McCormick Observing Sunday, July 19th, 9:00PM at McCormick Observatory
Observing and training on 26" Clark refractor. Plan to view several planetary nebula, globular clusters, a few emission nebula, and possibly Pluto.
ALCON 2009 will include speakers in four different tracks of Astronomy subject matter.
I. A Range of Astronomy Topics including but not limited to Astrophysics, Exobiology, Astronomy Hardware, Observing Techniques, Astronomy Art, Astronomy History, and Radio Astronomy:
Nancy Kiang
Phil Harrington
Al Nagler
Tony Pirera
Dr. Richard Greenberg
Dierdre Kelleghan
John Goss
Joe Rao
Mike Kozma
Jeffrey Owen Katz, PhD
Michael Francis
Dr. Mike Reynolds
II. Astrophotography Techniques (How the Amateurs Are Now Doing Professional Astrophotography)
Jim Burnell
Steve Walters
Neil Fleming
Warren Keller
Mike Siniscalchi
Derek Java
III. Association Of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) – Various Topics Germane To Current Planetary Science
William Sheehan
IV. American Association Of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) – Topics Related To Current Variable Star Research
Glenn Chaple
Gordon Myers
Mike Simonsen
August meeting Wednesday, August 5th, 7:00PM at McCormick Observatory
Our August meeting will feature Joleen Miller Carlsberg of UVa!
Bear Mountain Retreat 2009! Friday, August 21st, 4:00PM to Sunday, August 23rd, 1:00PM at Bear Mountain Resort
The 6th Annual Bear Mountain Astronomy Retreat!
In Highland County, Virginia!
I have recycled the info from the 2008 retreat here, but it is expected to be accurate, though it is subject to change, of course. If changes happen I will update this page but quick!
This is an event that is not to be missed!
The rates are exactly the same as last year, so there is no reason in the world not to come!
Tom has in the past asked us to take our showers before we come. He expects that the well is likely to be dry again this year.
We should also bring our own sheets & pillowcases for bedding and bring drinking water too!
The cabins are filling fast, but there is -TONS- of room for camping!
Wine! Telescopes! Women! Telescopes! Stars! Song! Telescopes! Astrophotography! Did I mention telescopes?
Give Larry Saunders a $20 deposit and we will get you on the list!
Users of green laser pointers are respectfully asked to check with everybody present at the event to see if any of them are imaging and to determine where their telescopes are pointed. Then you can avoid ruining a long exposure by avoiding the area of sky that is being imaged. You should also make sure your beam does not travel overhead of an imager, even if it is not pointed at the part of the sky that is being imaged at that moment.
We will have a couple youngsters at the retreat this year, so there will be a need for a green laser sky tour, but that will probably take place early in the evening (on Friday only) so it will coincide with the drift aligning phase and probably not be a problem for imagers.
Back Creek Cabin - (AKA the BOQ or The Bunkhouse) $70 for the weekend.
The Ladies Cabin - $70 for the weekend.
Camping - $50 for the weekend.
Brunches are catered on Saturday morning and Sunday morning, $15 each.
Clear skies are assured! Maybe! If you miss this one you will not be able to live with yourself! I think...
VAAS 2009 Saturday, September 12th, 9:00AM to Saturday, September 12th, 12:00PM at the NRAO auditorium, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville
CAS hosts VAAS!
The 33rd annual convention of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies (VAAS)
will include fantastic speakers, door prizes, vendors, swap tables and solar observing during the day
followed by a night of observing with the historic 26" Clark refractor at the nearby McCormick Observatory.
This event is open to astronomy clubs, teachers, students and the interested public across Virginia.
Door prizes courtesy:
Astronomical League - Astronomer"s Journal!
Bob"s Knobs - A set of collimation knobs to fit YOUR scope!
Lumicon - Gift certificate!
OPT - Gift certificate!
DobSTUFF.com - Gift certificate!
Skyhound: Innovative Astronomical Software - SkyTools 3 Pro
Schedule
9:00 - 9:15
Registration
9:15 - 9:25
Introductory remarks & welcome by Richard Drumm, CAS President.
9:25 - 9:45
Speaker #1 - Steve Layman: "The Chandra Grant Outreach Program."
9:45 - 10:45
Dr. Brian Mason of NRAO: "The Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect: Shadows Cast by the Microwave Background."
10:45 - 11:00
Break for vendors and leg stretching.
11:00 - 12:00
Dr. Joseph Lazio, Naval Research Laboratory: "The Lunar Radio Array."
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch at the nearby Observatory Hill Dining Hall. See map on VAAS page, building #7.
1:00 - 2:00
Dr. Katherine Thornton of UVa: "STS-61, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing and repair mission."
2:00 - 2:15
Break for vendors and leg stretching.
2:15 - 3:15
Dr. Mark Whittle of UVa: "Primal Scream: Sounds from the Embryonic Universe."
3:15 - 3:30
Break for vendors and leg stretching.
3:30 - 4:30
Dr. Robert O"Connell of UVa: "Hubble Wide Field Camera 3, WFC3."
4:30 - 5:00
Door Prizes and concluding remarks.
5:30 - 12:00
BBQ dinner and observing session with the historic 26" Clark refractor. McCormick Observatory.
Video clips of the moment... Wednesday, November 11th, 2:00PM at The intertoobz
Just checking to see if any of you all are watching...
;-D
Here is our February 2008 meeting, now on YouTube. You can link to it here as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMo4V2XO0S0&feature=channel_page
and then see the 6 other segments that make up the whole meeting.
Here is something from the fine folks at JPL on the IYAs Year of Astronomy:
Here is a little something from NASA to whet your appetites:
Know anybody who thinks we never sent astronauts to the Moon? Show them this video clip and see what their reaction is:
Here is something about that recently discovered methane on Mars:
This is just to make you smile:
This one too...
This one by popular request! Hi Nicole! ;-)
Test event Thursday, December 2nd, 12:00PM at The intertoobz
This is a test event for me to run tests with HTML tag codes.
