Richastro » Events

Earth Wins Game Of Chicken With Sun

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:01:04 +0000

Some surprising facts about the potentially dangerous effects of a large solar eruption. And we’re going into a solar maximum, where the possibility of “the big one” exists.

http://www.blottr.com/world/breaking-news/earth-wins-game-chicken-sun

December Potluck Dinner

president — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:24:50 +0000

Potluck Dinner Delectables

Thanks to all who attended our annual potluck dinner. Everything was absolutely delicious, the images of the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party were great and the Astro-Jeopardy was a lot of fun. It was really great to see everyone. Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe holiday season.
.
Regards,.
Jim Browder

The Noose Around Relativity is Tightening

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:31:34 +0000

Interesting article from Michio Kaku, http://bigthink.com/ideas/41222

Asteroid YU55

president — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:37:36 +0000

Asteroid YU55 blew past us on November 8. RAS member Tim Streagle appeared on WTVR Channel 6 in a story about the asteroid pass at this link.
…..
So did anyone observe or image the asteroid? Please let us know or pass along an image or video and we will be happy to post it.
…..
An article in Sky and Telescope about the asteroid is here.

VAAS 2011

president — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:03:22 +0000

Back Bay Amateur Astronomers

The annual meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies was hosted this year by our friends, the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers, on Saturday, October 1, in Virginia Beach at Tidewater Community College. From the Richmond area we had Jim Blowers, Daryl Douglas, Bill Jeffries, Dave Medici, Dave Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson me.

Kevin Mitchell discussing exo-planet research

We met in the planetarium at Tidewater Community College which is an extremely convenient and comfortable facility for this sort of meeting. A nearby classroom served as a break room with donuts and coffee. The Back Bay Astronomers had lined up two planetarium presentations along with several speakers including Donner Grigsby (NASA Langley) regarding recent NASA projects, Carlos Salgado (Norfolk State University) regarding the Rapid Response Robotic Telescope on Fan Mountain and its applications, Kevin Mitchell (Norfolk State University) regarding exo-planet hunting using the transit method, and Mark Ost regarding lunar geology and associated outreach..

VAAS 2012 "Save the Date" card

Presidents and officers of the VAAS member clubs had a short meeting to discuss some Astronomical League updates and to plan for next year’s VAAS meeting which will be hosted by the Richmond Astronomical Society. All of the club representatives offered very helpful suggestions for future meetings. The scheduled date and location for the 2012 gathering is September 15, 2012 at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

Tidewater Community College Observatory

We were also treated to a tour of the Tidewater Community College observatory which is a well-constructed, well-equipped and spacious roll-back roof design. Housed in the observatory are:

20″ (0.51m) Planewave Corrected Dall – Kirkham Cassegrain Reflector
150 mm (6″) Takahashi TOA Refractor
Meade LX-200
Celestron Ultima
Celestron Powerstar
H-alpha filter for solar observing
Pictor 1616 CCD Imaging system.

Observing at York River State Park

After the presentations, the Back Bay Astronomers hosted us at York River State Park for some night time viewing. The York River State Park is a great dark sky location and the park administrators have been very helpful in terms of allowing astronomers to use the site at night. Thanks to Daryl Douglas for helping with making the site available for us. Early in the evening, the sky was highly variable, with some periods of cloudiness, some periods of heavy rain and other periods of clear sky from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately, as the evening progressed, a relatively clear sky changed to broken clouds and then to mostly cloudy conditions. It was a comfortable, slightly cool, evening, but clear enough for only limited viewing. While we were at the site, we were treated to nice views of the Veil Nebula, North American Nebula and Caroline’s Rose. We also deployed a night vision device, which was the closest thing we had to a cloud filter. Surprisingly, it allowed us to have interesting views of M13 and M57 through light haze.

Many thanks once again to the Back Bay Astronomers and to all of the guest speakers. We know it takes a lot of effort and coordination to put together these meetings and we appreciate all that goes into it. For me one of the best parts of the annual VAAS meeting is the opportunity to connect and observe with fellow astronomers from around the state. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s meeting and at other events this fall and into next year.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

NASA’S Kepler Discovery Confirms First Planet Orbiting Two Stars

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:21:20 +0000

WASHINGTON — The existence of a world with a double sunset, as portrayed in the film Star Wars more than 30 years ago, is now scientific fact. NASA’s Kepler mission has made the first unambiguous detection of a circumbinary planet — a planet orbiting two stars — 200 light-years from Earth.

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/sep/HQ_11-304_Kepler_Update.html

The 2011 meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies will be on October 1

president — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:23:38 +0000

News from our friends with the Back Amateur Astronomers who are hosting this years meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies: The VAAS Annual Convention for 2011 is scheduled for Saturday, October 1, at Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach Campus. Times are approximately 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM with an observing session planned for that evening at York River Park. More information is at this link.

Juno is on the way

president — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:35:59 +0000

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) Friday to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.

Juno’s detailed study of the largest planet in our solar system will help reveal Jupiter’s origin and evolution. As the archetype of giant gas planets, Jupiter can help scientists understand the origin of our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around other stars.

Images of Asteroid Vesta

president — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:49:48 +0000

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

News release from NASA about images of asteroid Vesta: NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, the first ever to orbit an object in the main asteroid belt, is spiraling towards its first of four intensive science orbits. That initial orbit of the rocky world Vesta begins Aug. 11, at an altitude of nearly 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) and will provide in-depth analysis of the asteroid. Vesta is the brightest object in the asteroid belt as seen from Earth and is thought to be the source of a large number of meteorites that fall to Earth.

The Dawn team unveiled the first full-frame image of Vesta taken on July 24 which can be found here.

More information about the Dawn mission can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/dawn.

SkyDay Night at the Science Museum

president — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:34:19 +0000

SkyDay Night at the Science Museum was apparently a hit. The Museum staff recorded over 300 visitors for the evening event and the majority of them (if not more) visited our telescopes deployed by the Kugel in front. On behalf of the Science Museum, Leslie Bochenski passed along a note of thanks expressing the Museum’s gratitude for our assistance. RAS was well-represented and I think we provided some very nice views of Saturn, the moon and other objects that capped off the evening’s event rather well.

Thanks again to all who supported the event! It was a lot of fun.