201112
03ACAKBMin
The
Astronomy Club of Augusta held its Christmas Holiday Dinner Party at Bobby’s
Bar-B-Cue on December 3, 2011 at 6PM
. Attendance totaled 9.
The
food was pretty good, especially the banana cream pudding dessert, and our
tables were decorated with festive red cedar boughs and sparkly stuff.
Pat
talked about NASA’s latest Mars probe,
Curiosity, and the expanding horizons of knowledge in our lifetimes. Stan brought an article with photos about its
recent launch out into space with arrival scheduled for 2017. As we looked ahead to future speakers,
Kenneth passed out sheets for us to write down our special interest questions
that we would like them to address.
Please take a look at our 2012 calendar and email your questions and
suggestions for program topics now. We
only have 2 dates still open for this year.
Tedda gave a short report on James B. Irwin's
book, To Rule the Night, which details his Apollo 15 trip to the moon
and his renewed faith afterwards. It is
available to borrow on request. Mark M.
noted that his daughter Joy was very helpful.
John entertained us with a brief history of today's numbers and their
correlation to constellation angles.
We
used these numbers to determine first
choice for our Christmas spirit gift exchange.
Mark N. was first up at the pretty table full of wrapped gifts. Everyone enjoyed ripping open and finding
their gift. Gifts from $5-15 included
radiometer, laminated astronomy sheets, glow stars, solar radio, solar spinning
disc, 2012 astronomy calendars, special
blend coffee, red flashlight, and cash!
John
White shared some heart-rending details of his recent tragic loss of his young
grandson. His faith and sense of humor
comfort him.
We
look forward to our last Star Gaze of the year on December 17,
6PM (5PM for help to get your scope
ready to observe). Tedda
emphasized the importance of observing.
Pat and all others chimed in on that!
Michelle and Eddie suggested reminding everyone that we always have
plenty of telescopes to share, and it is not necessary to own a scope to enjoy
looking at and learning about the heavens above.
We
closed about 9PM, and wished everyone a safe, and joyous holiday season.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kenneth
Beard
PS:
Interesting items:
Saturn: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/saturn-hexagon/
Kepler mission:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/05dec_firstplanet/
Comet
Garradd:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/
20111217ACAKBMin
The
Astronomy Club of Augusta held its December 17 Star Gaze at 5:30PM
at Nine Mile Range. Attendance totaled
24.
We
welcomed old friends and new members. Our
President pointed out some light
pollution problems at our horizons, but as time passed, the night became darker
and clearer, and pollution no longer held our attention.
Venus
was beautiful and the brightest planet. Stan
tracked a satellite moving in the Western sky.
We saw several during the evening. Pat observed a huge meteor, crashing like a large plane into the Southern
horizon. Jupiter, its belts, and Galilean
moons rose high above us, competing with the brightness of Venus. To the North, Tedda
outlined the Little Dipper. She pointed
to the nearby constellations, as Amy and Katie especially enjoyed the Greek story of vain
Queen Cassiopeia, King Cepheus, Princess Andromeda, and
Perseus confronting the sea monster Cetus with Algol the Medusa's
head. Stan focused his scope on Alcor, and colorful Albireo and Almaak, all binary stars.
To
the East Pat focused on the Pleiades. Then
we compared the same view through Mike Bush’s large mounted binoculars. I learned that certain objects are better
observed naked eye, some with binoculars, like the Pleiades, Cassiopeia's open
clusters, and the Andromeda Galaxy, while others, like the binaries, are seen
better with telescopes. Mike also gave
me a much appreciated tutorial on asterisms , open and globular clusters. Michelle and Girls focused with their Meade,
Gene worked with his Celestron star hopper, inviting others to look at their finds.
Of
the Winter Constellations the 3 Kings of Orion’s Belt were noteworthy. Stan put Orion's scabbard in a telescopic view. We identified Orion's belt: Alnitok, Alnilam, and Mintaka , shoulders:
Bettlegeuse and Bellatrix, his
head: Meissa, and his knees: Rigel
and Saiph. Capella in Auriga and the head and horns of Taurus the Bull were
also clearly visible.
John
told about Hershel's red giant star. Jessica
and Callie enjoyed looking for Steven and Russel's
stars.
During
our break we celebrated Celeste’s 21st birthday, and her grade of 98 in
astronomy at ASU. It was all done with
holiday fare: punch, platters of veggies,
sausage, cheese, horseradish, black bread & chips, fruitcake, cookies, and Christmas Stollen.
We all said farewell by midnight. Respectfully
submitted, Kenneth
Beard
