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  • August meeting!
    Wednesday, August 4th, 7:00PM at McCormick Observatory

    "The Physical and Historical Geology of the Colorado Plateau"


    The August meeting speaker is our own John Dedecker!. The plateau really is an open textbook of the geological processes which operate on Earth and other solid bodies in the solar system. After all Earth is a planet, and our primary laboratory for understanding astrogeology. In addition to Meteor Crater, there are many analogs to features on Mars on the plateau- It is also one of the premier spots for a vacation focused on Astronomy.



    Free as always and open to the public.

    Driving Directions



  • Bear Mountain Retreat 2010!
    Friday, August 6th, 4:00PM to Sunday, August 8th, 10:00AM at Bear Mountain Resort!

    The 6th Annual Bear Mountain Astronomy Retreat!
    In Highland County, Virginia!

    I have recycled the info from the 2008 & 2009 retreats here, but it's expected to be accurate, though it's 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, however, the well may be OK this year.
    We could also bring our own sheets & pillowcases for bedding and bring drinking water too if we'd like, to help Tom out.


    Here are the top 10 reasons everybody should come:
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    10. Your retinas will not forgive you for eons! Weeks, even!

    9. Clouds of disappointment will surely follow you for the rest of your life!

    8. The photons you would have soaked up (but didn't) will cause quantum instabilities.
    Then the planet will implode! It's rumored that this will not be good.

    7. The rest of us will cry!

    6. Brunches will not include either hummingbird tongues or eye of newt! Except in the omelets, of course.

    5. One word: Wine-a-thon! Oh wait, that was 3... ish...

    4. The grass on your campsite will have been mowed for nothing! Death, disfigurement!

    3. Did I mention free Ethos eyepieces? If I did it was a mistake...

    2. There will be a vacuum on the observing field in your absence.
    All observers & gear will be sucked into the void and disappear! This, too, is rumored to not be good.

    1. It is "Bear" Mountain, not "Bare" Mountain, nudity is optional!


    The cabins fill fast, but there is -TONS- of room for camping!
    Wine! Telescopes! Women! Telescopes! Stars! Song! Telescopes! Astrophotography!
    Did I mention telescopes?
    Give Ed Preston 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 hopefully will have a youngster at the retreat this year, if 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/person for the weekend.

  • Greenbrier or Laurel Fork cabins - family accomodations, $140 for the whole cabin.

  • The Ladies Cabin - $70/person for the weekend. 1Q, 1 Twin down & 2 Twins in loft.

  • Camping - $50 for the weekend.

    • Brunches are handled by us! It worked well in 2009, so we'll do this again this year! Bring eggs, cheese and other omelette fixings! I'll send around a sign-up sheet for dinners & breakfasts/brunches. The morning meal can be as breakfasty as we want them to be, or as lunchy too!

    Clear skies are assured! Maybe!
    If you miss this one you will not be able to live with yourself! I think...


  • September meeting!
    Wednesday, September 1st, 7:00PM at McCormick Observatory

    "Topic TBA... Speaker too!"


    September's meeting speaker is still to be announced...



    Free as always and open to the public.

    Driving Directions


  • ATS 2010 - Antique Telescope Society annual meeting
    Friday, September 10th, 1:00PM to Sunday, September 12th, 11:45PM at McCormick Observatory

    The Antique Telescope Society will have its 2010 meeting at McCormick Observatory for 3 days!



    More information to come, so stay tuned! Bookmark this page often!

    The ATS Home page.

    The Antique Telescope Society, Inc. is organized and operated exclusively for educational and/or scientific purposes. The purpose of the Society is to unite colleagues interested in antique telescopes, binoculars instruments, books, atlases and related items, and to promote the membership's interests in astronomical history and discovery, the history of optics, and the preservation and use of the antique instruments through stewardship and education.
    The ATS publishes a journal, organizes conventions, publishes this web site and moderates an email discussion group. ATS members provide assistance in the restoration of instruments, host educational shows and displays, work to preserve historical data, and assist and guide collectors.




  • Starry Night Google Gadget
    Monday, November 1st, 12:00PM at Charlottesville


    This is a Google Gadget from Starry Night which allows you to view the sky. By default it shows the view from Charlottesville at the current time (be sure to customize for your location and time, by clicking on the location and time at the upper left).





  • Video clips of the moment...
    Thursday, 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.


    This is a little country song that will set the science-based medicine record straight!


    This should get your inner mandala out!




    Here is something from the fine folks at JPL on the IYAs Year of Astronomy:


    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! ;-)



  • Website of the month archive
    Thursday, December 2nd, 12:00PM at The intertoobz

    Year In Space

    The Fermilab colloquia.

    Dr. Richard Pogge"s audio recordings from his astronomy class.

    AAS 112th meeting in Austin TX

    Atom - The Clash of the Titans - Part 1

    AstroShorts

    Dark Sky Finder! [Verrrry useful!]

    History of the Telescope.

    “Hubble: Galaxies Across Space and Time”

    "The Making of the Goods Zoom"

    “Space is Fun”

    “The Adventures of J. Judson Wynne”

    “Magnetic Movie”

    “Brilliant Noise”

    arXiv

    32 Nearby Stars

    SDSS Digital Sky Survey/SkyServer

    Flight Aware Live

    365 Days of Astronomy

    One Astronomer"s Noise (Nicole Gugliucci)

    Planetary Society Catalog of Exoplanets

    Star Formation: The Game

    Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility

    The Pickering Seeing Scale.

    Nikon: Universcale.

    The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System

    Giga Galaxy Zoom

    MarineTraffic.com

    Information is Beautiful

    Royal Society Library

    USGS Moon General Image Viewer

    Cell Size and Scale

    Logarithmic Map of the Universe

    The Known Universe

    The Scale of the Universe

    Wheel of Stars

    My Solar System 2.02

    APOD: Exceptional Rocket Waves Destroy Sun Dog

    Digital Universe

    Naming X Competition

    Night Sky Atlas


  • CAS loaner telescopes
    Monday, December 13th, 12:00PM at Tri-county area...
    This is a list of the telescopes that are currently loaned out to CAS memberss.

  • 10" Avellone Dob - Larry Saunders

  • 8" Dynamax SCT - Tom Ayers

  • 8" Orange tube Celestron SCT - Paul Quenneville

  • 4" Orion refractor with Ha Solar filter - John Avellone

  • CaK Solar Telescope - Wes Epperly

  • Meade ETX-90 - Tom Ayers

  • Celestron C-90 Maksutov - Bill Phillips