ACA Calendar of Events
2017-18
Encourage your family to study astronomy!
Minutes
2015-16:
May
June
2016-17:
July
August
September
October
November
December
2017: January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Please click on orange highlights to explore new pages!
Helpful Information about Refreshments and Programs
Please support astronomy and your local Astronomy Club of Augusta.
If you have not already done so,
bring your 2017-18 dues to the meeting, and give/ or mail to:
Cathy Axel, 3974 Cheyenne Trl,
Martinez, GA 30907
Please include your name, address, phone, email, with your $10.
Thank you.
You show your support of your Astronomy Club of Augusta in so many ways.
We had a total of 32 orders for new ACA logo Polo Shirts.
Many Thanks!
The Polo Shirts were passed out at our meeting on July 07.
If you did not pick it up then,
Please attend and pick up your shirt on July 22 at NMR-DSO.
We don't want to carry the box around anymore!
Also, thank you for your enthusiasm to sign up to man a Station at the Eclipse.
After some discussion, Lorelei and her Dad George decided that
most people don't know much about LaGrange Points and the benefits of locating spacecraft there,
so Lorelei has decided this is a good topic (that wasn't on the list, but is now),
and named her soon to be poster "Sweet Spots in Space". Isn't that great!
If you would like to man the station next to hers, a list and description of the
spacecraft at those LaGrange points for the Earth and Moon would be a great topic!
New Member, Andrea, has volunteered
to make a poster list of spacecraft focused on studying the Sun!
Eclipse day will be a great opportunity to teach people about astronomy.
Some topics/stations are suggested on the list below.
Pick one out, let us know, and start working on it NOW!
Teaming up with two to three people is a good idea too. We can always use your help.
Email and Let us know.
ACA Club Meeting
July 07, Friday at 7:00 PM, at AU
The Public is invited!
Moon rise-set: 1929-0431 Lunar
Handout: ACA logo Polo Shirts
Sign up for Eclipse Stations
Sign up for SEED
Installation of New Officers
Annual Club Awards Presentation
Program: Various Solar Cycles
will briefly review the major different cycles of our Sun’s ongoing dynamic activity.
Speaker: Ron Ferris
is a longtime member and past vice president of the Astronomy Club of Augusta.
He has been interested in all aspects of astronomy since childhood. At age 13
he built all major components of his first 6” Newtonian reflecting telescope from scratch,
including grinding, polishing, figuring and silvering its mirror.
Ron was a longtime member and past vice president of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club
where he participated in various observing projects and meets. Ron’s increased interest in the Sun
occurred several years ago. He has subsequently used his Coronado telescope to share that interest
in observing the Sun with scores of children at the annual ACA on the Lawn
for Science Education Enrichment Day events, at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center, USC-Aiken.
We look forward to hearing Ron speak.
Refreshments: Theme: NASA Firsts in July: __
Lunar Observing
after the meeting
Bring what you have of planisphere, binoculars, telescope, towel.
Wear layered clothing.
Planning Meeting of New Officers
July 22, Saturday 5:00PM at NMR-DSO
Plan for 2017-18
Installation of New Treasurer
ACA Planet Repair Shop and Eclipse Stations Prep
July 22, Saturdayat 6-8:30PM, at NMR-DSO
Please pick up your ACA Logo Polo Shirt tonight. We don't want to carry the box of shirts around anymore!
Bring your Eclipse Station Poster! We will help you mount your poster on a luan board with holes in each corner.
Be sure to let Tedda know the size of your poster/s before July 19, Wednesday so your luan backboard is available.
also, Demonstrate your Eclipse Station Plan, Progress, or Choice!
See and hear what your ACA teammates are doing.
Help them!
Registration, Campus Map of Stations: JeanY
AL Observing List, Eclipse Safety, Solar glasses : AdelaD
Size and Distance in the Solar System: Suzanne, GaryH
Solar Structure, Solar binoculars: KennethB
Lunar Interior and Motion: TeddaH
Lunar Phases: StanH
LaGrange Points: Sweet Spots in Space:
1Where, 2Why:Gravity, 3Usefulness and Use: Lorelai&GeorgeC
Solar Spacecraft: AndreaA
DH Solarscope: ErvinD
Indirect Solar Observing w Solarscope: JohnW
Projector Scope: DanielW
Direct Solar Observing w #14 Welder Glass: Virginia W
Shoe Box Projectors: LorettaW
12 Observable Effects of Total Solar Eclipse: MarkM
Indirect sun/leaf filter: MarkM
Filtered Direct Solar Telescopes: RonF, MikeB,
RichB , PatN
Televue with Solar Filter: StanH, ShaneS
Solar Cycles: MikeC
ElectroMagnetic Spectrum:
Story times:
Leo the Lion, and How He Became a Constellation: TeddaH
The Cat in the Hat: There is No Place like Space: SuzanneH
. . . . and YOU!
Light Refreshments
ACA Club Star Gaze
July 22, Saturday at 8:00 PM, at NMR-DSO
Moon rise-set: 0540-1958 Dark sky
Look for Mercury at 8:50PM. Regulus is dimmer at ~10PM from Mercury,
Algieba is even dimmer at ~12:30. Denebola is 3X further at ~11PM.
Look for Jupiter and Saturn
Trace the Big Dipper handle to Arcturus, then speed on to Spica.
Vega, Altair, and Deneb are out this night as well. Can you name their constellations?
- all before 9:30
with many more discoveries to make.
Bring what you have of planisphere, binoculars, telescope, towel.
Wear socks,shoes,pants.
Park with your headlights toward the road.
July Minutes
ACA Club Meeting
August 04, Friday at 7:00 PM, at AU
The Public is invited!
Moon rise-set: 1812-0356 Lunar
President's Remarks
Eclipse Update
Sign up for SEED
Program: Evidence of Comet or Asteroid Impact ~12,800 Years Ago
This presentation will provide an overview of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH)
and review recent evidence from the Carolinas consistent with the impact of a large
comet or asteroid ca. 12,800 years ago. In particular, I will discuss the discovery
of a widespread platinum (Pt) anomaly within YD age sediments from archaeological sites
across North America. These data suggest the input of platinum-rich dust from an
extraterrestrial (ET) impact, and may indicate a continental if not global chronostratigraphic
marker for the start of the YD climate event that occurred at the end of the Clovis time period.
Implications for the environment, Pleistocene megafauna, and early Paleoindians will be discussed.
Speaker: Christopher R. Moore Ph.D
completed his Ph.D. in Coastal Resources Management at ECU (East Carolina University)
in 2009, with undergraduate degrees in Anthropology/Archaeology.
Chris was hired by the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP)
as a research archaeologist and public outreach coordinator. He is on staff at the USC
SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Editor of South Carolina Antiquities.
Among many other research projects and papers, Moore’s team wrote a paper published
by Scientific Reports earlier this year about platinum anomalies in 12,800 year old
sediment samples, that may have come from a comet or asteroid,
various reasons why it didn't leave a big hole, and evidences of an extinction event.
https://sc.academia.edu/ChristopherMoore
Chris, his wife Wendy, and their son Nicolas live in Aiken, South Carolina.
Refreshments: Sodas: Rick Smith
Lunar Observing
after the meeting
Bring what you have of planisphere, binoculars, telescope, towel.
Wear layered clothing.
Load Truck for Eclipse, Star Gaze, Perseid Meteor Count
August 12, Saturdayat 7:00PM, at NMR-DSO
1900 Please volunteer to help load truck for eclipse.
1930 Star Gaze
2049 ISS will pass overhead
Sunday AM:
0130 Perseid Meteor Count
0600 Waffle Breakfast
ACA hosts the Total Solar Eclipse
The Public is invited!
August 21, 2017, Monday,
9:00AM - 4:00PM at Lexington County Museum on the field
Moon rise set: 0535 1911 New Moon,
Total Eclipse at LCM ~1440+
Bring what YOU have of: your planisphere, your solar glasses
Wear socks & shoes, layered clothing.
Come early and talk with our ACA Astronomy Volunteers
Visit our solar telescopes to observe the sun directly,
and our solarscopes to observe indirectly.
We will have a limited number of solar glasses.
Visit our Stations around the field to learn about solar phenomena,
eclipse phenomena, lunar phenomena, space science, and observing safety
with posters, projects, and demonstrations.
Total Solar
Eclipse
Eclipse Poster
Path of Totality SC
Suggestion: Prepare ahead & mail to family & friends at Lexington PO on Aug.21,
using special Eclipse stamp, saying something like "I survived
being hit by the shadow of the Moon which was traveling at 1,469 MPH."
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov
Cold water: LCM will provide.
Many local eateries and grocery store nearby.
ACA hosts the Total Solar Eclipse - Volunteer Information
August 21, 2017, Monday, at Lexington County Museum on the field
Moon rise set: 0535 1911 New Moon, Total Eclipse at LCM ~1440+
6:30-AM The truck with T-Posts, Posters, etc. will leave NMR-DSO.
Bring what YOU have of: your planisphere, your solar glasses, poster materials, etc.
Wear socks & shoes, hat, ACA or Eclipse polo shirt!
Directions for volunteers.
7:30AM arrive at LCM.
Please arrive early to help get us set up.
The truck will drive to the field to distribute your Station T-posts, Posters, etc.
Station list and map: volunteer guide to stations.
9:00AM-4:00PM Assist public appreciate astronomy, space science, and eclipse event at stations around field.
Free lunches for all volunteers: Subs + pickles + cookies -
thanks to our sponsor, Jimmy Johns. Please give them a good word!
Soft drinks - We will provide.
Cold water - LCM will provide.
4:00PM Please help us pack up.
5:00PM We plan to meet for a meal at a local restaurant. Please join us.
20170821Total Solar
Eclipse Invite
Eclipse Poster
Eclipse Stations for Volunteers
Directions
ACA Birthday, Annual Picnic, Eclipse Review, Star Gaze
August 26, Saturdayat 6:30 PM, at NMR-DSO
Moon rise/set: 1041 2213
Invite your family, and astronomy friends
Make plans for a great time, getting to know each other better, eating well,
sharing astronomy experiences,
and showing them what you like about astronomy.
Sign up now. Bring your whole family! - Get in on a great experience.
The ACA will provide the hamburgers, hotdogs, buns, and Barbequed Chicken via Chef Stan Howard.
We need an estimate of how many are coming!
Neither John nor Cathy can bring the barbeque. Would you like to volunteer?
Email Tedda ASAP. The club will reimburse you.
Otherwise, Please bring a side dish to share.
Signed up so far: TedaH: setup, sweet tea, broccoli salad; Wes,Gloria,Cassell:Coleslaw, dessert;
RichardC+1: Baked beans, Steve&HelenM: brownies; JohnW: ACA Birthday Eclipse cake,
lg chicken pasta salad, cold watermelon; MarkM: side dish, VinayAishuPrevir, Dad: Indian snacks,
Victor&Kathy: side dish, Maryglenn: baked corn
casserole, Stephanie: fruit salad,
Needed: BBQ, fresh circle-sliced tomatoes & vidalia onions, potato salad, corn pudding,
tomato/basil salad, deviled eggs,
2 bags chips, veggie tray xx, green salad,
Jalebi, 3-4Mac&Chez, 3-bean salad,
banana pudding, desserts, condiments (1 each: ketsup, mustard, Baby Rays),
soft drinks-water, bag ice, chairs.
Prep your food ahead, take an afternoon nap, and come hungry!
Program: Eclipse Review
This year in the awesome wake of the Eclipse,
we invite members to share their experiences with us - briefly!
We have five short presentations to be given:
John White, Stephen Miller, Vinay Kolar, Victor and Kathy Levy, Stan Howard.
We also have emails/photos from members, former members, and
attendees at the ACA Eclipse Event at LCM to share.
Please email Tedda ASAP with your best photo, or memory
and we will include YOU.
DougN:2, PerryH:2, RichardC:7in1, MarkM:1, Stephanie: 2,
Thank you!
Star Gaze:
Crescent moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Arcturus, Summer Triangle, Milky Way . . .
Scorpius: Antares, Acrab, Dschubba, Nur, Shaula, Lesath; Saggitarius: 8 makes teapot,
Deadline to sign up for SEED
August 28, NOW
September 11
August Minutes
ACA Club Meeting
September 08, Friday at 7:00 PM, at RPSEC
The Public is invited!
Moon rise 2029 set 0819 Lunar
President's Remarks
Club Expenses for Eclipse, Picnic
Plans for SEED
Program: Messier, Lunar objects, and the zooniverse
I will use music, photos that I have taken and videos to show how to find these objects.
I books will demonstrate how amateur astronomers are making discoveries.
Please bring a notebook, pen or pencil.
Speaker: Mark Moffatt
I have been doing amateur astronomy since the 1960s. I have been a member of the
Astronomy Club of Augusta since the early to mid 1990s and have done both the
AL Binocular Messier list, and the AL Lunar list.I have been a member of the
Zooniverse (since 2005) where I have completed over 42,000 classifications. This
includes the co-discovery of between 600 and 700 supernovas*supernova Hunters
and now Sky Mappers), awards for the Solar Storm Project , the classification of
thousands of galaxies(Hubble Zoo),work with Planet Hunters and Exoplanet Explorers
(The search for extrasolar planets),
the search for Planet Nine(Back Yard
Worlds), the effort to preserve older Astronomy documents (Astronomy Rewind), Comet
Hunters, and one of the newest projects Agent NEO, the search for Near Earth Objects.
Refreshments: Cathy Axel
Lunar Observing
after the meeting
Bring what you have of planisphere, binoculars, telescope, towel.
Wear layered clothing.
ACA SEED Prep
September 16, Saturday at 6:00 PM, at NMR-DSO
SEED, October 07, Saturday, 8am-3pm, On the Lawn at RPSEC
We have 17 Volunteers so far. Will you take part this year? Email Tedda.
