINGS TO SEE IN THE NIGHT SKY The New Book by Dean Regas A handy field guide for the best stargazing experience whether in your own back yard, camping, or travelling—including information showing you which planets, constellations, stars, and manmade objects you can see with a telescope, or just your naked eye! Each object is presented as a separate entry, with background information on the makeup, appearance, and history of the object, along with easy-to-follow instructions on how to find it.
    [Show full text]
  • The Newsletter of the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society
    February The ECLIPSE 2018 The Newsletter of the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society From the President Next Membership Meeting: Greetings, February 21, 2018, 7:30 pm Well, our plans for the January member meeting did not materialize due to the weather. Te telescope workshop will Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council Building be rescheduled for later this spring. For now, I thought it 4522 Granny White Pike appropriate to update you on several issues. th Topic: Messier Marathon First, please mark your calendar for Saturday, March 17 . BSAS member Mark Manner has graciously agreed to host a Messier Marathon at Spot Observatory. Te observatory is about 50 miles west of Nashville in a very nice wooded area. Spot Observatory is pretty ideal for this event given the dark skies and facilities that Mark has available. We will start with In this Issue: a potluck dinner and then stay through the entire evening, or at least as long as you would like. We have sure enjoyed Observing Highlights 2 Mark’s site and hospitality many times and it should be another great evening together. Happy Birthday Quasars by Robin Byrne 3 If you are not familiar with a Messier Marathon, plan to attend our February 21st member meeting. Terry Reeves will Deep Sky Daze be presenting an interesting talk on the topic. Basically, a by Mike Benson 5 Messier Marathon is an attempt to locate as many Messier Board Meeting Minutes 8 objects as possible in a single night. I recall my frst Messier January 3, 2018 Marathon several years ago was at Spot Observatory and I was positioned next to Terry and his telescope.
    [Show full text]
  • This Months KAS Events
    Highlights of the February Sky . 2nd. Last Quarter Moon . 5th. February 2005 Aurigid Meteor Shower (5th-10th) This Months KAS Events . 7th. Mars 0.7° N of Lagoon Nebula, M20 and M21 also nearby First Light A Beginners Guide to Telescopes th . 8 . By Richard Bell New Moon 7:00 pm Friday, February 4 .. 15th. Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center First Quarter Moon Space Robotics .. 16th. Young Astronomers Moon 1.5° S of the Pleiades, 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 15 best in western states Trinity Reformed church .. 23rd. Full Moon Inside this Newsletter. .. 26th. Zodiacal Light visible in W January Meeting Minutes..................................... p. 2 after evening twilight for next 2 weeks Board Meeting Minutes....................................... p. 2 Observations…………………………........... p. 3 .. 27th. NASA Space Place............................................... p. 4 Jupiter 1.9° S of Moon, best in Young Astronomers…………….…................ p. 5 western states The Book Corner……......................................... p. 6 KAS Officers & Announcements...................... p. 7 Membership Form (Renew NOW).................... p. 8 February Sky Calendar…………....................... p. 9 www.kasonline.org February 2005 Page 2 January Meeting Board Meeting Minutes Minutes As appropriate for a frigid January meeting day, Molly and The KAS board met at 4 pm on 1/9/05 at Trinity Reformed Roger Williams gave a presentation on their trip to Ice- Church (326 W. Cork St.). Present were Richard Bell, land in September, 2004. Beverly Byle, Rich Mather, Robert Havira, Frank Sever- ance, Carol Van Dien, Robert Wade, and Roger Williams. Molly started off the presentation by describing the geol- ogy of the region, which is dominated by black lava, gla- After approval of the agenda, the treasurer’s report was ciers, numerous scenic waterfalls (often with associated examined.
    [Show full text]
  • September 2020
    JANUARY 2018 September 2020 September Meeting Details September Presentation DATE: Tuesday, September 8th WHO: Tom Field MEETING TIME: 7:00 TITLE: You Can Almost Touch the Stars PLACE: La Posada Recreation Center ABSTRACT: Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly distant. Despite these great MEETING SCHEDULE: distances, astronomers have learned an enormous 6:30 ZOOM Waiting Room Available amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is called spectroscopy, 7:00 Meeting Intro and Welcome which is the science of analyzing the colorful rainbow 7:10 Featured Presentation Followed by spectrum produced by a prism-like device. Until Club Activities/Business recently, spectroscopy was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture … or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple web cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the stars yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the Next Member Star Parties atmosphere on Neptune or the red shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?! This talk, with lots of DATE: Thursday, September 17th interesting examples, will show you what it’s all TIME: 6:15 PM Setup about and help you understand how spectroscopy is PLACE: Canoa Preserve Park used in research. Even if you are an armchair astronomer, understanding this field will enhance th DATE: Thursday, October 15 your understanding of the things your read and the TIME: 5:45 PM Setup night sky.
    [Show full text]
  • RTMC Sponsor
    San Diego Astronomy Association Celebrating Over 50 Years of Astronomical Outreach September 2019 http://www.sdaa.org A Non-Profit Educational Association P.O. Box 23215, San Diego, CA 92193-3215 September Program Meeting Date: September 18, 2019 Speaker: Dave Wood Next SDAA Business Meeting Topic: TARO - History and evolution, how it works and what we are currently September 10th at 7:00pm doing with it 7270 Trade Street San Diego, CA 92121 Dave been with the club since 1991. He has been on the Board since 2011, and held positions as director, treasurer and club president. Next Program Meeting September 18th at 7:00pm Dave has worked on TARO since it’s inception in 2014. Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor and Interpretive Center 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA) sponsors speakers on a wide range of astronomy topics on the third Wednesday of every month at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitors Center. The program meeting begins at 7:00pm. Each attendee receives CONTENTS one free door prize ticket. After announcements and a small amount of business, the September 2019, Vol LVII, Issue 9 audience is treated to the featured presentation. At the close of the meeting the door Published Monthly by the prizes are presented. The event is open to the public. The Mission Trails Regional Park San Diego Astronomy Association Visitors Center is at One Fr. Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego CA 92119. Call the park at Incorporated in California in 1963 619-668-3281 for more information or visit http://www.mtrp.org Program Meeting...........1 August Minutes.........2 DoubleSTARS Seminar...........5 Julian Starfest...........6 SDAA Outreach to China.....11 RTMC............................16 SDAA Contacts...............21 NASA Night Sky Notes......22 Astronomy Cartoon............24 The Annual BBQ at TDS will be on the 28th of September.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmic Cockroaches!
    Volume 16, Number 8 August 2007 In This Issue Sail Planes, Music, and ISS Page One Photos by Greg Ozimek, Dale Ochalek • Sail Planes, Music, and ISS • Cosmic Cockroaches! Inside Stuff 2 President’s Corner 3 Meeting Minutes 6 Next Meeting Agenda 7 FAAC Events 2007 7 Treasurer’s Report 7 Astro Imaging SIG 7 Items for Sale 8 GLSG5 – Reserve Your Spot 8 FAAC has Calendars- 2008 8 New Members Doug Bauer is saddled up in back, for a smooth glide in the skies (Greg Ozimek photo). 9 Crater Clavius Start with lots of good food, conversation, sunshine, and sail planes, add 10 Astronomy at the slide guitar music, then top it all with fireworks, a clear night for observing, Beach and even a late flyover by the International Space Station, and you’ve got a 11 Dark Sky Workshop successful, 2nd annual SEMTA/FAAC picnic (August 11 at Richmond Airport). ...continued on page 8 Cosmic Cockroaches! Dr. Tony Phillips Cockroaches are supposed to be tough, able to survive anything from a good stomping to a nuclear blast. But roaches are wimps compared to a little molecule that has recently caught the eye of biologists and astronomers— the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. ...continued on page 3 Page 2 STAR STUFF Ancient Knowledge – Set in Stone STAR STUFF AUGUST 2007 - VOL. 16 - NO. 8 President’s Corner Don Klaser, President, FAAC STAR STUFF is published eleven times each year by the While doing research for the presentation on the FORD AMATEUR ASTRONOMY CLUB P.O. Box 7527 calendar and western culture that I gave last year I came across the subject of archaeoastronomy.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020 CFHT Annual Report
    2020 CFHT Annual Report Table of Contents Director’s Message ………………………………………………….………………………………………... 3 Science Report ………………………………………………....................................................... 5 CFHT Explores New Frontiers in Multi-Messenger Astronomy............................. 5 Galactic............................................ Census Reveals Origin of Most "Extreme" Galaxies ...…………………………. 6 New.......................................................... Machine Learning Applications f………………….or SITELLE ...............................…………………… .............……. 8 New M92 Stellar Stream Discovered ................................................................... 10 Engineering Report ………..………………………………….……………………………………….……… 11 Re-Coating-Shutdown, Coating Chamber and Mirror System Improvements ..... 11 Hydraulic System Update ............…………………………………………………………….......... 14 MegaCam Update ................................................................................................ 15 Bridge Crane .........................................….…………………………….……………………….… 16 Software Activities ........................….……………………………………………….…………….… 16 SITELLE Update .................................................................................................... 18 SPIRou Update ..................................................................................................... 20 Co-Mount ESPaDOnS and SPIRou ........................................................................ 22 MSE Report ………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..…. 24
    [Show full text]
  • May / June 2009 Amateur Astronomy Club Issue 81.1/82.1 29°39’ North, 82°21’ West
    North Central Florida’s May / June 2009 Amateur Astronomy Club Issue 81.1/82.1 29°39’ North, 82°21’ West Member Member Astronomical International League Dark-Sky Association Star Party Recap For those of you fortunate to attend Gary Cook's residence in February, poor weather forecasts were did not come to realization. Clear, chilly weather and low light pollution opened the skies up to fainter dark sky objects. Of the half-dozen scopes at hand, the highlight of the evening was Gary's 10-inch Newtonian, pier mounted on a motorized equatorial. "All of the convenience of a Dobsonian, all of the rock steady tracking of a German equatorial!" In March, weather was a deterring factor for many, as the Loftus star party attracted a little under a dozen guests. Hazy, cloudy skies left those disappointed as the group called it a night just after it had begun. On the 23rd of May, we are blessed with an invitation to Bob Duval's residence out by the Chiefland Astronomy Village. Skies don't get much better than this here in Florida. We are also looking forward to the party at Bob Jacobs' house, Hurricane Harbor. With a 25 minute drive out of Gainesville, it holds a pleasant compromise between dark skies and proximity. Come out on June 20 and view the Summer sky at it's best. Brilliant views of the Milky Way, nebulae, galaxies, open clusters and globulars await! Any type of object can be viewed during this opportunistic period. Thomas Hettinger Assistant Star Party Coordinator Alachua Astronomy Club Left: Fred and Lucille Heinrich received antique Newtonian reflector replicas from b.
    [Show full text]
  • SPAC Examiner
    Inside this Issue: President’s Message 2 SPACE February Astronomical Events 3 Space Exploration 3 St. Petersburg Astronomy Club Examiner December Field Report 4-6 The Great Conjunction 8-10 January 2021 Editor – Guy Earle SPAC Astrophotography 10-13 The St. Petersburg Astronomy Club has been the center of NGC literature (part 2 of 2) 14-18 family astronomy in the Tampa Bay Area since 1927. Our 310 adult members are dedicated to promoting and sharing the wonders and Mirror Lab Report 18-19 science of astronomy. We host dark-sky and local star parties, International Dark Sky 19-20 telescope-making workshops, science lectures, astronomy lectures, educational outreach sessions and much more. Astronomy Image of the Month Here is an outstanding collage of images taken by SPAC member Omar Rahman, showing all of his deep sky photos from 2020. Well done, Omar! St. Petersburg Astronomy Club Examiner January 2021 President’s Message Happy New Year!? Well, hopefully it will be soon, anyway. In fact, I know it will be as we gather for our first annual, and hopefully last, New Moon Super Weekend which, with any luck, will return to our annual Star Party next year. Even though this will be an abridged event, we will still have a great time, and I hope to see everyone at Withlacoochee River Park in February to enjoy the night sky. For additional information, please visit our website and don’t forget to grab some raffle tickets for the telescope refurbished by our mirror lab while you are there. As with all our New Moon Weekend events, we will adhere to the recommendation set by the CDC safe practices and social distancing guidelines.
    [Show full text]
  • Prime Focus (02-19).Pub
    Highlights of the February Sky - - - 1st - - - AM: Antares, Jupiter, Venus, a waning crescent Moon, and Saturn form a 35° arc stretching from southeast to the south-southeast. - - - 4th - - - New Moon 4:04 pm EST KAS - - - 10th - - - PM: Aer sunset, look halfway up in the south- General Meeting: Friday, February 1 @ 7:00 pm southwest to see a waxing crescent Moon hanging Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center - See Page 12 for Details some 6° lower le of Mars. - - - 12 - - - Observing: Saturday, February 2 @ 7:00 pm First Quarter Moon 5:26 pm EST February Freeze Out - Kalamazoo Nature Center DUSK: Mercury reemerges from superior conjuncon - look toward the west- Board Meeting: Sunday, February 10 @ 5:00 pm southwest aer sunset. Sunnyside Church - 2800 Gull Road - All Members Welcome - - - 13th - - - PM: The Moon is in the Hyades, 2° from Aldebaran. - - - 17th 19th - - - Inside the Newsletter. AM: Venus and Saturn are 1° apart. Look toward the southeast before sunrise. January Meeng Minutes.................. p. 2 Board Meeng Minutes..................... p. 2 - - - 17 - - - PM: A waxing gibbous Recent Addion to KAS Library.......... p. 3 Moon is in Cancer, next to Observaons...................................... p. 3 M44, the Beehive Cluster. Community Outreach in 2019............p. 4 - - - 26 - - - KAS Member Lunar Eclipse Images.... p. 5 Last Quarter Moon 6:28 am EST Tele Vue 32mm Plössl........................ p. 7 NASA Night Sky Notes........................ p. 8 - - - 27th - - - DAWN: A waning crescent Star Pares in 2019............................ p. 9 Moon is 2° to the upper February Night Sky............................. p. 10 right of Jupiter. KAS Board & Announcements............ p. 11 - - - 27th - - - DAWN: The Moon is about General Meeng Preview.................
    [Show full text]
  • Thestargazer
    The StarGazer http://www.raclub.org/ Newsletter of the Rappahannock Astronomy Club No. 4, Vol. 2 February 2014–April 2014 Why I Love Astronomy and How I Became an Astroimager by Ben Ashley My astronomy journey began in the winter of 1997—10 years old, with my father in a field outside our home, looking west after sunset at a fuzzy white streak about the size of your thumb when held out at arm’s length. It was the Hale-Bopp comet. At that time, it was still quite dim, and we might not have seen it at all if not for living in what was a very dark site back then. Over the next 2 months, Hale-Bopp became bright enough to be seen as a point of light high in the western sky above the red setting Sun. And in the dark night, it formed a tail that grew longer and longer, eventually splitting into two—a large white dusty comma that faded into yellow and orange, Hale-Bopp (©Jerry Lodriguss and sharply cut blue fins like the crest of a tropical bird. I Source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131013.html remember seeing the comet from the backseat of a car riding home one night and telling my parents I wanted to go look at it, but was told no because it was too late. I dutifully went to bed but waited until everyone else had gone to sleep before getting up again, putting on a coat, and slipping outside unheard, up the lane to a high hill.
    [Show full text]