Month: June 2010

Added share button to site

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I just added a new link to our web page, in the rightmost column, under Categories. To use it, once you open an article for reading, just click on the Share button. This will take you to a page where you can select a social network to share it with.

Moon and Mars converge

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If you go outside tonight (June 17), or the next few nights, you’ll see the Moon very close to Mars, and moving toward Saturn. Here’ the view on June 16. As the nights go by, the Moon will move to the left.

May 2010 Board Meeting Minutes

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RAS Board Meeting May 17, 2010 President Jim Browder called the meeting to order at 7:03pm. Attendees (8): Jim Browder, President David Medici, Vice President Jim Blowers, Treasurer Chris McCann, Secretary John Barnett, Observatory Director Gary Cowardin Betty Wilson Ken Wilson   Secretary’s report given by Chris McCann February’s board meeting minutes were distributed, discussed, … Read more

May Meeting Minutes

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Richmond Astronomical Society

728th Consecutive Meeting

May 11, 2010

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 31 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a telescope, a few eyepieces by John Raymond.

There were a few free magazines and photos for anyone to look at.

Past Events:

Astronomy Day was a big success!!!!

Thanks to all members and everyone else who participated and made this another successful Astronomy Day for RAS.  Unfortunately, the clouds settled in and disrupted any solar observing that we were planning.  It appeared all attendees were enjoying themselves and really interested in all aspects of our Astronomy displays.

Science Museum Skywatch
Skywatch at Woodlake
Individual observing

Upcoming Events:

The next Science Museum Skywatch/LiveSky show is May 21.  Please sign-up if you are available to attend and bring a scope.
East Coast Star Party – May 14-15, Coinjock, NC   Expect a review of the party at the next meeting.
Skywatch at Moore Middle School, May 25, 8:30 PM (rain date is May 27, see Richastro calendar). 11455 Prince George Dr., Disputanta 23842.  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Stargazing at City Point May 29, 8:00 PM
City Point Unit, Petersburg Nat’l Battlefield, 1001 Pecan Avenue, Hopewell, VA (see Richastro calendar).  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report (John Barnett)

John Barnett will be hosting an open house for members and guests on Wednesday, June 16th at 8:30pm.  On the 15th, he will email a weather advisory and a reminder to all members. Contact Jim Blowers to update yours if it has changed.

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April Meeting Minutes

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Richmond Astronomical Society

727th Consecutive Meeting

April 13, 2010

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Jim Browder called our meeting to order in the Eureka room.

Greeting & Announcements – approximately 38 in attendance at the meeting.

Please check the link to our RAS blog: http://richastro.org/index.php/category/blog/

Share table:

There were several items for sale, including a telescope, a few eyepieces by John Raymond, and a newly purchased telescope and stand by David Medici.

Cal had an interesting planetary chart depicting the relative positions of the planets to the sun, throughout the year.  There were a few free magazines for any interested members.  I did not get to see them, but someone brought a few photos they had taken through their telescope.

Past Events:

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the last Skywatch at the Science Museum on Friday, March 19.  The event was well attended.  There was an estimated crowd of over 150.   Observed objects included Saturn, Mars, and Orion.

Yuri’s Night at the Westover Hills Library was a success with over 200 people.  There was a great turnout with observations made of Orion, Saturn, and Mars.

Metro Richmond Science Fair at Powhatan High – Terry Barker presented cash prizes for 4 good Astronomy projects:

  1. Justin Lau, The Effect of Solar Wind Speed on the Strength of Geomagnetic Substorms.
  2. Isaac Steincamp, Celestial Motion: The Difference Between Stellar and Planetary Motion.
  3. Anisha Rohatgi, The Effect of Distance of the Light Source on the Intensity of Skyglow.
  4. Zachary and Benjamin Terner, The Effects of Coronal Mass Ejection on Muon Event Frequency at a Local High School.

Several members volunteered their adventures into their individual observing.  A few mentioned they had observed the Mercury/Venus conjunction, and others had been out to Big Meadows for some dark skies.  One member announced they had been to the Powhatan observing site and was approached by someone saying he was the one who got the site started at Powhatan.

The March 26th Skywatch at Scotchtown was rained out.  There are 2 more scheduled for later in the fall of 2010.  Contact John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help.

Upcoming Events:

The next RAS/SMV LiveSky and skywatch is scheduled for Friday April 16.  LiveSky starts at 6pm, while the skywatch will start shortly after sunset.  Expect a report on the blog page.

Astronomy Day 2010 is planned for April 24 at the Science Museum.  Final plans and the corresponding personnel were announced for door prizes, greeter table, meteorite exhibit, brochures, night sky photography, International Dark Sky Society (Laura Graham), space suit demo, bottle rocket launcher, solar telescopes, radio telescope, making sundials, a starlab planetarium, a scale model of the solar system, and a 2pm presentation by Anne Verbiscer in the forum!  Due to other plans at the SMV, no skywatch will be held for this year’s Astronomy Day. 

Stargazing at FiveForks on April 24 at 8pm.

Skywatch at Woodlake on April 30 at 7:30pm. Contact John Raymond if interested in helping.

Annual dues are due and should be given to Jim Blowers.  Membership is $30.  Observatory memberships and magazine subscriptions increase the amount.

Payment can be made by PayPal at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm

Observatory Report

John Barnett will be hosting an open house at the RAS Ragland Observatory on April 28, starting at 8:00 PM.  The waxing gibbous moon will be visible during the early evening, and Saturn will be visible.

The property fence around the RAS observatory is expected to be completed by the Hercules Fencing company before the open house.

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So what’s the weather like?

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As we all know, astronomy is an extremely weather-dependent activity (unless you happen to have a space telescope at your disposal).  As such, most astronomers have an interest in the weather and many of us have gained quite a bit of expertise in gauging weather conditions for a night of viewing.  What better subject to … Read more