747^th Consecutive Meeting

December 13, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in a room off of the rotunda.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 41 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Annual dues are due. $30 for a regular membership; $10 more to be an observatory operator: discount subscriptions are available to Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. You can pay by check to Jim Blowers or by PayPal at this link:

http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

If you joined our organization after July 1, your dues payment will be applied to next year.

The 2012 Board of Directors and 2012 Officers have been elected:

Board of Directors: Jim Blowers, Jim Browder, Gary Cowardin, Chris McCann, David P. Medici, Bill Newman, Prashant Reddy, Tim Streagle, David Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson

Officers: Jim Browder, President; David Medici, Vice-President; Chris McCann, Secretary; Jim Blowers, Treasurer

Congratulations to Betty Wilson:

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Division has designated asteroid 84991 (2003 YM94) for Betty Philpotts Wilson at the request of the discoverer – Rik Hill of the Catalina Sky Survey. The orbital information and citation are available at this link:

http://ssd .jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi#top

Share Table

    A lot of good food!!

Library Report – none

Events and Individual Observing Recent Events:

• Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party and school skywatches.
• Individual observing
• Observatory maintenance

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch, December 16: Please sign up if you can bring a telescope. More information is at http://smv.org/events.html. The theme of the LiveSky event will be ‘Hollywoodin Space.” Come and see what they did right and what they did wrong.  If you have a chance, please have a look at the promotional video by theScienceMuseumon the RAS web site.
• January RAS meeting, January 10: We will have as our special guests a group of fourth graders fromRidgeElementary SchoolinHenricoCountyalong with their parents and teachers. The students will be presenting some recent special projects in astronomy and space science. These should be very special evening. Please join us if you can.

Visitor and New Member Welcome:

There were several visitors.  Two of our visitors were first time visitors – Cierra and Wallace Bracey.  Cierra is interested in astronomy and wants to study it at U.Va.

Our other visitors, Dee Remmick, Karen Streagle, Marie Barnett, and Anne Blowers are spouses of some of our regular members. 

Short Talk:

Tim Streagle had a very humorous photo show, showing people and their telescopes.  It was great seeing several of our members and their “collections of equipment” that they bring to the skywatches. 

Potluck Dinner

Presentation: Astro-Jeopardy, Leslie Bochenski

After our potluck dinner, we were divided up into 4 teams and played a friendly and lively game of astronomy Jeopardy

Thank you to all who donated food for our potluck dinner!  Lots of delicious food and friendly conversation was a great way to end 2011.

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, January 10th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, February 20 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

746^th Consecutive Meeting

November 8, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 37 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Annual dues are due.

$30 for a regular membership; $10 more to be an observatory operator.

Benefit of being a member is you are eligible for a discount subscription to Sky & Telescope and Astronomy. You can pay by check to Jim Blowers or by PayPal at this link:           http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

If you joined our organization after July 1, your dues payment will be applied to next year.

Election of 2012 Board of Directors was held after asking for nominations from the floor.  Chris McCann supervised the election by acclamation.  Elected members are:

Jim Blowers, Jim Browder, Gary Cowardin, Chris McCann, David P. Medici, Bill Newman, Prashant Reddy, Tim Streagle, David Walton, Betty Wilson, Ken Wilson

The 2011 Board members were thanked, including the 3 who were stepping down: Cal Pletcher, Bill Jeffries, and Jeff Pike.

Share table:

There were several books on display.  “The Big Book of the Universe”, donated books, and library books (to be discussed in a later report).  There were also several photos taken at recent star parties and observations.

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  Her topic for this month was Sunspots.  She brought in a set of related books, including “Our Sun”, “Our Turbulent Sun”, “Chasing the Shadow”, “Sun and Its Influences”, and an old book, “Birth and Death of the Sun”.

Two (2) books have been donated to RAS.  Randy Tatum donated a book named “Sleep Walkers”.  Jim Calpin donated “First Light”.

Events and Individual Observing

Recent Events:

• Chiefland Floridastar parties (see Frank Green’s blog entry dated 10/30/2011, http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/ ) – passage from his blog:      The sky is darker at Chiefland than at manyVirginia sites, though not as dark as some of the W.V. ones. However, Chiefland is best known for great seeing.  … in a high-power eyepiece — Jupiter was nothing but bands, swirls and eddies from pole to pole, Europa was a beautiful, sharp white orb with a sharp black shadow as it moved across the planet that night.   …  Some folks had their scopes up to 1,100 power with razor sharp views. Have never experienced seeing like that in Virginia (or anywhere else).
• Girl Scout Astronomy Badge – 2 troops of 6 girls each, Mark and Syndey Mabry helped us out here
• City Point – no one
• Woodlake – 30 observers, helped by Hank and John Raymond
• Byrd Elementary – Tim Streagle and Jim Browder reported that they had a small group of students show up.
• RAS observing at the scout camp – good skies, especially Thursday and Friday;  a little cloudy on Saturday; good crowd; had 7 different telescopes available at different times during the night.

Individual observing

Alan saw spectacular views of Jupiter fromPettigrewState Parkin NC.  It is a dark sky area located about 3 hours from Eddington, towards Outer Banks.

Upcoming Events:

Thanks to ALL who helped at the skywatches during 2011!!

•ScienceMuseumSkywatch: No skywatch in November! The next skywatch at theScienceMuseumwill be on December 16.

• Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, November 18 — 20: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public, convenient location, nice facilities and a dark sky:

More info at http://bradysaunders net/cam p/starparty.html

Don’t miss it — this should be a great event! The festivities start at 4:00 PM on Friday, November 18 with an astronomy club social.

• Matoaca Middle School Star Party, November 10: Please contact Jim Browder at presidentrichastro.org if you are interested in bringing a scope to his event.

• RAS Board meeting, November 14: 7:00 PM, Extra Billy’s Restaurant onBroad St. Please arrive earlier if you plan to eat.

• Skywatch at Five Forks,Hopewell, November 19: 6:00 PM, contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net for more information if you are interested in attending.

• Cub Scout Event inEastern Henrico: No date yet specified for this event, please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org if you are interested in helping a cub scout troop learn about astronomy and earn their belt loop award.

• December RAS pot luck party – location TBA.

Visitor and New Member Welcome, Chris McCann

We had a few returning visitors, but had 1 new visitor: Tamara Hubbard

Short Talk: “Moons of Jupiter — Research Project,” Nick Annichiarico

Nick is aUniversityofRichmondstudent, studying under Henry Nebel.  Nick is researching the orbital periods of the 4 major moons of Jupiter. Using photography, he hopes to repeat what Galileo observed (while under house arrest).  His goal is to select 1 of the moons at a time, starting with the closest to Jupiter, track its orbit and calculate its orbital period.  As each moon is successfully tracked, Nick will proceed to the next moon and repeat the process again. 

Good luck to your studies and research!!

Break

Presentation: “Unusual Refractor Telescopes,” Ken Wilson

Ken presented a lot of information about the historical progression of refractor telescopes, including a few unusual designs.  We started off thinking about Galileo’s gear from 1609 – 21x magnification, 37 mm objective diameter, giving a very narrow field of view that covered ¼ of a full moon.  Of course, it had its problems, like severe chromatic aberration.

We moved onto Aerial telescopes.  In 1673, Johannes Hevelius used a 149-foot long scope that hung from a 90-foot pole.  Too easy to move and not stable.  Constantine Huygens worked with a 123-foot long scope that was attached to a hinge at the opposite end.  The position of the eyepiece was controlled by a cord.

Improvement in refractor lens was proposed by Romer in 1675, when he suggested cutting a lens into 2 halves.  The 2 halves were to be moved back and forth to make small measurements.  The idea wasn’t successful until John Dolland worked with the concept in 1754.

Much later in history, a “fly’s eye telescope” was developed and used by universities such asHawaiiandArizona.  It involved multiple mirrors sending images to a common focus.  The same set-up was used to measure the distance to the Moon by reflecting a laser off of instruments left on the Moon by astronauts.

The largest refractor was the Great Paris Refractor, used in 1900.  It was a horizontal telescope with a movable mirror at the end.  49.2 inch diameter and a focal length of 187 feet.

Coude created a telescope with a ‘fixed eyepiece’.  Most of the telescope was not movable except for a mirror at the end.  Most of the telescope was contained inside of a building or structure and was not affected by heat differences.

Unusual mounts:

Peltier’s Merry-go-Round mount, where the telescope rotated about a fixed eyepiece.

‘Auto-mated’ telescope, mounted on the top of a car.  It could be moved to wherever it needed to be and could be pointed into any direction.  It was also called the “Volvo mount”.

Ken presented a lot of information by use of diagrams, showing quite a lot of ideas to improve telescopes.  Very interesting!!

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, December 13th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

745^th Consecutive Meeting

October 11, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 29 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

The procedure for the election of the Board members for 2012 was discussed.  David Medici introduced the slate of nominees:

Jim Blowers,            Jim Browder,            Gary Cowardin,            Chris McCann,

David P. Medici,      Bill Newman,            Prashant Reddy,           Tim Streagle,

David Walton,          Betty Wilson,            Ken Wilson.

Nominations from the floor and the elections will be done in November.

Share table:

There were several items on display.  A CD of demo astronomy programs.  Library books (returned and to be picked up).  An Orion catalog.  October issue of Astronomy magazine.  An occultation astronomy journal. 

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  She brought in a set of books, including “Beyond the Known Universe”, “Ancient Light”, “Splendor of the Universe”, “Manual of Advanced Manual Astronomy”, and an old book from 1929, “Energy”.

Observatory Report:  Physical updates are being done to the observatory.  John Barnette is looking for more people who are interested in receiving training.  Training will start soon for the original group from last month.

Past Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch for September was clouded out.
• RAS Fall Picnic: great time.  Good turnout.  Sky cleared up for 3-4 hours between midnight and dawn.
• VAAS: About 30 attendees, good speakers, dark sky at the observation site, but cloudy
• Observing at the scout camp:  Tim and Jim Browder had great views of the moon and other objects.  There were many people looking at their internet broadcast. 
• ECVAR:
• DelMarVa: Ray attended this.  Thursday – seeing OK, pushed the viewing limits, a lot of fuzzy objects.  Showers on Friday & Saturday.   DelMarVa is held each May and September.

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch No skywatch in October and November!

• Astronomy Badge Event for Girl Scouts at the Science Museum of Virginia, October 15, 9-12 Noon: The Science Museum is hosting a special event for girl scouts from 9 to 12Noon. If you can help with this event, please contact Jim Browder at president@richastro.org.

• Skywatch at City Point, October 15: Skywatch at the City Point Unit ofPetersburgNational Battlefield. Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, October 15: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Observing session for RAS members and friends, October 29: See above for directions to the scout reservation.

• Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 — 30: Star Party near Robbins, NC; http://masp.us.

• East Coast Star Party,Coinjock,NC, Oct 21-23: Contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net. Note that this is a revised date from previous announcements.

• Fan Mountain Retreat — Charlottesville Astronomical Society, October 28 – 30: RAS members are invited. If you are interested in attending, please contact Richard Drumm with the Charlottesville Society directly at richard@drummdigital.com.

• Skywatch at Byrd Elementary in Goochland, November 4: A special skywatch for fellow astronomer and elementary school teacher, Karren Streagle, for students ofByrdElementary School. Please let Jim Browder know at presidentrichastro.org if you can bring a scope to this event.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, November 5: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at Woodlake, November 6: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.  Last outreach activity for the year.

• A Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, November 18 — 19: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public, convenient location, nice facilities and a dark sky; http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html. Don’t miss it — this should be a great event!  The festivities start at 4:00 PM pm on Friday, November 18 with an astronomy club social.  $15 entry + $6 for lodging.

• December RAS pot luck party – location TBA.

Short Talk: “Dark Skies Update,” Laura Graham

      <to be updated>

Break

Presentation: “Adventures in Astronomical Imaging,” Tim Streagle

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, November 8th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

744^th Consecutive Meeting

September 13, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 27 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

The procedure for the election of the Board members for 2012 was discussed.  David Medici was introduced as the committee chair, with Betty Wilson and Chris McCann among the committee members.  Nominees will be introduced at the October meeting.  Nominations from the floor and the elections will be done in November.

Share table:

There were several items on display.  A National Radio magazine was available to be looked at.  Phil had found a story about an 1859 Sunspot storm that caused burned hands for some people on Earth.  Another story was on display where 15 Super Earth planets had been found. 

Library Report was given byVirginia.  All is good at the library.  She brought in a set of books, including “Galileo”,, “Choices of Catastrophes”, “Stars or Galaxies”, an old book from 1954 “Our Moon”, and an old book from 1949 “Mars”.

Observatory Report:  Physical updates are being done to the observatory.  John Barnette is looking for anyone who is interested in receiving training.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch for August was clouded out.  Discussion was made into a process to announce the cancellation to members and the public.  Presently, the RAS website is updated, but there is no sign at the Skywatch site (even though there are no telescopes nor astronomers present).  Thanks to those who came by just in case it happened.

Dark Skies Bright Kids Skywatch:  Tim and Jim Browder attended it atCharlottesville.  There were many people, of all ages, who turned out for it.

Individual observing: Prashant, Alan, and Ray were among those to discusse their observations when they had clear skies and a few minutes to spend.

Upcoming Events:

SMV Skywatch : Friday, September 16

• RAS Fall Picnic, September17, 5:30 PM: The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html. Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and the picnic shelter will be on your right.

• Skywatch at Scotchtown, September 16, starting at dusk: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Skywatch at City Point, Petersburg National Battlefield, September 23: please contact John Raymond at raymond l419@verizon.net if you can bring a telescope to this event.

• Observing session for RAS members and friends, September 24: Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

• East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous, September 26 — October 2: Star Party atLuray,Virginiafocused on video astronomy. More information at http://www.ecvarstarparty.com.

• Delmarva No-Frills Star Party, Sep 29 — Oct 2: http://delmarvastargazers.org/.

• Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: Hosted by the Back Bay Astronomers atTidewaterCommunity College; http://www.backbayastro.org/vaas/vaas.shtml.

• Mid Atlantic Star Party October 24-30: Star Party near RobbinsNC; http://masp.us

• East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, NCOct 21-23 Contact Kent Blackwell for more information at kent@exis.net.

• Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 — 19: Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation open to the public; http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html

Visitor and New Member Welcome, Chris McCann

Talk: “Meade Lunar and Planetary Imager,” Ken Wilson

      <to be updated>

Break

“Astronomical Software,” Dave Walton

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, October 11th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, November 21 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

743^rd Consecutive Meeting

August 9, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 29 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a few eyepieces and a few photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch was held on July 15.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  With the number of people that came out, it was good to see we had enough scopes to handle the crowd.

RAS observing session at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation

Outreach events

Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

Observing session for RAS members and guests, August 27: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.  Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html.  Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and turn right at the brown sign with a picture of a telescope on it.  The observing field is at the top of the hill.

RAS Fall Picnic, September 17:  The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. 

Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: The Back Bay Astronomers are hosting this year’s VAAS meeting at Tidewater Community College. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 – 30:  Star Party in a dark sky park near Robbins, NC.  More information at http://masp.us.

Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 – 19:  Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public.  More information at http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html.

Dues announcement:

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

“What’s For Sale at the RAS Café?”  by Jim Browder

Jim presented the RAS Café web pages and showed many items displaying the RAS logo.  Items included shirts, mugs, a thong, stickers, writing pads, and a license plate holder. 

Break – -

July’s Presentation:

“Atlantis, Sofia, and an Asterioid” by Chris McCann

      <to be updated>

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, September 13th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, August 15 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

742^nd Consecutive Meeting

July 12, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 25 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a few eyepieces and a few photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Science Museum Skywatch was held on June 17.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  With the number of people that came out, it was good to see we had enough scopes to handle the crowd.

Green Bank Star Quest

RAS observing session at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation

Outreach events

Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

Science Museum SkyDay Night Skywatch, July 15:  This skywatch is in conjunction with the special SkyDay Night event to be hosted by the Museum from 5:00 to 10:00 PM.  It should be well attended.  Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope along with your passion for the night sky.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.

Observing session for RAS members and guests, August 27: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.  Directions to the camp are available at: http://bradysaunders.net/camp/direct.html.  Once you enter the reservation, turn right into the Cub Adventure Camp, drive about 0.1 mile and turn right at the brown sign with a picture of a telescope on it.  The observing field is at the top of the hill.

RAS Fall Picnic, September 17:  The RAS fall picnic will be held at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland. The Scout Reservation is an excellent location with convenient picnic facilities, restrooms, electricity and, lest we forget, a nice dark sky. 

Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies, October 1: The Back Bay Astronomers are hosting this year’s VAAS meeting at Tidewater Community College. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Mid-Atlantic Star Party, October 24 – 30:  Star Party in a dark sky park near Robbins, NC.  More information at http://masp.us.

Central Virginia Family Stargaze, November 18 – 19:  Star party hosted by the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, open to the public.  More information at http://bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html.

Dues announcement:

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

“Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp,” by Isaac Steincamp

Isaac recounted his experience at the Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Break – -

June’s Presentation:

Astro-Jeopardy with David Medici

Dave entertained and educated us a with a game of Astro-Jeopardy.

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, August 9th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, August 15 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with theScienceMuseum andThomasJeffersonHigh School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

741^st Consecutive Meeting

June 14, 2011

—–

Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 32 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items, including an ISS orbit map, a scavenger hunt (for later in tonight’s presentation), an IR map of the country at night, a map of Florida from Cal (short talk), information on the Kennedy Space Center, a solar photo through a white light filter, a press release declaring the next solar maximum will probably not be good, and an autographed magazine article by Ken Blackwell.

Library Report was in great shape. Virginia had 5 books to offer tonight: Coming of Age of Milky Way (1943); Man Discovers Galaxy; Realm of Nebuli; Air and Space; and Entering Space.

Past Events:

ScienceMuseumSkywatch – “pretty nice bunch of people”; clear sky for about an hour, then clouds started rolling in.  Major object of viewing was Saturn.

City Point – Rained out

Scout Camp – high level of clouds when it got dark; a few mosquitoes too

East Coast Star Party – Ray, Mark, Jim Browder attended.  Some of the attendees had the pleasure of seeing the supernova in M51.  Thursday: decent viewing and a few mosquitoes; Frnd; Saturday: hit or miss with clouds; Sunday was rained out.  Enjoyed by all.
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is June 17.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html

Observing session for RAS members and guests, July 2: Observing at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.

Green Bank StarQuest, June 29 – July 2:  Optical and radio astronomy star party, Green Bank, WV.  http://www.greenbankstarquest.org

Visitors: none

Short talk: “Visit to a Space Shuttle Launch” by Cal Pletcher

Caldecided that he would like to go see Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-134) launch before the shuttle fleet becomes permanently grounded.  He told us about taking a drive down toFlorida, and finding a place to stay nearby theCape.  On the morning of the launch (May 16, 2011), he found a place about 15 miles north of the launch where very few people were, until it got close to launch time.  This time, the shuttle successfully launch and he got a view from the north side. Calshowed us a few photos that he took of the view and of the launch.  He even got a copy of a shuttle photo taken just seconds after launch by a photographer with a strong telescopic lens.  What a photo!!  Shortly after the launch,Calmade his way back to his car, and back toVirginia.  His interesting presentation makes me wish to see one soon!

June’s Presentation: “Great Balls of Fire Exhibit – a Private Showing” by Leslie Bochenski

Remember the scavenger hunt information from the share table.  We are about to use it on a private viewing of the meteor exhibit.  There were many exhibits to see to give us the answers for the hunt.  By the time we were done, we had seen ways to recognize and test for a rock to be a meteor.  Several computer models let us see what different sizes of meteors can do to the Earth if it ever collided with the Earth.  We even had a chance to launch bombs and deflectors to save the Earth from an object floating near our orbit.  This was a very informative and enjoyable activity.

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, July 12th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, August 15th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

740th Consecutive Meeting

May 10, 2011

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in theEurekaroom.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 31 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for perusal or for sale, including a few eyepieces.

There were a few free magazines and photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Astronomy Day was a big success!!!!

Science Museum Skywatch
Skywatch at Woodlake
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is May 20.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report (John Barnett)

Library Report was not given.  All is good at the new library.

Short talk

May’s Presentation:

—–

Reminders:

<<The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, June 14th at the SMV.

<<The next board meeting will be Monday, May 16th at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

<<Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

739th Consecutive Meeting

April 12, 2011

—–

David Medici called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 26 in attendance at the meeting.

Share Table

A few photos taken through telescopes.  Star maps.

Library Report (Virginia Eckert):

No issues and no theme tonight.  She brought in 5 books: 2 books about the Sun; Pictorial of Planets; Stars; and a book about Venus (very old collector’s book).

Recent Events:

• SMV Skywatch – Sky had spotty clouds. There was a “fairly modest turnout” to view through telescopes.
• City Point Skywatch (Petersburg National Battlefield) – very good turnout; Tim Streagle, Ray Moody, and Tom K saw and displayed Orion, a few planets, and the moon.  A reporter spoke with Tim for about 2 hours, good enough for 1 quote.

Individual observing:

• Several members looked at Orion and the moon.  Tim had a few sessions at the scout camp, and a good turnout during the new moon.
• Betty Wilson made 3 presentations to students at Springfield Park Elementary.  Each session was for 200 students (600 total) and lasted about 40-50 minutes.

Upcoming Events:

• Bryan Park Skywatch, April 14: Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help out.   Bring your telescopes early to set up.
• Science Museum Skywatch, April 15: Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.  No LiveSky presentation this evening (Planetarium has been down since October).  There will be Science on a Sphere at 6pm and 7pm, “Weather on Planets” (35-40 minutes) will be scheduled during the summer vacation.
• Skywatch at City Point, April 23: Public observing session at the City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope and your expertise.  More information about the Park’s Skywatch program and the City Point location is available at:
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/forkids/skywatch-2011.htm and
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/historyculture/city-point.htm
• Forestry Center in New Kent County, April 29, 6pm. See Bill Jeffries if you are interested.
• Scotchtown Skywatch, May 6, 8:00 PM, 16120 Chiswell Lane, Beaverdam, VA 23015.  Please contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can bring a scope.
  (http://www.apva.org/scotchtown/calendar/)
• Astronomy Day, May 7, 12 noon – 4pm, SMV, (no Skywatch this year), RAS club table, IDA booth (dark sky information), make and take sundials, solar observing through telescopes, CCD astro-imaging, a scale model of the solar system, radio telescopes information, light pollution education, a meteorite exhibit, door prizes, a life-like space suit, and the ever-popular soda bottle rocket launch!

Visitors:  We had 3 new visitors:  David Faraone, Les Keniston, and David Feagans.

Short Talk:

“RavenCon Recap” by Prashant Reddy

RAS was represented by at least 5 members at this science fiction festival held annually in Richmond.  RAS was supporting the astronomical science track of the conference.  Terry Barker explained the art of satellite observing by using Heavens-Above.com.  JimBrowder, Prashant, and Dave Walton participated in an open discussion.  John Raymond had a telescope on display.  There were many dressed in StarTrek alien costumes.  There were also several writers and book sellers.

– Break –

April’s Presentation:

“Will the Sky Be Clear Tonight?” by Jim Blowers

A major enemy of astronomers is clouds.  Jim mentioned several websites that others use to predict cloud cover and weather.  His preferred site is www.skippysky.com.  He proceeded to show several photos of different cloud patterns that are strong indicators of weather to come.  Jim grouped many of the cloud characteristics by altitude.

• The cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus clouds are high altitude, and are usually viewed as whispy, possibly interfering with observing.  These cause halos and sundogs.
• Altocumulus and altostratus are middle altitude clouds.  They look like flocks of sheep.  Sun shines through it, but it is very diffused.  Stars cannot be seen through them.  These clouds are good predictors of no rain.
• The low altitude cumulus clouds are usually billowy puffs, and are usually gone by night.
• Stratocumulus and stratus are the “bad clouds” that are opaque, overcast, “dreary day clouds”, and usually mean rainy weather. 
• Nimbostratus and cumulonimbus are the thunderhead clouds, full of lightning and severe weather.

There are quality controls that are used to describe the level of clear viewing:

• Seeing: level of twinkling
• Transparencies: for example, good clear dark skies are usually in winter, while bad hazy night are usually found in the summer.  Haze appears to steady planetary viewing, but degrades galaxy viewing.
• Clouds are more likely as you look closer to the horizon, due to an increase of atmosphere that you need to look through.

There are 6 reliable computer models used by astronomers to make short and long-term predictions (example – “Clear Sky Chart” by A. Danko, and the “Weather Underground”).

• US has 3: GFS (Global Forecasting System), NAM (North American Mesoscale), NOGAPS (Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction? System?)
• Canada has 1: GEM
• Europe has 2: ECMWF and UKMET

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, May 10^th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, May 16, 2011 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with the Science Museum and Thomas Jefferson High School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .

738th Consecutive Meeting

March 8, 2011

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 37 in attendance at the meeting.

Share Table

A member brought in a few photos taken through his telescope.  Star maps.

One member jokingly announced he brought in “invisible dark matter”.

Library Report (Virginia Eckert):

No issues.  She brought in 5 books that fits into a Meteor theme.  They were Stones from Stars;  Meteors, Comets, and Meteorites; Cosmic Debris; Meteorite Handbook; Rocks from Space; Comet and Meteor Streams (collector’s item).

Due to the Meteor theme, Leslie thought it was an excellent time to announce that the SMV had a new exhibit on meteors, cosmic debris, and meteorites.

A “pretty cool” comment was made when the Science on a Sphere was mentioned. 

Recent Events:

• SMV Skywatch – well attended, good group in February.  A “cabin fever night” and the Children’s Museum had an event the same night.
• Individual observing – Just prior to the meeting, the RAS members were treated to a view of the Space Shuttle followed moments later by the International Space Station.  For a few moments, both were within view simulataneously.�

Upcoming Events:

• Science Museum Skywatch, March 18:  Please add your name to the sign-up sheet if you can bring a scope.  More information at http://smv.org/events.html.
• Skywatch at City Point, March 19:  Public observing session at the City Point Unit of Petersburg National Battlefield.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope and your expertise.  More information about the Park’s Skywatch program and the City Point location is available at:
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/forkids/skywatch-2011.htm and
  http://www.nps.gov/pete/historyculture/city-point.htm
• Ravencon, April 8-10:  Holiday Inn Koger Center, 1021 Koger Center Blvd, Richmond, VA. Thanks to the encouragement of member Mike Lewis, RAS will be participating in this year’s Ravencon which is a science fiction and fantasy festival held annually in Richmond.  RAS will be supporting the science track of the conference; additional details will be forthcoming.  Please join the fun if you can.  More information is at: http://ravencon.com/.

• Yuri’s Night at Westover Hills, April 8: 7:00pm, Westover Hills Library at 1408 Westover Hills Blvd.  Please let Jim Browder (at president@richastro.org) know if you can help out by bringing a scope.

Visitors:  We had 5 visitors:  Deanna Remmich, Daniel Feagans, Ben Bare, Eli Doxtator, and James Parkes.  Thanks for coming to our meeting, and please come again.

Short Talk:

“SpaceX and Dragon, the Next Step in Science”

http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php

– Break –

March’s Presentation:

“Stargaze with the Night Sky Network” by Betty Wilson

http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov

Betty Wilson is one of RAS’s club coordinators for the Night Sky Network. 

The content of the presentation was very interesting and sounded like a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in Astronomy and associated areas.  Knowing that my own explanation would not completely describe its activities, I have chosen select passages from the Night Sky Network webpage to explain this very interesting and supportive program.

“The Night Sky Network is a nationwide coalition of amateur astronomy clubs bringing the science, technology, and inspiration of NASA’s missions to the general public. 

We share our time and telescopes to provide you with unique astronomy experiences at science museums, observatories, classrooms, and under the real night sky

The Night Sky Network is sponsored and supported by:

• NASA/JPL’s Exoplanet Exploration public engagement program, publicly known as PlanetQuest. The Exoplanet Exploration Program encompasses several of NASA’s extra-solar planet-finding missions, including the Keck Interferometer, the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), Kepler, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. Learn more about PlanetQuest: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
• The NASA Education Forum on the Structure and Evolution of the Universe (SEU), based at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, is a national center for teaching and learning about NASA’s SEU theme. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/
• The Origins Education Forum, based at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, is an association of the education and public outreach programs of the NASA missions seeking to understand and characterize the origins of the universe, planets, and life. http://origins.stsci.edu/
• NASA’s Kepler Discovery Mission, NASA Grant NAG 2-6066 to SETI Institute. http://kepler.nasa.gov/
• NASA Education Forum on Solar System Exploration: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/educ/
• NASA Education and Public Outreach at Sonoma State University: GLAST, Swift and XMM-Newton missions
  http://epo.sonoma.edu
• Suzaku Mission E/PO Program at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center http://suzaku-epo.gsfc.nasa.gov
• The non-profit Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), one of the nation’s leading organizations devoted to astronomy and space science education, developed and is managing the Night Sky Network in cooperation with NASA. Learn more about the ASP: http://www.astrosociety.org

Betty asked for RAS to increase its participation in Night Sky Network.  Many of the activities that we already do for the community are considered events that the NSN endorses.  Some of our activities include skywatches, handouts at skywatches, emails to members, meetings, and presentations of astronomical topics.  The NSN newsletter offers much information that can be used in meetings, community events, and in classrooms.  Everyone is encouraged to access the links listed above.

—–

Reminders:

The next RAS meeting will be Tuesday, April 12^th at the SMV.

The next board meeting will be Monday, May 16, 2011 at Extra Billy’s at 7:00 PM (arrive earlier for dinner). Meeting is open to all members.

Check out the web site at http://www.richastro.org/

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with the Science Museum and Thomas Jefferson High School.

RAS Café Press store.  Please take a look at the online store where you can purchase items embossed with the RAS label. The site can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/RichAstroShop .