From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Thu Feb 2 22:38:47 2006 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Thu Feb 2 22:39:05 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Houge Park Star Party Tomorrow Night, Friday Feb 3rd 7-10 PM Message-ID: <20060202233604.T34458@koopm.best.vwh.net> SJAA will host its public observing session at Houge Park, on Friday February 3rd from 7:00 PM to10:00 PM. Families are welcome to attend. Feel free to bring your scope and share views with others. Come see views of the Saturn, Mars, and brighter deep sky objects. Be prepared for the cold weather. The San Jose Mercury News has the Star Party listed in their Monday Calendar section, so expect people to show up. With any luck, the weather may hold off. Note that SJAA will only automatically cancel the star party if rain is hitting the ground. Weather for Houge Park: http://www.sjaa.net/weather/sites.html#Houge-Park Mercury Calendar Announcements: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/13746161.htm Astronomical Details: Sunset: 5:35 PM Civil Twilight: 6:02 PM Nautical Twilight: 6:33 PM Astronomical Twilight: 7:04 PM Moonrise: 11:58 PM 10 Objects to Observe Tonight! 1) The 1st Quarter Moon! 2) Saturn! Its only 0.6 Degrees from the Beehive this evening. 3) Open Cluster M46: Can you see planetary NGC2438? 4) Open Cluster M47: 15+ stars only 1500 LY away 5) Gamma Andromeda: Orange star with fainter blue companion. 6) Eta Cassiopeiae: Yellow Star Mag 3.4 with 7.5 Orange companion. 19 LY away, 480 year orbit 7) M81: Bodes Spiral Galaxy, 12 Million LY away 8) M82: Cigar Galaxy, Interacted with M81 9) Sigma Orionis: A triplet of stars! 2 Mag 7 with another Mag 9 star 10) Beta Monocerotis: Another triple star system, Mag 4.6, 5.0, and 5.4 Directions: Houge (rhymes with "Yogi") Park is in San Jose, near Campbell and Los Gatos. >From Hwy. 17, take the Camden Avenue exit. Go east 0.4 miles, 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, then turn left into the park. >From Hwy. 85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north, and turn right at the first traffic light, onto White Oaks Road. At the first stop sign, turn left onto Twilight Drive. You will now be passing the park. Turn right at the first driveway, into the parking lot. Between the parking lot and tennis courts is a strip of grass where public star parties are held. The meeting hall is directly ahead (south) of the parking lot. There are restrooms on the other side of the the hall. Clear Skies, Mike Koop President San Jose Astronomical Association From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Sat Feb 4 18:49:12 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Sat Feb 4 18:49:27 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] "Solving the Mystery of Short Gamma Ray Bursts" Message-ID: <002401c629fe$bf919920$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Please join us for the next lecture in the Benjamin Dean Lecture Series on Monday, February 6. "Solving the Mystery of Short Gamma Ray Bursts" Dr. Neil Gehrels Goddard Space Flight Center Swift Principal Investigator Gamma-ray bursts are among the most fascinating occurrences in the cosmos. Until this year, the origin of short gamma-ray bursts was a complete mystery. A new NASA satellite named Swift has now captured the first images of these events and found that they are caused by tremendous explosions in the distant universe. The lecture will be in the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco's Kanbar Hall at 7:30pm, 3200 California Street at the corner of Presidio Avenue. Tickets are available at the door for $4. _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Mon Feb 6 16:51:17 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Mon Feb 6 17:41:07 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Saturn Night at the Randall Message-ID: <002601c62b80$9aeb54c0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> What: Saturn Night at the Randall Museum When: Saturday, February 18, 2006 Lecture starts 6:00 pm Telescope viewing until 9:00 pm Where: Randall Museum 199 Museum Way San Francisco, CA Everyone is invited, admission is free. Join sidewalk astronomers Ken Frank and Michael Portuesi as they present a 30-minute illustrated talk on Saturn. We'll learn about the efforts of pioneering Saturn explorers Galileo, Cassini, and Huygens. Then we'll get acquainted with Saturn, its rings, and its many moons through breathtaking photos returned over the past year and a half by the NASA Cassini-Huygens mission. Finally, we'll show you how to find Saturn in the night sky and observe it, with or without a telescope. After the talk, members of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers will have telescopes set up for you to experience Saturn and its cloud belts, rings, and moons first-hand. For more information on the Randall Museum, including driving directions, visit the Randall's website: http://www.randallmuseum.org. _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Thu Feb 9 18:36:18 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Thu Feb 9 18:36:27 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Astronomy Day Message-ID: <002f01c62dea$c635ce50$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Thirty three years ago, Astronomy Day was first conceived during a board meeting of the Astronomical Association of Northern California (AANC) held at Chabot Observatory in 1973. The simple idea of bringing astronomy to the public was the brainchild of then AANC president, Doug Berger, who is still a current member of the Eastbay Astronomical Society. The idea has since become an internationally recognized time for clubs, planetariums, and observatories to celebrate and share the wonders of our Universe with the public. Please let me know what you?re club is doing this year for Astronomy Day. The basic format can be found here: http://aanc-astronomy.org/AstroDay.html Thanks, Ken _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From robhawley at earthlink.net Thu Feb 9 23:46:04 2006 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Thu Feb 9 23:46:14 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] SJAA General Meeting Saturday 8PM Message-ID: Follow The Water - Talk by Dr. Jeffrey Moore Write-up by David Smith Spirit and Opportunity have been roving Mars for more than a Martian year, coming up on two Earth years. Mars Global Surveyor, Odyssey, and Mars Express continue to study our neighboring planet from orbit. What are they telling us? At our February 11 meeting, SJAA member Dr. Jeffrey Moore will give us the scoop on the history of water on Mars. A scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, Jeff is currently a member of the Mars Exploration Rover team, as well as the New Horizons Pluto mission. He is Principal Investigator of a NASA-funded Martian brines and evaporites aqueous chemistry experiment, and has recently investigated the evolution of the Martian south polar deposits, and the nature of lacustrine and hydrological processes on Mars. Rob Hawley From karlball at juno.com Fri Feb 10 08:08:09 2006 From: karlball at juno.com (karlball@juno.com) Date: Fri Feb 10 08:15:58 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Meeting Location Message-ID: <20060210.080817.1587.304172@webmail05.lax.untd.com> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaa-announce/attachments/20060210/fd8e9f9e/attachment.ksh -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaa-announce/attachments/20060210/fd8e9f9e/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Feb 10 08:23:58 2006 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Feb 10 08:24:10 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Location of SJAA General Meetings Message-ID: SJAA General Meetings are held at Houge Park in San Jose. You can find directions at http://www.sjaa.net/gotstars/ Rob Hawley From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Feb 15 19:43:23 2006 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Feb 15 19:43:33 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Houge Park Star Party Friday Feb 17 & Beginners Dob Class Message-ID: SJAA will host its public observing session at Houge Park from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Families are welcome to attend. Feel free to bring your scope and share views with others. Come see views of the Saturn, Mars, and brighter deep sky objects. Weather for Houge Park: http://www.sjaa.net/weather/sites.html#Houge-Park Note that SJAA will only automatically cancel the star party if rain is hitting the ground. This is the 3rd quarter party. I will be teaching the beginner's class at 7:30. February 17 - Using your scope Quick Polar Alignment Filters and how to best use them Star Charts - Paper and PC Planning your Evening Where to go Weather Object Catalogues Recommendation lists How to Find Stuff Rob Hawley From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Wed Feb 22 19:39:23 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Wed Feb 22 19:39:38 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] DomeFest at Chabot! Message-ID: <001601c6382a$bd6e1d50$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> From: AlexBarnett@ChabotSpace.org (by way of Alan Gould) Dear Friends I hope that you will be able to join us at Chabot for this exciting event! Our new domed theater is really starting to 'cook'! Best wishes Alex Barnett Join us for DomeFest/Chabot Space & Science Center 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland, CA Friday March 3 shows start at 7PM and at 9PM. Tickets $13.00. $2.00 discount for students, Chabot members, industry affiliates*. Call the box office 510 336-7373 to reserve or book online at: http://www.museumtix.com The International DomeFest at Chabot Space & Science Center - originated by the LodeStar Astronomy Center and the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, pioneers in full dome production and experimentation - is the Bay Area Premiere of the finalists and winners of the 2004/2005 international "Domie" awards. The programs feature inspiring examples of immersive digital art, science, entertainment, education and experimental works created by artists around the world for digital "full dome" theaters. All shows will be presented on Chabot's newly installed ultra high definition state of the art immersive 70' dome environment. Visit our website for more information on the programs: www.chabotspace.org. The screenings will feature remarks from jurist, Alex Barnett, Executive Director of Chabot Space & Science Center. There will be a short Q&A at the end of the program. In addition, all attendees are invited to participate in a Sunday morning workshop to get a more hands-on look at the tools and technology used to create full dome content and to hear more about the real-time capabilities of the platform. Sign-ups will be taken at the screenings. Doors open at 6:30. $1.00 Beer and Pizza will be served. Bring your friends and associates who are interested in the NEXT BIG THING in animation, film-making, gaming and experimental art and visualization. Additional discount rates available for groups of 8 or more. * complete list on-line or just bring in a copy of this email. See http://www.chabotspace.org/domefest/ _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Fri Feb 24 21:04:12 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Feb 24 21:04:20 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] 2006 Astronomy Programs on Mt Tam Message-ID: <003201c639c8$eb8481d0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Each year for the past 20 or so years Tinka Ross has faithfully put together the public Astronomy Programs on Mount Tamalpias. Here's this years line up: *2006 SPEAKERS **4/1 8:00pm Dr. Steve Stahler UC Berkeley ?How Stars Are Made? Stars are the natural out come of processes that occur through out galaxies. Research has led to a good understanding of the basic evolutionary process, but deep mysteries still remain. 4/29 8:30pm Dr. Dale Cruikshank NASA-Ames Research Center ?Small Worlds in the Distant Solar System? We are in the midst of exploring small objects with giant telescopes and with spacecraft, such as Cassini now visiting Saturn and New Horizons on route to Pluto. 6/3 8:30pm Seth Shostak SETI Institute ?The Latest Skinny on SETI? Despite more than four decades of searching, astronomers have heard nothing. Is this a quixotic mission, or could there soon be proof that someone is out there? What are the latest efforts to find someone in space who's at least as clever as you are? 7/1 8:30pm Dr. Lynn Cominsky Sonoma State University ?A ?Swift? View of the Universe? NASA's Swift mission studies gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe. Learn how black holes are created when stars die, and how one galactic neutron starquake changed our Earth's atmosphere. 7/29 8:30pm Dr. Eugene Chiang UC Berkeley ?The Tenth Planet and Beyond? Since 1992, astronomers have discovered over 1000 icy, rocky objects beyond Neptune, one larger than Pluto. What is known about this "Kuiper Belt" of bodies and what are the implications for the formation of our planetary system? 8/26 8:30pm John Dillon Randall Museum "Ancient Astronomy, the First Science? The pinnacle of ancient Greek science was the amazingly sophisticated astronomy developed more than 2000 years ago at the legendary Museum of Alexandria. 9/23 8:00pm Dr. Chris McKay NASA-Ames Research Center "Latest results from the Huygens' Mission to Titan" Last year the Huygens Probe landed successfully on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. What we saw was not what we expected. Hear the latest results from the analysis of the data from the Probe. http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/sfaa/starparties/ http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843 Please join us, Ken _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Fri Feb 24 21:05:33 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Fri Feb 24 21:05:39 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Space Station transits Moon Message-ID: <003a01c639c9$1b8be300$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Movie of the Space Station crossing in front of the Moon: http://pictures.ed-morana.com/ISSTransits/ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Sun Feb 26 17:42:33 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Sun Feb 26 17:42:45 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Spaceworld at NASA Ames Celebration Message-ID: <000701c63b3f$15646fc0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> Spaceworld at NASA Ames Celebration Our generation will do something that no previous generation could do, and no future generation will have to: map and explore our solar system. What does mapping and exploration of the solar system bode for our future? Will it soon lead to colonization and exploitation? Seth Shostak will discuss the possibilities of 21st century forays into the nearby realms of space. "When One World is Not Enough: The Conquest of the Solar System" Presentation by Seth Shostak. Introduction of Plans for Spaceworld at NASA Ames Tour of NASA Ames Exploration Center Thursday, March 16, 2006 7:30 P.M. NASA ARC Building 943, Eagle Room (next to the big white tent) Free. Open to the public From pkohlmil at best.com Sun Feb 26 23:21:36 2006 From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller) Date: Sun Feb 26 23:21:54 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] March Ephemeris Online Message-ID: <006501c63b6e$72b2a730$0300a8c0@eclipsys.lan> The March Issue of the SJAA Ephemeris is now available online at: http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/ Paul Kohlmiller -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaa-announce/attachments/20060226/de54281d/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Feb 27 17:13:54 2006 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Mon Feb 27 17:13:58 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] New SJAA Marathon Charts Message-ID: I am working up a set of star charts to supplement Don Machholz's Messier Marathon book. One of the main points is a detailed script for navigating the Virgo cluster. Here are some examples http://home.earthlink.net/~robhawley/p76_Overview_2345.pdf http://home.earthlink.net/~robhawley/p76_M98-86.pdf I would appreciate some feedback from the less experienced folks whether this will be useful to you. I need to finish taxes before I can finish this. Rob Hawley From bhavner at sbcglobal.net Mon Feb 27 18:03:49 2006 From: bhavner at sbcglobal.net (Bob & Brenda Havner) Date: Mon Feb 27 18:04:07 2006 Subject: [SJAA-announce] Fw: [AANC Contacts] Stardust Mission Update on March 1st Message-ID: <002401c63c0b$37f83cc0$60d9fea9@Turtlerock> What: Astronomer Scott Sandford of NASA's Ames Research Center will give a non-technical, illustrated talk entitled: Bringing Home a Comet: Stardust Mission Update (plus a quick look at the Japanese Asteroid Sample Return Mission) When: Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, 7 pm Where: Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, Los Altos Hills, California. Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions. No background in science will be required for this talk. The Stardust mission is a spacecraft that flew by and, for the first time ever, collected samples from Comet Wild-2. The samples were successfully returned to Earth on January 15, 2006 and are now being analyzed. (The spacecraft traveled about 2.9 billion miles over 7 years to collect and bring back samples of what may be some of the earliest material from the solar system ever seen.) Dr. Sandford, an expert on meteorites and the material between the planets, is co-investigator on the Stardust mission, and was actively involved in the recovery of the Stardust capsule in the Utah desert. He'll fill us in on what this historic mission accomplished and what the initial analysis of the samples is revealing. He will also take us on a quick tour of the little-publicized Japanese Hayabusa mission to bring back a piece of an asteroid to Earth. This mission has already returned some amazing close-up images of asteroid Itokawa. Co-sponsored by: * NASA Ames Research Center * The Foothill College Astronomy Program * The SETI Institute * The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ================================ Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA 94022, USA Telephone: (650) 949-7288 E-mail: fraknoiandrew@fhda.edu _______________________________________________ Contacts mailing list Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts