Events

Science Hobbyists Needed for a National Study

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. The Richmond Astronomical Society was asked to pass along this survey request to astronomy hobbyists.  Please consider helping the researchers by completing the online survey as described below.  The link to the survey is here. . Web Announcement Science Hobbyists Needed for a National Study . Are you a science hobbyist? . We need … Read more

Three planets visible

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If you’re an early riser, you can see 3 planets in the morning sky-look east, Venus is the brightest, Saturn above right and Mercury below left This Weeks Sky at a Glance – SkyandTelescope.com.

RAS has style

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Jason Roop’s (Editor of Style Magazine) newsletter highlighted us this week. It included this verbiage, which contains a link to the Style Magazine page describing our sky watch. [embedit snippet=”quote”] WEEKEND ASSIGNMENTS: 1. Gaze at the stars through these powerful lenses with the Richmond Astronomical Society. Thanks, Jason. And here’s a clip of the page. [embedit snippet=”clear”]

Perseids meteors this weekend

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The peak of this show is either tonight (Saturday, Aug. 11), or tomorrow night, depending on which web site you look at. But I’d go with Sunday, because we’re going to be clouded out tonight in Richmond. This is one of the best meteor showers of the year, and I was planning on trying tonight too, because even though the peak will last only a few hours, there will be a heavier frequency of meteors for a week on either side of the peak. The closer to the peak, the better, of course.

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Mars Landing

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Curiosity is scheduled to land in the Red Planet’s Gale Crater late Sunday or very, very early Monday, depending on your Earthbound time zone. Confirmation of the landing should come at about 10:31 p.m. PT Sunday for folks on the U.S. West Coast, or 1:31 a.m. ET Monday for those on the East Coast. The … Read more

Giant rover to make ‘terrifying’ landing on Mars

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No spacecraft has ever landed like this before and NASA admits it’ll be a wild ride. NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover, a 2,000 pound (900 kilogram) SUV-sized robotic science laboratory, is scheduled to touch down on August 6 at 1:31 a.m. EDT. Mission managers say Curiosity’s trip to Mars has been “outstanding,” but the landing will be the hardest ever attempted. … Read more

Belmead on James Skywatch, August 25, 7:30 PM:

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Skywatch at Belmead on the James / Thomas Berry Educational Center.  RAS will deploy astronomers and telescopes for the event and there will be an indoor introductory session prior to the observing session.  This is an easily accessible dark sky location with plenty of parking adjacent to the observing site.  Please contact Jim Browder at … Read more

Sunspots pay off for science fair winner

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As most of you are aware, RAS shows their support for future scientists by awarding money at the Metro Richmond Science Fair. We call it the Wilber T. Stone Award and look for exhibits that demonstrate astronomy or space science. The Fair encompasses all of the Richmond and surrounding county schools, so it’s quite large–usually on the order of 2-300 entries.

We’ve been doing this for about 15 years now, and we almost always have at least one recipient. And we had a good one this year–Sydney Mabry, of Moody Middle School, composed her project on sunspots by observing them with a telescope that she constructed herself. She was able to determine that the size of a sunspot is directly related to how long the sunspot exists.

 

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Earth Wins Game Of Chicken With Sun

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Some surprising facts about the potentially dangerous effects of a large solar eruption. And we’re going into a solar maximum, where the possibility of “the big one” exists. http://www.blottr.com/world/breaking-news/earth-wins-game-chicken-sun

December Potluck Dinner

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Thanks to all who attended our annual potluck dinner.  Everything was absolutely delicious, the images of the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party were great and the Astro-Jeopardy was a lot of fun.  It was really great to see everyone. Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe holiday season. . Regards,. Jim Browder