20120601ACAKBMin
The Astronomy Club of Augusta held its
June 1st meeting at ASU. We had 22
members in attendance.
Stan played the astronomy blockbuster
hit, ACA’s Excellent Adventure, while we waited for Mr. Hostetler to set up
and for a few more of the audience to
arrive. Mark Moffatt promised to get information
about more star parties nationwide.
We learned that our speaker, Don
Hostetler, has had an interest in the stars since he was 10 years old. At some
point he began collecting 35mm slides of stellar objects. At last count he has approximately
1,000. He put some of them together in what he calls a Journey To The Edge
Of The Universe or as he pointed out, such a trip would also take us back
to the earliest part of the universe and therefore an alternate title is A
Journey To The Beginning Of Time. Don presented some interesting slides that
took us from earth via spacecraft through the solar system to the Milky Way and
beyond, with interesting discussion along the way. As he brought us safely back
to Earth, he invited our questions and comments. Don is considering retiring from his career as
a speaker. However, we hope he will continue to share with us from his vast storehouse of astronomy expertise. share with us another program selection of
Tedda, Stan, Kenneth and John were formally
installed as officers for 2012-13.
John related the story of his grandson
Joel’s heroics in saving his mother, John’s daughter, from cardiac arrest. She
is alert, has her short and long term memory, and is scheduled for release from
the hospital in the very near future. Everyone was reminded of the last time
in a lifetime Transit of Venus this Tuesday, 5:30, at RPSEC. We will Star Gaze on June 16 at NMR-DSO. There
is no meeting planned for June 29. (We will send a notice if this changes.) We will
Star Gaze on July 14 at NMR-DSO. We will have a meeting on August 10, and celebrate our Annual Picnic, Vesta Fiesta, and Star Gaze on August 18. Many thanks to Mark Nagy for our refreshments,
and pleasant informal discussions. It was a cloudy night. Respectfully submitted, Kenneth Beard 20120605ACAKBMin:Transit of Venus The Astronomy Club of Augusta met on
June 5, Tuesday at 5:30PM at the RPSEC to host and witness the Transit of Venus.
We had 19 current members to host 13 new members, and a big crowd of over 100 ToV viewers and well wishers. Transits occur on average 13 times per
century, but only two transits of Venus per century. In 1639 the Transit of Venus (ToV) was witnessed by two observers in a little hamlet in
England. By 1761 hundreds of astronomers
were observing it from 70 stations around the world. This upsurge in interest
was due to a paper which Edmund Halley delivered to the Royal Society in
London. Although he knew he would not be alive to witness the next Transit, he
urged his fellow astronomers to do so and measure its effects. They did as he requested. Despite digital/visual factions who said
they would watch it on the Internet, and threatening cloudy rain, our publicity
and positive attitude brought over 100 to see the ToV
for themselves. Some expressed surprise
when the clouds parted long enough for us to see Venus external ingress,
internal ingress, and the little black circle continuing across in front of the
Sun. In fact the weather was very pleasant. People lined up behind ~10 large solar telescopes, two Darth Vadar bucket head viewers, four #14 Welder glasses, and an indirect solar scope. Everyone got a good view/s and had a good
time helping each other, talking, and learning about the ToV. There
didn't seem to be much in the way of prominences, but dark sun spots were also easy
to see. John pointed out the black drop effect,
a blurring caused by terrestrial atmospherics and telescopic diffraction. It looks as though the Sun is shedding a
black tear. It was quite a startling effect for an “inferior” conjunction, and in the past interfered with astronomical
efforts to determine the value of the AU.
A transit is amazing visually.
The Transit of Venus is important because it first enabled astronomers
to determine the size of our solar system.
Today we have spacecraft, probes, and other advanced techniques that
continue to measure changes in the size and shape of our solar system. Many took photos
Gary had the live webcam feed from Hawaii
available inside. Tedda
brought zucchini bread muffins, which were gone by the end of the evening. The
RPSEC provided water and soft drinks. Tedda and Kenneth made a list of participants, many of whom
wanted to be on record as attending this historic event!
After internal ingress, Stan and Ervin launched
Kenneth's ACA rockets (Estes Solid Fuel Powered Rocket) in the field below.
The kids whooped and shouted as they disappeared and then came back into
view with their parachutes. They were thrilled,
running after to retrieve them. Carefully
they handed them back and asked that they be launched again and again.
It was quite a complete and fulfilling
event.
Later, a few of us joined Charles at
the Observatory, where we observed Saturn and Mars, and talked about astronomy.
Respectfully submitted,
Kenneth Beard
20120616ACAKBMin
The Astronomy Club of Augusta held its
June 16, 2012 Star Gaze at Nine Mile Range Dark Sky Observatory. Thirteen (13) members, and
2 guests were in attendance.
There was some low altitude haze. The evening
temperature was pleasant. Many enjoyed Stan's melon punch.
We were pleased to visit with Doug N.,
who moved to Charlotte mid-year, but was in town and came to observe with Mike
B. We hope he will visit again soon.
Vinay, Sabi and Simar took some time to collimate their scope, and then were
busy making astrophotographs, which they will share
with us soon.
John White used Polaris and its dim companion
in the North sky to set up the tracking on his entry level scope. Mark Moffatt believes he found M109 near Phad
in Ursa Major.
We saw Regulus,
Mars, and Corvus in the western sky.
To the south, Stan pointed out Saturn
and Spica in Virgo, Zubeneschamali
and Zubenelgenubi in Libra, and Antares
in Scorpius. He told us about Scorpius'
head being blown off a few years ago. It
is still brighter than before. Mike McCoy was able to find Saturn quickly in
his scope. Mike Bush also focused in on a lovely view of Saturn. Pat showed us his
very own low chair, binocular mount design.
His HD scope gave a particularly brilliant observation of Saturn.
To the East, everyone seemed focused
on the Ring Nebula in Lyra. Stan pointed out Altair in Aquilla, Deneb and Alberio in Cygnus.
And laid back, in a lounge chair, with
a pair of binoculars, Tedda surprised many by finding
Omega Centauri. Stan, Pat and Mike quickly confirmed it with their scopes. Kay seemed to enjoy the evening from their
truck, listening to the astronomy buzz and relaxing with the stars. The night
seemed to go quickly, and by midnight everyone had left.
Respectfully submitted,
Kenneth Beard
Kenneth Beard
20120629ACAKBMin
The Astronomy Club of Augusta held its June 29, 2012 meeting at ASU at 7PM . Ten (10) current members and one (1) former member were in attendance:
The President welcomed all to our meeting. We had four short speakers for our program. Mike M. elaborated on the first four Q&A topics on our website, which generated interest, discussion and corrections.
John described and demonstrated what he had done to fix the beginner's telescope he recently purchased. Stan presented his latest video about ACA's hosting of the Transit of Venus. Mark M. delivered on his previous meeting promise to research national star parties. We considered the possibility of attending one as a club, and will probably talk more about this in the future. John talked on the math and history of the Transit.
Club business included presentation of our Annual Awards for the excellence during the previous year. Kenneth presented the Attendance Award to Gary Osburn for his willingness to volunteer at our outreach programs, as Nominating Committee Chair, organizing the refreshment volunteer list, and filling in with refreshments when needed. The Program Award was given (in absentia) to Pat Noisworthy for his helpful program on Astronomy Apps. We will give him his certificate at our star gaze. Stan presented the Observing Award to Kenneth Beard for his dependable help with equipment during this year and before, for his willingness to learn and memorize the sky and Saturn, and his interest to begin the AL Lunar List. His efforts have also encouraged other club members to start the AL Lunar List. Tedda presented the President's Award to John White for his service to the club, in particular the arranging for the transfer of the TeleVue Genesis Bell telescope to club ownership, and his help in getting it in order for considerable use already by our club at meetings and star gazes. We congratulate all awardees for their service to our club.
Many thanks to Gary O. for refreshments. Toward the end of the snack period (including cold, sweet watermelon from the Howards’ patch), Mark M. gave his talk on Mare Imbrium, with a focus on Sinus Iridium and using Promentoriums Laplace and Heraclides to find new points of interest nearby.
After that we went outside. The parking lights were turned off. John set up his handy new telescope , demonstrated its features, and got great focus on the moon for us all. We were confident that we could see Mons Gruithuisen Delta and Gruithuisen Gamma at the edge of the terminator, just as Mark M. had diagramed for us inside. It was a good evening.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark M.:
ALCON: http://alcon2012.astroleague.org/register
Peach State: http://www.atlantaastronomy.org/PSSG
The Winter Starparty: http://www.scas.org/wsp.html
Stellafane: http://stellafane.org/convention/2012/reg/2012-reg.html
David Levy Adirondak Science camp
