From mojo at whiteoaks.com Wed Jul 2 21:50:59 2003 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] July Ephemeris available online Message-ID: The July issue of the SJAA Ephemeris is now available on the SJAA web site, http://ephemeris.sjaa.net Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones <*> San Rafael, CA mojo@whiteoaks.com http://www.whiteoaks.com From bhavner at earthlink.net Tue Jul 8 21:22:22 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Starry Starry Nights in the Foothills August 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 Message-ID: <005001c345d1$b23f9a60$958ef5d1@default> > > > Starry Starry Nights in the Foothills > Two Consecutive Weekends of Viewing, August 15-17 and 22-24 2003 > > For the second consecutive year an ambitious series of star parties will > be held in the foothills area of Northern California during late > summer. The public is invited. Astronomers are invited to join in to > share the heavens through their telescopes. > > It is called Starry Starry Nights and will be held on Friday, Saturday > and Sunday nights of August 15, 16, 17 and 22, 23, 24. We will be at a > different dark-sky site each night. We'll be highlighting the wonders > of the Milky Way; and showing Mars, which will be approaching earth. > The Colfax Greater Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring it and > handling the publicity and logistics. I am responsible for organizing > the astronomy end of it. > > We begin at Colfax, followed by Saturday night at Big Bend and Sunday > night at Sugar Pine Reservoir near Foresthill. On the second weekend > we'll be at Nevada City, Sugar Bowl Ski Resort and Dutch Flat. > > Astronomers who are willing to participate by showing the heavenly > sights through their telescopes are asked to contact me in advance. > Last year we showed the heavens to 450 people with 29 volunteers. > > P.S.: An article about last year's Starry Starry Nights is expected to > be in the Sept. 2003 issue of Sky and Telescope, due out in late July. > > Links: > Starry Starry Night Page: http://www.geocities.com/donmachholz/index.html > Colfax Greater Area Chamber of Commerce: http://www.colfaxarea.com/ > > Don Machholz > (530) 346-8963 > > -- > Jane Houston Jones > San Rafael, CA > jane@whiteoaks.com > http://www.whiteoaks.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Contacts mailing list > Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org > http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Fri Jul 11 18:53:26 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] General Meeting: EVC Observatory Message-ID: The San Jose Astronomical Association Presents Jeffrey Kirkbride Speaking on The Montgomery Hill Observatory at Evergreen Valley College Tomorrow, Saturday July 12th starting at 8PM in Houge Park Building 1 The observatory is nearing completion and will have its opening ceremony sometime in late August or early September, just in time for the closest Mars Opposition in 73 thousand years! Hear about the history of EVC and the Astronomy Program there. Find out how the observatory came to be and the trials and tribulations of its construction. Jeff will also explain how the observatory be used in the EVC classes and the community. We will discuss what collaboration will be between the SJAA and the observatory. The talk will start at 8 PM in the hall at Houge Park. The meeting is free and membership is not required to attend. See you there! Observatory Website: http://www.evc.edu/math_sciences/observatory.htm The Board of Directors meets starting at 6:30 in the hall at Houge Park. Learn how the club operates and help contribute to its success. All are welcome to attend. Directions to Houge Park: Houge Park is in San Jose, near Campbell and Los Gatos. >>From Hwy.17, take the Camden Avenue exit. Go east 4/10 mile, and turn right at the light, onto Bascom Avenue. At the next light, turn left onto Woodard Road. At the first stop sign, turn right onto Twilight Drive. Go three blocks, cross Sunrise Drive, and then turn left into the park. >>From Hwy.85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north 0.2 miles, and turn right at the first traffic light, onto White Oaks Road. Run another 0.2 miles to the first stop sign, and then turn left onto Twilight Drive. You will now be passing the park. Turn right at the first driveway, into the parking lot. See Map at http://www.sjaa.net/img/houge.jpg Clear Skies, Mike Koop President, SJAA From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Wed Jul 16 01:30:55 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Coyote Star Party this Saturday, July 19th Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030716012414.00ac1080@koopm.best.vwh.net> We're rapidly approaching Mars' closest opposition to Earth since the year 57,537 B.C. This Saturday, July 19th 2003, between 9:00 and 12:00 p.m. Coyote Park will be hosting the first of a series of public star parties hosted by the SJAA featuring Mars viewing. Due to its proximity to San Jose, Coyote park is the one of the best summer observing sites in the area. The SJAA is happy to have the opportunity to support the Park Rangers in their public program efforts by setting up our telescopes and sharing views with all those present during these dedicated public observing nights. Coyote park is an ideal recreation area at the foothills of the Mount Hamilton Range and offers beautiful lake shore hikes, boating and barbecue pits, picnic tables and year round campsites. The Star Party will be at the Lakeview Picnic Area which is located less than 1/4 mile from the Ranger Station/Visitor Center in support of the ranger campfire program. Continuing with the Coyote Star Party tradition, we will be hosting a "Pot Luck BBQ". Pot luck begins at 7:00 p.m.- bring a main dish.... anything will do from KFC to sushi to crepe suzette to chef's salad to homemade enchiladas.... make it something you like! Bring enough to share. Bring your own drinks and side dishes (or bring some of those to share too). This is an informal pot-luck... Bring your own paper plates and utensils. A BBQ will be available organized by "The Q-King", James Turley. To reach the park, take Highway 101 to Gilroy; Take the Leavesley Road exit; Follow Leavesley Road east 1.75 miles to New Avenue; turn left onto New Avenue and proceed north for .6 miles to Roop Road. Turn right onto Roop Road, which eventually turns into Gilroy Hot Springs Road. The park entrance is approximately 3 miles from New Avenue. Turn left onto Coyote Reservoir Road, the park visitor center/ranger station is about one mile from Roop Road. When you enter the park, tell the ranger you are there to support the star party. They will admit you free of charge. The park office phone number is (408) 842-7800. For a map of the Coyote Park area go to: http://www.parkhere.org/scc/assets/docs/330208Coyote%20Lake%20map.pdf Website for Park: http://www.parkhere.org/channel/0,4770,chid%253D16486%2526sid%253D12761,00.html Come on out and support the star party as our way of thanking the staff for making this great observing site available to us. Hope to see you there! Mike Koop President, San Jose Astronomical Association July 19th Star Party Details: Sunset: 8:26 PM Civil Twilight: 8:56 PM Nautical Twilight: 9:32 PM Astronomical Twilight: 10:13 PM Mars Rises: 10:47 PM Moon Rises: 12:13 AM Sunday Mars Transits: 04:11 AM Sunday Future Coyote Star Parties: Saturday, August 2, 2003 (1st Quarter Moon) Saturday, September 20, 2003 (3rd Quarter Moon) From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Mon Jul 21 19:21:56 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fremont Peak Star-B-Que this Weekend! (July 26) Message-ID: For those of you not going to Yosemite this weekend, I highly recommend heading up to Fremont Peak for the Star-B-Que. This will be the first one I have missed in five years. I always have enjoyed the Raffle, ( Just missed by one ticket getting a 2" Eyepiece one year ), the astro quiz, a great speaker, and of course, good food. Afterwards, you have astronomical viewing through your own scope or some of the many brought by amateurs from around the bay area. The Star-B-Que has the feeling like one would get by attending Stellafane, with all the clubs of the greater bay area participating. The FPOA 30" Scope will also be open for viewing. I looked at Mars last month with the scope and it was performing well. Please RSVP to the phone number listed as soon as possible. They need to know how many Hamburgers/Hotdogs and sodas to purchase. The Thursday cut off is a little soft, just let them know your coming anytime before Friday and make sure to bring some food for the potluck. Good fun for the whole family! Clear Skies, Mike Koop President, SJAA Message from FPOA Vice President Bob Black: ****************************************** Fremont Peak Star-B-Que Saturday, July 26, 2003 Potluck Picnic & Super Star Party at Fremont Peak State Park This is a GREAT way to meet amateur astronomers and enjoy the fun side of astronomy. SPONSORS: the Fremont Peak Observatory Association the California Department of Parks and Recreation the Astronomical Association of Northern California COST: Fremont Peak State Park charges $3 per car for day use and $7 for overnight camping. Self-serve pay envelopes are provided. Please use them. RSVP: If you plan to attend, PLEASE call the FPOA hotline (831) 623-2465 by Thursday, July 24, and leave your name and number of guests. Anyone interested in astronomy or Fremont Peak State Park is welcome. You do not have to be a member of a club to attend. RAFFLE: Lots of prizes and lots of fun. POTLUCK: Begins at 5:00 p.m. behind the Ranger's house. Please bring a dessert or salad or your favorite dish you would like to share. We will provide hamburgers and fixings, soft drinks and utensils. GASTRONOMICAL CONTEST: There will also be an astronomical-gastronomical contest. Bring your astronomical theme dish and maybe you will win a fabulous (?) prize. Entries will be judged based on culinary ingenuity, looks and astronomical relevance! Please enter by 4:45 p.m. Entries arriving late may be consumed without judging. TRIVIA CONTEST: An Astronomical Trivia Contest will be held after we eat and before the program. While telescopes may be set up near the Shop and Observatory, there will be no vehicle access from about 2 p.m. until dawn (or clouds!). PROGRAM: Our speaker will be Dr. Steven Stahler, an astrophysicist at UC Berkeley. His topic: "How Stars Are Formed." We will learn about the latest exciting findings, and what mysteries still exist. GETTING THERE: Take US 101 to State Route 156, which is about 10 miles south of Gilroy and 18 miles north of Salinas. Go east on 156 about 3 miles to the traffic signal. Turn right and watch carefully for the Fremont Peak State Park signs. After going 0.3 miles you will jog left then immediately right. Important! You should see a county road "G1" sign and a "Not A Through Road" sign. You should see another Fremont Peak State Park sign. Then it is 11 miles to the park. SEE THE WONDERS OF THE SKY! You can look through the 30-inch Challenger Telescope and see stars and stuff in the sky as you have never seen them before. ****************************************** Websites: Star-B-Que Website: http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/starbq.html Fremont Peak Observatory Association Website: http://www.fpoa.net Map and Directions: http://www.sjaa.net/fpk From bhavner at earthlink.net Sun Jul 27 17:20:41 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: Astronomy Concepts Survey Responses Message-ID: <002401c3549e$157bb2a0$e5631e43@default> For those of you who took the ASP's Intro to Astronomy survey you will be glad to know that the SJAA scored very high, 81.16% correct!! Way to go! Bob Havner bhavner@earthlink.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Berendsen@aol.com To: undisclosed-recipients: Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 11:40 AM Subject: SJAA: Astronomy Concepts Survey Responses TO: San Jose Astronomical Association Thank you for all your club's responses to the Astronomy Concepts Survey. You have made a valuable contribution to our research on amateur astronomers. As we mentioned in the survey: Due to the nature and origin of this assessment, we cannot provide individual scores or the answers to the 21 content questions. We can send you a copy of the responses from your club, which are attached as an Excel spreadsheet. If you would like a copy of the content questions for reference, you may download them from http://solar.physics.montana.edu/aae/adt/. You may want to use these responses and the content questions at a club meeting to discuss astronomy concepts. Your club's average score is: 81.16% correct The pre-course average score for undergraduate college students taking introductory astronomy courses is about 32% correct. Thank you again for your valuable assistance with this survey. Marni Berendsen Astronomical Society of the Pacific -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaa-announce/attachments/20030727/c749f700/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SJAA.xls Type: application/vnd.ms-excel Size: 26624 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaa-announce/attachments/20030727/c749f700/SJAA.xlb From bhavner at earthlink.net Wed Jul 30 12:20:13 2003 From: bhavner at earthlink.net (Bob Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] NEW FRONTIERS PROGRAM Message-ID: <004101c356cf$9a7e66e0$70641e43@default> SJAA Members I was asked to forward this by Jeff Moore at NASA Ames. He will be speaking in December on the Pluto missions that are threatened by these cuts. --------------------------------- ACTION NEEDED: NEW FRONTIERS PROGRAM One of the major components for implementing the Decadal Survey recommendations is in peril by Congressional budget cutters. Late last week, the House VA-HUD- Independent Agency Appropriations Subcommittee released budget language to cut $55M from the New Frontiers program. Such a cut will seriously delay the launch and science return of the first New Frontiers Mission: New Horizons Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Recall that the New Frontiers mission line, starting with Kuiper Belt/Pluto was a top priority recommendation by the Decadal Survey. Delays and inadequate funding of the New Frontiers line will delay the launch and science return for New Horizons and increase the overall cost. The net effect on the New Frontiers line is to delay competition, selection and flight among other top priority missions that include South Pole-Aitken Basin, Jupiter Polar Orbiter, Venus In-Situ Explorer, Comet Surface Sample Return. New Frontiers was fully funded in FY2003 and the President's budget proposes full funding for FY2004. It makes no sense to have a flight program undergo severe swings from year to year. Even though letters from the DPS Chair and The Planetary Society were FAXed to key House members on Thursday (7/24), the House took quick action on Friday (7/25) to pass the bill containing the cut to the New Frontiers line. Unfortunately, this was the expected outcome. The effective battle ground for restoring cuts to the NASA budget will be in the Senate, with the first actions taking shape in the Senate Appropriations Committee. WHAT TO DO: It is vitally important NOW that we show Planetary Science has a strong constituency - and the place to be heard is within the offices of your Senators AND the Senate Appropriations Committee. YOU ARE URGED TO FAX THIS WEEK a letter to your Senators and to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. CONTACT INFORMATION for your own Congressional representatives can be found through the AAS website: http://www.aas.org/policy/Contact.html CONTACT INFORMATION for the Senate Committee on Appropriations can be found at: http://www.sal.wisc.edu/~wharris/frs/frsframe.htm Thank you for your efforts, which are urgently needed if we are to keep moving forward in turning the Decadal Survey recommendations into reality. Richard Binzel, Chair on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society _____________________________ Bob Havner bhavner@earthlink.net From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Wed Jul 30 14:02:46 2003 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:05 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Coyote Star Party this Saturday, August 2nd Message-ID: This Saturday, August 2nd 2003, between 9:00 and 12:00 p.m. Coyote Park will be hosting the second of a series of public star parties hosted by the San Jose Astronomical Association featuring Mars viewing. Due to its proximity to San Jose, Coyote park is the one of the best summer observing sites in the area. The SJAA is happy to have the opportunity to support the Park Rangers in their public program efforts by setting up our telescopes and sharing views with all those present during these dedicated public observing nights. Coyote park is an ideal recreation area at the foothills of the Mount Hamilton Range and offers beautiful lake shore hikes, boating and barbecue pits, picnic tables and year round campsites. The Star Party will be at the Lakeview Picnic Area which is located less than 1/4 mile from the Ranger Station/Visitor Center in support of the ranger campfire program. Continuing with the Coyote Star Party tradition, we will be hosting a "Pot Luck BBQ". Pot luck begins at 7:00 p.m.- bring a main dish.... anything will do from KFC to sushi to crepe suzette to chef's salad to homemade Enchiladas to side dishes, just make it something you like! Bring enough to share. This is an informal pot-luck. Bring your own paper plates and utensils. We will have one of the BBQ pits fired up and ready at 7 PM. We provide the flame, you provide the grillables. To reach the park, take Highway 101 to Gilroy; Take the Leavesley Road exit; Follow Leavesley Road east 1.75 miles to New Avenue; turn left onto New Avenue and proceed north for .6 miles to Roop Road. Turn right onto Roop Road, which eventually turns into Gilroy Hot Springs Road. The park entrance is approximately 3 miles from New Avenue. Turn left onto Coyote Reservoir Road, the park visitor center/ranger station is about one mile from Roop Road. When you enter the park, tell the ranger you are there to support the star party. They will admit you free of charge. The park office phone number is (408) 842-7800. For a map of the Coyote Park area go to: http://www.parkhere.org/scc/assets/docs/330208Coyote%20Lake%20map.pdf Website for Park: http://www.parkhere.org/channel/0,4770,chid%253D16486%2526sid%253D12761,00.html Come on out and support the star party as our way of thanking the staff for making this great observing site available to us. Special Thanks to all who attended 2 weeks ago, even though the weather did not cooperate. Hopefully this monsoon weather will clear by this weekend. Hope to see you there! Mike Koop President, San Jose Astronomical Association August 2nd Star Party Details: 1st Quarter Moon Sunset: 8:13 PM Civil Twilight: 8:41 PM Nautical Twilight: 9:16 PM Astronomical Twilight: 9:54 PM Mars Rises: 10:00 PM Moon Sets: 11:08 PM Mars Transits: 3:20 AM Sunday Future Coyote Star Parties: Saturday, September 20, 2003 (3rd Quarter Moon)