As I mentioned in the meeting yesterday, our next outreach event will be for the Charlie Elliott’s Summer Camp kids this coming Wednesday July 22. Stephen will do another Solar event for them and I am looking for volunteers for the evening session. If you want/can help with the presentation in the Visitors Center around 7:00pm or later out on the field with your scope, binos or laser to point out objects, please send me an email, so we can plan properly.

Thanks for your consideration.
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

I don’t know if you are aware of this thread in Cloudy Nights. The thread was initiated by Christopher Go from the Philippines, a member of the ALPO Jupiter Observers group and has input from some very active and experienced planetary imagers such as Anthony Wesley from Australia.

Chris posted a link to his raw TIF files and encouraged everyone to use their current process so we could compare the different processes. Very hepfull!!

The link to my version of the image here:
http://ceastronomy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6713
The link to the discussion on Cloudy Nights:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3195796/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1/vc/1

Clear Skies
Theo Ramakers

Picture this: It’s 4:30 in the morning. You’re up and out before the sun. Steam rises from your coffee cup, floating up to the sky where a silent meteor streaks through a crowd of stars. A few minutes later it happens again, and again. A meteor shower is underway.
One of the streaks leads to the eastern horizon. There, just above the tree line, Venus and the crescent Moon hover side by side, so close together they almost seem to touch. Suddenly, Venus wavers, winks, and disappears.

All of this is about to happen–for real.

On Wednesday morning, April 22nd, Earth will pass through a stream of comet dust, giving rise to the annual Lyrid meteor shower. At the same time, the crescent Moon and Venus will converge for a close encounter in the eastern sky. Viewed from some parts of the world, the Moon will pass directly in front of Venus, causing Venus to vanish.

Clear Skies
Theo

I would like to thank everyone who attended our meeting last Saturday April 18th, including several new faces : Phil, Jim, Stephanie and Stephanie, Jessica and Dave and Brian who we have seen before!

We hope you enjoyed the meeting, and will be back for another, when hopefully the skies will be clear, so we can actually see something from the observing field.

Clear Skies
Theo Ramakers

The ISS is forecasted to cross the disk of the moon tomorrow 3/28 between 15:06:08 and 15:06:18. This is a 10 second transit. If the clouds give way, this is an event to see! The center line of the crossing is from about 8 miles south of Starsville to over Hard Labor Creek park and Watkinsville. (If we just did not have these clouds in the forecast)

Theo Ramakers

The next NSN teleconference is this Thursday evening.

Enjoy the exciting IYA 2009 telecon series given by Kris Koenig on 400 years of the telescope followed by 100 Hours of Astronomy with Mike Simmons.

Join the Teleconference on Thursday, March 26th at 6:00 pm PT (9:00 pm Eastern).

400 Years of the Telescope is debuting April 10th on PBS. Check your local listings for air date.
100 Hours of Astronomy will be the highest-profile and largest event of the whole year during IYA 2009. Every participant will be making history!

To log into the Telecon on Thursday, March 26th, between 5:45 – 6:00pm (Pacific Time):

Use the toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236
An operator will answer and:
• You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
• You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to, and number of people listening with you.

The PowerPoint is available now here

The online version of the PowerPoint will be available soon here

*Post-Telecon Drawing for Latest Book*
Kris Koenig will generously donate signed copies of his fresh off the press: “400 Years of the Telescope. A Journey of Science, Technology and Thought”. We’ll be giving these books away to five lucky clubs in a random drawing at the conclusion of the telecon.

Also please note that we did receive a new toolkit!! “Glass and Mirrors” showing how telescopes work.

Theo Ramakers

For all of you who might be thinking about going for the Galileo Club award of the Astronomical League. I send a letter requesting clarification because the Galileoscope did not meet the requirements for the Club Award. Here the reply I received:

Dear Theo,
It’s true that the main eyepiece delivers 25x, or 50x when used with the included 2x Barlow lens. But it’s also true, as explained on our Specifications page (https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/content/specifications#accessories), that you can use the lens from the Barlow as a Galilean eyepiece providing 17x, an upright image, and a VERY narrow field of view (just like Galileo’s telescopes).

Also, since the Galileoscope has a 1.25-inch focuser, you can use a 25-mm eyepiece (typical of the low-power eyepiece that comes with many commercial telescopes) to achieve a magnification of 20x.

More to the point of the Galileo Pin, though, Galileo made his key discoveries with telescopes giving magnifications of 20x to 30x. (His discovery of the moons of Jupiter was made at 30x, for example.) So I’d suggest that you could change the rules for the Galileo Pin to allow observations up to 30x, in which case the Galileoscope is ideal!

Thanks for your interest in our little project. Clear skies!

Rick Fienberg
Galileoscope, LLC

The 4th graders from Hightower Trail Elementary school have their Space Camp 2009 this coming Friday the 27th. I am trying to figure out who from the chapter can attend. Could you please let me know if you can make it. Hightower always has been a very rewarding event with the kids and teachers being very appreciative that we are there, and they even made a donation to the Chapter 2 years ago!

So let’s show them that we also appreciate their interest and come on out with your scope!! Maybe this is your opportunity to take a closer look at comet Lulin . And if the weather does not cooperate, we do some presentations inside for the kids like we did last year. Click here for a short movie on what we did last year.

When:
Friday February 27, dark until 10:00 – 11:00 p.m.

Where:
Hightower Trail Elementary in Conyers, GA
2510 Highway 138, N.E.
Conyers, Georgia, 30013.

Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

February Night Sky Conference call.
Thursday, February 19th – GLOBE at Night with Dr. Connie Walker 6:00 p.m. Pacific, 9:00 p.m Eastern

***Win one of 5 GLOBE Dark Sky Kits being given away at this Telecon!***

To log into the Telecon on Thursday, February 19th, between 5:45 – 6:00pm (Pacific Time):
Use the IYA toll-free conference call line: 1-888-455-9236. This number will be used for the whole year.
An operator will answer and:

* You will be asked for the passcode: NIGHT SKY NETWORK
* You will be asked to give your NAME and the CLUB you belong to (Charlie Elliott chapter of the AAC), and number of people listening with you.

For more information on the Dark Sky Kits, last year’s telecon with Dr. Walker can be found here:
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=361

Clear Skies,
Theo

With Saturn now very much an object of interest with its ring plane almost edge-on as seen from Earth, come on out and listen to noted Saturn observing expert and author Dr. Julius L. Benton, Jr., Ph.D., of Savannah, as our featured speaker on February 21.

Dr. Benton is also the coordinator of the Venus and Saturn observing sections for the Assn of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO). (See detailed info on our home page)

You will not get a better opportunity to get prepared for observing Saturn.

Note that our program will begin at 3 p.m. And as always (weather permitting), observing after the meeting at the CE observation field.