From mojo at whiteoaks.com Wed Jan 5 10:00:48 2005 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Comet Machholz the APOD Message-ID: <41DC2B50.1030307@whiteoaks.com> Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is Comet Machholz, and the first link in the caption is to our very own October Ephemeris article, "The Discovery of Comet Machholz." Congratulations SJAA! (I noticed a huge spike in requests for the article today, and the referal from APOD.) Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jan 5 20:06:05 2005 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Observational Astronomy Class and Star Party , Fri Jan 7 Message-ID: <20050106040611.B70C5BDD2@mail.whiteoaks.com> ******Observational Astronomy Class******** Tonight's class (Friday, January 7th) starts at 7:30 PM in the hall at Houge Park. Tonight we will discuss "Getting into Amateur Astronomy". This is a perfect chance for those new to the hobby to learn more about amateur astronomy. The class finishes with a "Sky Tour" by SJAA President Mike Koop, pointing out how to find the constellations and planets. Weather permitting, after the class we will be viewing the constellations, planets, and other deep sky wonders through telescopes at the Star Party. The class will be held regardless of weather. *******Houge Park Star Party ********* On Friday Jan 7 the SJAA will host its public observing session on the grounds at Houge Park. Families are welcome to attend. Feel free to bring your scope and share views with others. As of this writing the weather is not promising. SJAA members will be at Houge Park where we will be hoping for unforecast holes like the one that happened Tuesday night. See the SJAA weather pages for up to date information. www.sjaa.net/weather Weather for Houge Park: http://www.sjaa.net/weather/sites.html#Houge-Park The evening star party will start about 7:00 PM and last to 10:00PM We will have almost a new moon. You can follow this link for a map of tonight's sky http://skymaps.com/skymaps/esmn0501.pdf. Note this map gives the location of comet Machholz. The comet can now be visually observed even from the city. Friday night it will be near the Pleiades. Comet Machholz @ 9PM Magnitude: 4.1 Distance: 0.3488 AU (52.2 million km) Right Ascension: 3h 34m 41.2s Declination: +24? 16' 32" Altitude: 68? 21' Azimuth: 238? 39' Some other Objects to look at Object Type Con Alt Az Dir ------ ---- --- --- -- --- eta Cassiopeiae Star Cas +63? 328? NW 19.4 lyr SAO 21732 eta Persei Star Per +71? 6? N 1331 lyr SAO 23655 gamma Andromedae Star And +82? 310? NW 356 lyr SAO 37734 (Almach) lambda Arietis Star Ari +74? 215? SW SAO 75051 M 31 Galaxy And +68? 289? W Andromeda Galaxy 2.2-2.4 mlyr M 34 Open Cluster Per +84? 8? N M 35 Open Cluster Gem +43? 90? E 2800 lyr M 36 Open Cluster Aur +54? 81? E 4100 lyr M 37 Open Cluster Aur +50? 82? E M 38 Open Cluster Aur +56? 79? E 4200 lyr M 42 Bright Nebula Ori +31? 126? SE Orion Nebula 1600 lyr mu Cephei Star Cep +39? 320? NW SAO 33693 NGC 869 Open Cluster Per +70? 353? N Double Cluster NGC 457 Open Cluster Cas +65? 335? NW "ET" cluster NGC 7662 Planetary Nebul a And +53? 294? NW Blue Snowball NGC 7789 Open Cluster Cas +57? 319? NW Pictures of any of these objects may be obtained at http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form?target=ngc457&resolver=SIMBAD Saturn will be at about 50 degrees in the Eastern Sky at 9 PM Rob Hawley From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Jan 7 13:32:13 2005 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Information on Comet Machholz Message-ID: <20050107213219.302A6BDA3@mail.whiteoaks.com> San Jose is currently covered with thick layers of clouds. In the hope that these clear I put together some information on the comet. This includes some links to photographs, finder charts, and movies showing the orbit of the comet relative to the planets. http://home.earthlink.net/~robhawley/comet/CometMachholz.html Just a reminder that the Observational Astronomy Class will be held regardless of the weather. Rob Hawley From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Sat Jan 8 11:17:38 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] [Fwd: Request for volunteers, Ancient Observatories: Chichen Izta event (Exploratorium)] Message-ID: <002d01c4f5b6$b7f4c020$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Dear Amateur Astronomers, On March 20, the Exploratorium will be hosting a live webcast from Chichen Itza, Mexico, as part of our ongoing Ancient Observatories project. Accompanying the webcast, presented in Spanish and English, will be an array of activities addressing Mayan astronomy and culture. We hope to draw volunteers from the local astronomer community to help deepen public understanding in these fields. We had tremendous support from many of you during last year's highly successful Transit of Venus program. Some areas of support that we're looking for are: - Facilitation for a basic sundial making activity - Amateur archaeoastronomers who have some knowledge about the Mayan calendar system and astronomy. - Spanish bilingual astronomers who can help address questions from Spanish speakers If you're interested, please e-mail me at julies@exploratorium.edu by January 22. I'd be happy to share more details with you. Thank you, fellow astronomers! Please look out for a separate, official announcement about the webcast and activities. Sincerely, Julie Suh Public Programs Coordinator e x p l o r a t o r i u m CPE - Public Programs 3601 Lyon Street San Francisco, CA 94123 p: 415.674.2826 f: 415.561.0370 http://www.exploratorium.edu From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Wed Jan 12 06:31:31 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] [Fwd: Call for Observations January 13-14] Message-ID: <003001c4f8b3$69151400$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Are you a CCD/CMOS imager? This may interest you. CALL FOR OBSERVATIONS: SATURN'S MOONS Saturn reaches opposition on the night of January 13-14, 2005, which is close to the time when the Cassini spacecraft's Huygens probe should touch down on Titan. At every opposition the Sun, Earth, and Saturn are nearly aligned in space, but this opposition is special. An observer at Saturn would literally see Earth transit the disk of the Sun -- something that has not happened since 1990 and won't take place again until 2020. While no one can be there to see the transit directly (and the Sun is too bright for Cassini to image), the near-perfect alignment gives Earth-based astronomers their only chance in many years to truly measure the "opposition effect" -- a dramatic brightening expected to occur in the Saturnian system as the solar phase angle approaches zero. Measurements should reveal important clues to the surface composition of such moons as Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus. (Mimas and Enceladus are probably too close to the rings to be considered reasonable targets.) Anne Verbiscer (Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia) and Richard G. French (Department of Astronomy, Wellesley College) are coordinating a NASA-funded, worldwide campaign to measure the brightness of these moons as close as possible to the time of the alignment. Ten ground-based observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope are involved already, and they are seeking even wider participation. "We ask advanced amateurs with CCD-equipped telescopes to observe this event," Verbiscer writes, "not only on the critical night of January 13, 2005, but for two nights on either side of opposition, weather permitting. "I am most interested in obtaining visible-light (UBVRI) CCD images whose exposure times are long enough to get usable photometry of the brighter moons. With these long exposures Saturn and its rings will be saturated, so we are not looking for 'pretty' CCD images of the planet and rings. Almost any size telescope will be sufficient, but the image scale should be such that a point source is recorded across several pixels for adequate sampling. Scattered light from Saturn and its rings will be the most significant complication, so a telescope with clean optics, few elements, and minimal diffraction will produce the best results. "Since good photometry is our goal, multiple exposure times are needed to make sure that each satellite, in turn, is not saturated and not underexposed. At each exposure time several images should be taken, both to improve statistics and to protect against contamination from cosmic rays. Observations should alternate between the Saturn system and a nearby calibration field defined by our project." Those wishing to participate can find detailed instructions at http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~av4n/SatOpp05.html Please send any questions about observing Saturn at Opposition 2005 to verbiscer@virginia.edu. Jane Houston Jones Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program JPL - 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205 Pasadena, CA 91109 Phone - 818-393-6435 Fax - 818-393-4495 jane.h.jones@jpl.nasa.gov http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jan 12 12:50:06 2005 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Houge Star Party , Fri Jan 14 Message-ID: <20050112205011.46A08BDCD@mail.whiteoaks.com> *******Houge Park Star Party ********* On Friday Jan 14 the SJAA will host its public observing session on the grounds at Houge Park. Families are welcome to attend. Feel free to bring your scope and share views with others. The evening star party will start about 7:00 PM and last to 10:00PM See the SJAA weather pages for up to date information. www.sjaa.net/weather Weather for Houge Park: http://www.sjaa.net/weather/sites.html#Houge-Park Moon and Sun The following information is provided for Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, California (longitude W122.0, latitude N37.2): Friday 14 January 2005 Pacific Standard Time SUN Begin civil twilight 6:53 a.m. Sunrise 7:21 a.m. Sun transit 12:17 p.m. Sunset 5:14 p.m. End civil twilight 5:42 p.m. MOON Moonset 9:19 p.m. on preceding day Moonrise 10:28 a.m. Moon transit 4:23 p.m. Moonset 10:28 p.m. Moonrise 10:54 a.m. on following day Phase of the Moon on 14 January: waxing crescent with 25% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated. First quarter Moon on 16 January 2005 at 10:58 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. You can follow this link for a map of tonight's sky http://skymaps.com/skymaps/esmn0501.pdf. Note this map gives the location of comet Machholz. The comet can now be visually observed even from the city. Friday night it will be near the star Algol (beta Perseus). Finder charts are available at http://home.earthlink.net/~robhawley/comet/CometMachholz.html Comet Machholz @ 9PM 14 Jan Magnitude: 4.2 Distance: 0.3709 AU (55.5 million km) Right Ascension: 3h 19m 36.6s Declination: +38? 23' 38" Constellation: Perseus Altitude: 75? 48' Azimuth: 279? 47' Some other Objects to look at Object Type Con Alt Az Dir ------ ---- --- --- -- --- eta Cassiopeiae Star Cas +63? 328? NW 19.4 lyr SAO 21732 eta Persei Star Per +71? 6? N 1331 lyr SAO 23655 gamma Andromedae Star And +82? 310? NW 356 lyr SAO 37734 (Almach) lambda Arietis Star Ari +74? 215? SW SAO 75051 M 31 Galaxy And +68? 289? W Andromeda Galaxy 2.2-2.4 mlyr M 34 Opn Clstr Per +84? 8? N M 35 Opn Clstr Gem +43? 90? E 2800 lyr M 36 Opn Clstr Aur +54? 81? E 4100 lyr M 37 Opn Clstr Aur +50? 82? E M 38 Opn Clstr Aur +56? 79? E 4200 lyr M 42 Bright Nebula Ori +31? 126? SE Orion Nebula 1600 lyr mu Cephei Star Cep +39? 320? NW SAO 33693 NGC 869 Opn Clstr Per +70? 353? N Double Cluster NGC 457 Opn Clstr Cas +65? 335? NW "ET" cluster NGC 7662 Pltry Nebul And +53? 294? NW Blue Snowball NGC 7789 Opn Clstr Cas +57? 319? NW (the calculated alt az were for 1/7) Pictures of any of these objects may be obtained at http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form?target=ngc457&resolver=SIMBAD Saturn will be at about 50 degrees in the Eastern Sky at 9 PM Satellite Predictions (From heavens above ) http://www.heavens-above.com/allsats.asp?lat=37.339&lng=-121.894&alt=0&loc=S an+Jose&TZ=PST&Date=38367.1041666667&Mag=3.5 The table from Heavens above does not reproduce well in a plain text message. Here are the highlights Satellite mag Max Height Cosmos 1005 Rocket 3.3 17:43:00 85? ENE ISS 1.7 17:53:11 15? NNW Cosmos 2237 Rocket 3.3 18:13:34 69? ENE Lacrosse 2 3.3 18:40:16 50? WNW Cosmos 2297 Rocket 3.4 19:33:37 79? WNW Rob Hawley From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Sat Jan 15 17:18:51 2005 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Orion XT 8 Scope Available for Loan Message-ID: <20050115181607.W89190@koopm.best.vwh.net> The person who had asked to borrow this scope has bought one, so scope #12 is currently available and I do not have any room to store it. The loan period is two months since I already have someone on the waiting list. He just picked up a 6" XT last night, so he will get to borrow it after he evaluates that one. I'll have it over at the Mirror Making Class tonight at 7:30 at Houge Park. The first person to email me gets it. I will check my email at 6:45 and notify everyone who inquires. Thanks! Mike From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Mon Jan 17 17:00:48 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: Night Sky Network Message: Deep Impact Teleconference Reminder Message-ID: <001401c4fcf9$25e83e10$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Join us in a teleconference on NASA's Deep Impact mission on the evening of January 18, 2004 (6:00 pm PST, 9:00 EST). Mission Co-investigator and planetary scientist Dr. Lucy McFadden of the University of Maryland will be leading the presentation. Dr. McFadden will talk about both the science of the mission and how amateurs can participate. The process to participate in the teleconference is a simple two-step process and everybody in a Night Sky Network club is welcome to join. Step 1: Download the Presentation If you have PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat you can step through the slides as Dr. McFadden presents the details to us. The presentation is on the Night Sky Network web site under "Toolkit Downloads" - "Tele-Conference" section at: http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club/kit-downloads.cfm?Category=Tele%2DConference If you have access to the web while on the call, you can view the presentation online at http://www.astrosociety.org/nsntelecon/index.htm. The Deep Impact presentation will be uploaded to this address the day of the call. Step 2: Participate in the Call Anyone in the Night Sky Network can participate as individuals or in groups. Just dial in anytime to the number below after 5:45 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, January 18th Toll-free conference call liine at : 1-877-917-1549 ? You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK ? You will be asked for the call leader: MICHAEL GREENE ? You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to. Be sure to forward this information to your other club members. Your club members do not need to be registered on the Night Sky Network to participate in the Teleconference. We do ask that questions be focused on the Deep Impact mission, the science of comets or amateur astronomy and outreach as it relates to this mission. If you have any questions or are having any difficulties logging into the Night Sky Network, send an email to nightskyinfo@astrosociety. See you at the teleconference! Mike Hart Night Sky Network http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/ From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Mon Jan 17 17:49:32 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Night Sky Network Username for SJAA Message-ID: <002501c4fcff$f5b97a90$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> I have found out you cannot get to the downloads page of the Night Sky Network without a Username and Password. I have set up a club username & password Username: SJAA_Club password: sjaansky Type in exactly as above Bob Havner From wb6yru at aenet.net Fri Jan 21 19:34:48 2005 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] SJAA has 5 RASC astronomy calendars Message-ID: <41F1C9D8.8000309@aenet.net> The SJAA has only five RASC astronomy 2005 calendars left. They'll be available from the club treasurer at the meeting Saturday. They're $10, that's nearly $4 off the retail price. If you wanted to get one, but didn't, here's your chance. When they're gone, that's it for this year. What little we make on these (and the RASC Observer Handbooks) goes to the club equipment fund. Among other things, this pays for parts and repairs for the scope loaner program. Gary Mitchell SJAA treasurer From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Mon Jan 24 17:10:43 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] LOOKING FOR "EARTHS" AROUND OTHER STARS January 27th Message-ID: <000c01c5027a$b1adcbf0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kenneth Frank" To: "AANC Contacts" Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 4:45 PM Subject: [AANC Contacts] LOOKING FOR "EARTHS" AROUND OTHER STARS January 27th LOOKING FOR "EARTHS" AROUND OTHER STARS Dr. Gibor Basri , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory During the last 10 years, astronomers have located more than 100 planets around other stars. With current search techniques we can find only ?gas giant? planets like Jupiter, but now it is becoming possible to find worlds similar in size and temperature to our own. Dr. Gibor Basri will talk about the upcoming search for terrestrial planets. NASA is preparing a Discovery mission called "Kepler" (conceived at Ames Research Center) that will utilize the "transit" method to find small planets around solar-type and smaller stars. He will discuss some of the mission?s challenges, the problem of false-positives, the good chances for success and other science that Kepler will accomplish. One of the co-investigators on the Kepler mission, Professor Basri has been in the Astronomy Department at the University of California at Berkeley for more than 20 years. His pioneering work on substellar objects has made him a world expert on "brown dwarfs" (failed stars). He also has studied star formation, stellar magnetic activity and, more recently, low-mass stars. Dr. Basri uses the Lick Observatory in San Jose, the (world's largest) Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea and the Hubble Space Telescope. He has a BSc from Stanford in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. FPOA-Members mailing list FPOA-Members@fpoa.net http://www.fpoa.net/mailman/listinfo/fpoa-members -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ > Contacts mailing list > Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org > http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts > From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Tue Jan 25 17:10:27 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Lockheed Colloquia - Jan. 27, 2005 Message-ID: <003801c50343$d2954fe0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> My apologies. I left out the Lockheed Colloquia - Jan. 27, 2005 header for Dr. Gibor Basri's talk on LOOKING FOR "EARTHS" AROUND OTHER STARS January 27th Ken For directions http://lmms.external.lmco.com/atc/coll.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Thu Jan 27 16:51:39 2005 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Jul 29 03:57:07 2005 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Alien Earths addendum: admission FREE to AANC clubmembers Message-ID: <001201c504d3$872979a0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> The SJAA is a member of the AANC and as a member I believe this free admission offer applies. Bob Alien Earths addendum: Admission is FREE to AANC club members who present this e-mail message at the LHS Front Desk. ________________________________________ Original message: Are We Earthlings Alone? The world premiere of the exhibit "Alien Earths" at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science is on February 5. The exhibit invites visitors to join the search for habitable worlds. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibit Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at SETI Institute, and Dana Backman, Associate Director of SOFIA for Education and Public Outreach at the NASA Ames Research Center will speak in the museum auditorium on Sunday, February 6. The schedule is: Sunday, February 6, 2005, Lawrence Hall of Science Auditorium, UC Berkeley 12:30 p.m.: The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Seth Shostak 1:30 p.m. : The Search for Earth-Like Planets Around Other Stars - Dana Backman http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org The exhibit Alien Earths was developed by the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation. It is a hands-on exhibit that covers the search for life, as well as orients individuals to both the possibilities and the obstacles that figure into exploring space. The exhibit is divided into four areas: Our Place in Space Star and Planet Formation Planet Quest Search for Life Interactive and multi-media presentations in the exhibit will allow visitors to: Set planets in motion around a star and see what happens Experiment with an infra-red camera Listen to sounds from space Learn about microbes, the most abundant life form on Earth and possibly elsewhere Alien Earths will be at Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) February 5 through May 8. LHS is the public science center of UC Berkeley. It is located on Centennial Drive below Grizzly Peak in the Berkeley Hills. The general information number is (510) 642-5132. The website is http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org. Admission is $8.50/adults; $6.50/ youth (5-18), full-time students, senior citizens, and the disabled; $4.50/children 3-4; and free for children two and under. SETI Institute is a co-sponsor of the LHS run of Alien Earths. ************************** Linda Schneider, Marketing Director Lawrence Hall of Science University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-5200 (510) 643-8980 phone; (510) 642-1055 fax _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts