We are having a solar viewing event at Alcovy Highschool this coming monday November 17, at noon.

Stephen has offered to bring his H-alpha anc Calcium filter scopes. Anyone who wants to join us there and help is welcome.

The address is: 14567 Highway 36, Covington, GA.
Clear Skies
Theo

Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for lift off from on Friday November 14 from Kennedy Space Center’s launchpad 39A at 7:55pm for mission STS-126. The Space Shuttle Endeavour will launch on assembly flight ULF2, and will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station. with the number of shuttle launches counting down, this might well be the last opportunity to witness a night launch from Charlie Elliott.

The weather forecast for Friday evening is 67% clouds and 40% chance of rain, so chances to see the launch from here are low. However, if the weather improves, take a trip out to Charlie Elliott and see the blast off rise over the tree tops, something that not many have witnessed from the Atlanta area!!

Clear Skies,
Theo

The meeting was called to order by Chapter director Theo Ramakers at 4:05pm. 17 members and guests attended the meeting and 62 persons took advantage of the observation field since the last meeting. Following a welcome to all attendees, a request to change the April meeting date was discussed. The request was made to avoid a conflict with the annual star party of the Flint River Astronomy Club. The request to change our meeting date was approved to the weekend preceding the old date. We now need to check with CEWMA if they will allow the change. The home page of the CE website has been updated with the chapter meeting dates for 2009

Following a short introduction of Paul Tankersley by Theo, Paul started his presentation about Narrow Band Imaging in the City. Paul’s extensive presentation discussed this topic in much detail. He explained why he got interested in this, the evaluations he went through, the challenges one has to overcome when imaging from light polluted areas, the equipment he needed for this and finally the process when doing this the right way. His presentation was very complete and everyone had a chance to see his beautiful album of images made by Paul over the one year he has been doing this.

We all enjoyed Paul’s presentation very much. You can review Paul’s presentation on our website in the Presentations Page. After thanking Paul and his wife Gail for coming out to Charlie Elliott, bringing donuts, and showing us this very exciting part of observing the night sky, Jon Wood did his continuation of the Observing 101.
In addition to reviewing the night sky for November, location of Venus and Jupiter, Jon discussed the discussion he had with the management of Charlie Elliott about the hunting season and the fact that the observing field is not located in the Safety Zone. We are sharing the observing field with everyone. It was explained that the wildlife is very active around sunset and sunrise. This means to be very cautious around these times of the day during hunting season, and it would be better to come a little later than earlier. We have added the hunting season information on our website. A link to this section has been added at the home page of the site: . http://ceastronomy.org/blog/directions . The information can also be found at the website of CEWMA: http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/hunting.aspx.
Jon also discussed a new focusing tool he is using: the Bahtinov mask. This focus mask is based on the principle of moving diffraction spikes. His presentation included screen captures of in and out of focus objects and gave a great overview of the ease of operation. A URL for a generator of a mask template is : http://astrojargon.net/maskgen.aspx

The last item of the agenda was Theo’s Current Events in Astronomy and Space Exploration. Theo discussed the advancement of some foreign countries in space exploration, notably China with the first manned space flight and India with the launch of their first mission to the moon and gave an overview of recent and current outreach events. A review of recent images made by chapter members was followed by a status review and images of Odessey, Phoenix, and Cassini. An overview and movie about of the Indian mission Chandrayaan to the moon completed this month’s Current Events. A link to this presentation can be found on the Events page of the website.
After the meeting it was out to the observing field, where several additional observers joined and some students and parents from George Walton High took the opportunity to see some nice sky objects.

Respectfully submitted by
Theo Ramakers
Director, Charlie Elliott Chapter of the AAC.

Following a message from Larry Wallace, director of the AAC:

Attached is the detail program for the GRAM meeting tonight and tomorrow.

The Georgia Regional Astronomy Meeting moves to a different college campus in the state each year, and is at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody for 2008. Last year it was in Valdosta, and next year will be in Dahlonega, so this year’s location is pretty convenient for metro area residents. The organizer, Dr. Kae Pearson, really wanted to encourage amateurs to attend the meeting and see some of what’s going on with astronomy science and education in Georgia.

Hope some of the CE chapter members can drop by for awhile.
Regards.

Larry Wallace
President, Wallace Engineering
Director, Atlanta Astronomy Club

678 524 8805

2008-10-22 Atlanta’s “The Children’s School” at Charlie Elliott
Chapters members Jon Wood and Theo Ramakers showed approx. 24 students and teachers some treasures of the Universe in a cloudy sky. Following some story telling by Jon about the old greeks and the stories behind some of the constellations, the students got to see some double stars, star clusters, the Andromeda gallaxie and nebulas as well as Jupiter and its moons.

They even went as far as wanting to know how those pretty pictures were made that they see on the web and magazines. So we showed them. This was a very interesting class and I believe we were able to spark some interest in Astronomy in them. I have the feeling that in a few years, the chapter might grow with a few new astro imagers.

We have a request for next week Wednesday October 22nd for an outreach event at Charlie Elliott. The Children’s School of Atlanta has a group of 5th graders at Charlie Elliott and would like us to share some sights of the Universe after dinner.

Please let me know if you can attend this outreach session and bring your scope. They have not asked for a presentation inside, but maybe we keep this open in case the weather does not cooperate.

As Jon said Clevis, you are the best at showing them the sky with the naked eye, or binos……. Any chance you can attend for an introduction to the nightsky?

We will be setting up at the observing field and the kids will walk from the convention center to the field after their dinner. We expect to start a little after 7:00 when the sun has set.

Thanks for your consideration,
Theo

Minutes of the September 27, 2008 Meeting of the Charlie Elliott Chapter of the AAC In the absence of CE chapter Director Theo Ramakers, CE chapter Observing Supervisor Jonathan Wood called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and thanked all for their contributions to the evening’s pot luck dinner this evening. There were with 17 members and guests present at the start of the meeting, with a total of 23 members and guests present by the end of the meeting. CE chapter Director Theo Ramakers was out of town and not able to attend.

* A birthday celebration was held for Angus Owens (birthday Oct. 4) and Mary Owens (birthday Oct. 12), the parents of CEWMA member and former chapter director Larry Owens; the elder Mr. Owens has reached the milestone of 90 years old, while Mrs. Owens is now age 86. The elder Mr. Owens attends our CEWMA meetings with Larry. Birthday cake was served throughout the evening.

* Discussion was held about shifting back the meeting start time for the October 25 meeting to 4 p.m.; all agreed.

* Jon Wood’s “Observing 101″ PowerPoint segment included upcoming rise/transit/set times for celestial objects in the coming month; tonight’s slides and epheremis data were produced using the software programs “Celestia” (available at http://www.shatters.net/celestia/) and Stellarium (available at http://www.stellarium.org/).

After a break in the meeting for dinner and refreshments, member Stephen Ramsden presented the first part of his solar lecture series, “The History Of Solar Observing”. Part one described the religious beliefs and lore of early civilization’s sometimes mythic relationship with our nearest star up to and including an overview of modern solar observatories and available options for amateurs interested in solar observing and photography. Part two — to be presened at a later date — deals with solar emissions and the different wavelengths produced by the Sun.

After a final break for refreshments, CE chapter member Clevis Jones handled the “Current Events” segment of the meeting, where upcoming natural and manmade celestial activites are noted. Among those in the spotlight were the following:

* The launch on September 25 of China’s Shenzhou VII spacecraft carrying three astronauts, with images of a spacewalk during its orbit of Earth. (The craft and its crew of three landed safely on September 28.)

* The fifth dwarf planet, Haumea, with its moonlets, Namaka and Hi’iaka, the names of which are based in Hawaiian mythology.

* First image of an extra-solar planet to be imaged.

* Updates on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity; Spirit was at Gusev Crater (90 miles wide, about the size of Connecticut), while Opportunity had departed from Victoria Crater and was on journey to Endeavour Crater (13.7 miles wide, larger than the borough of New York’s Manhattan). One image from the Mars Reconnaiance Orbiter showed the trek Opportunity is to follow.

* Coverage of the “Jules Verne ATV-1″, Europe’s first state-of-the-art Automated Transfer Vehicle and its departure from the international space station on Friday, September 26,  after a five-month stay that delivered more than 10,000 pounds of cargo to the complex. Named for the visionary 19th century science fiction writer, the supply ship launched March 9 and spent more than three weeks being readied to approach the station. Docking occurred April 3. The craft was programmed to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up over the Pacific Ocean on September 29. (More on the re-entry at http://atv.seti.org/)

* Movies of past and planned Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions by the space shuttles. (More at http://www.nasa.gov/hubble)

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:15 p.m. The next meeting of the CE chapter of the AAC will be at 4 p.m., Saturday, October 25.

Respectfully submitted,

Ken Poshedly
CEWMA Chapter Recording Secretary

The Meeting dates for the Charlie Elliott Chapter have now been set for 2009. All meetings are on Saturdays:
Meeting Dates for 2009:

January 24
February 21
March 28
April 25
May 16 JAKES Day
June 20
July 18
August 22
September 19
October 17
November 14
December 19

Please note that the March, June, September and December Meetings are our Pot Luck Dinner Meetings.
The Events Calendar on the ceastronomy.org website has been updated to reflect these meeting dates.

Thanks and Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Next CHARM date: September 30, 2008 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Pacific

Call 888-677-6566, passcode 3832523, US participants only.

This month we will have a panel of scientists from the Cassini CIRS – Composite Infrared Spectrometer team. The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) consists of dual interferometers that measure infrared emission from atmospheres, rings, and surfaces over wavelengths from 7 to 1000 micrometers (1400 to 10 cm-1) to determine their composition and temperatures.

The PDF version of the presentation will be here http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/products/CHARM.cfm on Monday, September 29.

EASY REFERENCE REMINDERS

• CHARM telecons are the last Tuesday of the month at 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Pacific Time
• The phone number is (888) 677-6566 and the passcode is 3832523
• The CHARM pdfs are located at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/products/CHARM.cfm
• The CHARM ppts are located at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/doclib
• This is a password protected site, here are the details (they are case sensitive): Username: cassini Password: Doc$85

SOC members, please spread the word about our Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay Contest.

Teachers, parents, and students: have you ever wondered what it is like to be part of a large science team with a spacecraft as your remote laboratory? The 6th edition of Cassinis Scientist for a Day program is underway! The contest is open to all students in the U.S. between grades 5 and 12, working alone or in groups of up to four students. Deadline for submission is Noon, Pacific Time on Oct. 30, 2008 (3:00 p.m. Eastern time)

Students write a 500-word essay about one of three possible imaging targets (Saturns moons: Tethys, Titan, or Mimas) and justify their choice as to which would potentially yield the best science. Winners are invited to participate in a teleconference with Cassini scientists from JPL.

The contest deadline is October 30, 2008. Teachers can download a flyer about the contest at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientist/6th_edition/resources.cfm. The URL for the Cassini Scientist for a Day website is: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientist/6th_edition/index.cfm. Inquiries about the contest should be sent to scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov.

Thanks for spreading the word about this exciting program to our next generation of scientists!

Jane Houston Jones
Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program
JPL – 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205
Pasadena, CA 91109

Hello everyone,

This is a reminder that it’s time to start thinking about what to bring to this quarter’s Pot Luck Dinner for the Charlie Elliott Chapter meeting. It starts at 5:00PM at the Charlie Elliott Visitor’s Center, this coming Saturday, September  27th.

To get things started, just let me know what you plan to bring dessert, drinks, covered dish, etc) and I’ll add that to our menu and post it on the Charlie_Elliott_Chapter group as I get your emails.  Near the end of the week, I may send out a call for items we’re short  of.

So, give it some thought, post a message or email me, and we’ll add this to the list!

Clear Skies
Theo