Well, there is a way we can help them.  The graduate students and faculty have created a children’s astronomy book and are working hard to put a copy of the book in every third grade classroom and school library in Virginia.  To fund the work, they have applied for a Pepsi Refresh grant of $25,000.  The grant will be awarded to the project that receives the most online votes.

Please consider registering at the Pepsi Refresh site and voting:

http://www.refresheverything.com/darkskiesbrightkids

People register once and then can vote once a day, every day, through September 30th. If you think this is a worthy effort, please vote early and often and spread the word to anyone you think may be interested.  The Dark Skies, Bright Kids folks very much appreciate our support and in, my opinion, are very deserving of that support.

Thanks and best regards,

Jim Browder

The video of the flash is at this link and below along with an image captured by our own Randy Tatum just days after the flash.

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John has been the chief meteorologist for WRIC TV8 since 1984.  He also serves as meteorologist for the Agrinet Farm Radio Network, WGAI in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, WCXL in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and WWOC-FM in Hatteras, North Carolina.  In short, he knows the local weather patterns and has dealt with severe weather forecasting and warning throughout his career.

Please join us for the next meeting if you can and for dinner before the meeting at Arby’s across the street from the museum.  Everyone is welcome.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

SMV Skywatch:

Astronomy Day: Astronomy Day 2010 is fast approaching.  At the March meeting we discussed some of the displays that RAS  plans to support, but if there is a display or activity that you would like to help with, please let me know.  I will be contacting the folks that volunteered at the meeting and those that usually help with Astronomy Day.

Ted Bethune: Our own Ted Bethune may be the next internet phenomenon.  As most of you know, Ted is a real space program enthusiast and has collected thousands of images and memorabilia associated with the US and other national space programs over the years.  Ted enjoys sharing his collections and his knowledge about space achievements with schools and civic groups.  Ted will be presenting a short talk on the Pluto space mission at our next regular meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society.  You can read an interview with Ted by multimedia journalist Randy Davis on his blog and you can see a video interview version on YouTube at this link or below:

Yuri’s Night at Westover Hills Library: John Raymond, our outreach coordinator, is supporting a skywatch event at Westover Hills Library in celebration of Yuri’s Night on April 10 at 7:00 PM.  If you can help out with this event, please e-mail John at raymond7419@verizon.net.

Virginia Skylines: Be sure to check out the latest version of Virginia Skylines on our web site.  Virginia Skylines is a weekly podcast written by Leslie Bochenski, astronomy educator with the Science Museum and Thomas Jefferson High School.

Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society will be held on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30 PM at the Science Museum of Virginia.  Jim Blowers will be presenting on “Stars in the News.”  Call me crazy, but I suspect he means stars of the non-terrestrial variety as opposed to the more mundane public figures we read about in the grocery store checkout lines.  Ted Bethune will also be presenting at the meeting on “Pluto 2015.”  Please join us for the meeting and for dinner before the meeting at Arby’s across the street from the museum.

Pleaides Occultation: We had another occultation of the Pleaides star cluster by the moon on March 20, 2010.  Although, to some extent, many occultations look a lot alike, I still find them fascinating.  A video of part of the occultation event is below:

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Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Astronomical Events for 2010:

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• March 19, 2010:  Dr. Frank Summers, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, will speak on “The Day the Universe Changed: Astronomical Discoveries Across the Centuries” at the James City County Library, 7770 Croaker Rd. on Friday, 7:30 p.m. The program is free of charge and reservations are not needed.
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• March 23, 2010:  Open house at the RAS observatory, starts at 8:00 PM.
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• April 17-18, 2010:  Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), Suffern, New York,
  www.rocklandastronomy.com/neaf.htm
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• April 24:  Astronomy Day!  RAS will be supplying volunteers to staff exhibits at the Science Museum’s Astronomy Day events.
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• May 14-15, 2010:   East Coast Star Party, Coinjock, North Carolina,
  Kent Blackwell, e-mail: kent@exis.net
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• May 14-16, 2010:  Southern Sky 2010,
  www.charlotteastronomers.org/southernstar/index.html
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• June 10-13, 2010:  Cherry Springs Star Party, Cherry Springs, Pennsylvania,
  www.astrohbg.org/CSSP/Information.html
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• June 10-13, 2010:  East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous, Luray, Virginia, for questions about the Rendezvous, please email Jim Turner – jturner9@triad.rr.com or Scott Short – sshort1205@gmail.com
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• July 7-10, 2010:  Green Bank Star Quest, Green Bank National Radio Observatory,
  www.greenbankstarquest.org
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• July 9-11, 2010:  Mason Dixon Star Party, Shreveport Airport / Footlight Ranch,
  masondixonstarparty.org
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• August 5-8, 2010:  75th Anniversary Stellafane Convention,
  stellafane.org/
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• September 3-7, 2010:  Almost Heaven Star Party, Mountain Institute at Spring Knob, West Virginia, 
  www.ahsp.org/
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• October 8-10, 2010:  No-Frills Mason Dixon Star Party, Shreveport Airport / Footlight Ranch, masondixonstarparty.org
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• October 9-10, 2010:  Starfest, Kingsport, Tennessee,
  www.baysmountain.com/Astronomy/Starfest/starfest.html
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• November 6, 2010:   The Scouting Family Star Gaze, Goochland, Virginia,
  bradysaunders.net/camp/starparty.html

Upcoming RAS Skywatches: Not only do we have numerous star parties this year, we have a bunch of RAS-supported skywatches.  Please contact our outreach coordinator, John Raymond at raymond7419@verizon.net if you can help out by bringing your telescope and your expertise to entertain and educate members of the public that come out for the event.  The list below indicates those events we have scheduled as of the date of this blog entry.  Please check the electronic calendar on the Richastro web site for the most current information and for details about the location and time of each event:  richastro.org/index.php/calendar/.
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• March 19:  Skywatch at the Science Museum of Virginia
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• March 26:  Skywatch at Scotchtown
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• April 10:  Yuri’s Night at Westover Hills Library
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• April 16:  Skywatch at the Science Museum of Virginia
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• April 24:  Stargazing at Five Forks / Petersburg National Battlefield
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• April 30:  Skywatch at Woodlake

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SMV skywatches: Many thanks to those that have helped with recent skywatches at the Science Museum.  We have lately had very good attendance at the skywatches and the help provided by those who brought their telescopes to the events is very much appreciated.  One of the strengths of our organization is the willingness of our members to pitch in and help with outreach events like these.  Our membership is our greatest resource.

Pleaides Occultation: There will be an occultation of the Pleiades star cluster by the first quarter moon on the evening of March 20.  Depending upon which star you are viewing, the occultations will occur between 8:00 and 10:00 PM.  If you have not seen an occultation, they are very striking events – one moment a star is visible – the next it is gone.  More information is available from IOTA.  John Raymond captured this video of an occultation of the Pleiades by the moon in late 2009:

Virginia Skylines: Don’t forget to check out this week’s edition of Virginia Skylines, a weekly audio program by Leslie Bochenski describing current astronomical events.  You can hear the program on the Richastro web site or at this link.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

SMV skywatch - image courtesy of John Raymond

Last Skywatch: Thanks to everyone who helped out with the last Skywatch at the Science Museum on Friday, February 19.  I understand that the event was well attended as was the January skywatch.  After I sent out the call for additional telescopes, I got a fantastic response from the members which is very much appreciated!.  In fact, the response was so good, I was giving people the wave-off as the number of astronomers responding grew.   We really have a great group of very helpful folks in our club.  Many, many thanks to those who came out for the skywatch.  It represents a commitment of time and effort on our part to support these skywatches, but the value of providing the “eyes-on” experience of viewing distant astronomical objects has made astronomy come alive for many people over the years and we should commend ourselves for supporting this sort of activity.  Thanks again!

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Virginia Skylines: If you have not heard Leslie Bochenki’s weekly audio show on astronomical highlights for the week, please give it a listen.  We have a link to it on the RAS web site.  Also thanks to Leslie for plugging the skywatch event in last week’s show!

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Last Meeting: Ken Wilson presented highlights of the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January of this year.  Since the meeting was in Washington, DC and close to this area, Ken took advantage of the opportunity to attend the meeting.  Ken discussed highlights of recent research and educational efforts presented by astronomers, which included some discussion of outreach work associated with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.  Ken covered some of the hot topics discussed at the meeting and gave us a flavor of what it was like to be there.  Thanks to Ken for sharing his experience with us.

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Winter Star Party: At the last meeting John Raymond gave us a live report by telephone from Florida on the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, hosted by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society in Miami.  It was tough listening to John’s description of the weather in the Keys as we were enduring the unusually snowy weather for this area.  John passed along along the following review of the event:

• I got to see Crux, Eta Carinae, Alpha and Beta Centauri for the first time.
• I got my Televue hat signed by Al Nagler.
• I was camped near Tom Peters of Discmounts. He helped me fine tune the balance on mine. He also has the same scope so we had a lot to discuss.
• The JMI binos were outright awesome. Easy to use, no problems merging images. The bad part : for collimation a hex tool is needed.  JMI makes dobs, why not have spring-loaded thumbscrews for collimation? I told Jim Burr my concerns. Im interested in selling my dob and getting the 10″ JMI.
• I also met Rob Royce of Royce Optical. He tested the mirror in my 8″ f/20 and assured me the optics were good.
• Gayle Rigsbee of Charlotte came up to me and told me about the 8″. He made the tube and rings.
• Sergio of the SCAS showed me the Radio Marti blimp that broadcasts into Cuba.
• The Mike Lockwood 14″ f /2.5. Awesome!!!!
• The AP and TEC refractors. Excellent Mars. I saw the Running Man nebulosity in the TEC 140. I cant see it in my 18″ from home.
• There was an old dude with a homemade dob next to Lockwood. Excellent construction – I forgot the name.
• The Dutch optical engineer was there. I had him evaluate my binos. He also showed me his 25 year-old 80mm binos he completely overhauled. No aberrations detectable at all. It took him six months but well worth the time. He tests imported binos for the Dutch telescope vendor.
• I watched Howie Glatter make and install a cable sling for a 20″ dob.
• Meeting a lot of nice people.

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East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous: The East Coast Video Astronomy Rendezvous in Luray Virginia is coming up June 10 – 13th.

A number of video astronomers and those interested in same will be meeting for four days under the stars using video assisted astronomical telescopes in beautiful Luray Virginia at the Country Way Campground.  Reservations must be made for camp space.  Be sure to let them know you are with the ECVAR group to receive a discount.

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Campground location and contact information:

Country Way Campground

3402 Kimball Rd. Luray, Virginia, 22835

Phone 540-743-7222

For reservations only:  888-765-7222

Web site:  http://www.countrywaye.com

Email:  Campers2@countrywaye.com

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For questions about the Rendezvous, please email:

Jim Turner – jturner9@triad.rr.com

Scott Short – sshort1205@gmail.com

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Mars is still showing off: Although it’s getting smaller, Mars is still presenting  a nice apparition in the night sky.  After sunset it appears as an orange point of light in the eastern sky, culminating about 10 PM.  Randy Tatum has been doing some imaging of Mars lately with his 10-inch f/12 Newtonian scope and he caught a night of good seeing evidenced by the image to the left.  Thanks to Randy for sharing this image with us.  I wish my Mars images looked this good.________

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Last meeting:

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Next Meeting: Please join us for the next meeting at the Science Museum.  The meeting will be held in the Eureka Theater at 7:30 PM on February 9.  Ken Wilson will be presenting and, if cell phone connections serve us well, we will have a live update from the Winter Star Party in Florida.  As usual a number of us will be gathering before the meeting at Arby’s across the street from the museum for dinner.  Please join us if you can.  Everyone is welcome.

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Astronomy.FM: A new online astronomy community has been formed – Astronomy.FM.  The website address is, as you might expect,  http://Astronomy.FM.  Many of the principal members of the community are located in the upper Midwest, but several hundred people from parts all over are members of the group, including a few in Virginia.  Central to the Astronomy.FM community is an internet audio broadcast which is now providing a variety of astronomy-related shows on a 24-hour basis including well-known podcasts such as AstronomyCast, Keck Observatory News, Planetary Radio and Are We Alone? Also in the broadcast line-up are several original shows produced by the organizers of Astronomy.FM which include interviews with newsmakers in astronomy and space science.  This new endeavor requires a substantial commitment on the part of those leading the effort and they deserve our support.  When you have chance, please consider directing to your browser to Astronomy.FM and give them a listen.

NightSkiesNetwork.com: Over the past few years, a community of astronomers who broadcast live video images captured through their telescopes has evolved.  The latest outlet for the group is NightSkiesNetwork.com.  On this site are listed names of the astronomers who broadcast with links to each video stream.  When an astronomer is broadcasting live, the astronomer’s name is highlighted.  Definitely worth checking out.

Lunar Occultation of the Pleaides: On December 29, 2009, John Raymond captured the occultation of the Pleaides star cluster on video.  You can view excerpts from his video below or on YouTube.  Thanks to John for sharing his video with us.

Changes in direction at NASA: As many of you know, the President has announced his proposed budget for NASA.  The budget calls for cancellation of the Constellation program, but provides a substantial amount of science funding for NASA.  This budget represents quite a shift from more recent NASA plans.  Some media and commentary articles on the proposed budget are below.  I’m sure that, as some of us are avid followers of space flight activity, this will be a topic of some interest.

Office of Management and Budget

Spaceflight Now

Phil Plait’s blog

Augustine Commission

Next RAS board meeting: The next RAS board of directors meeting will be held at Extra Billy’s restaurant at 7:00 PM on February 15.  Please arrive earlier if you wish to eat with us.  Any member is welcome to attend the board meeting.

I hope everyone is finding some time to get out and observe the sky, although the recent weather has tested our endurance as astronomers.  Please join us at our next meeting and at the next Skywatch/LiveSky event at the Science Museum on February 19.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Original RAS charter document

Thanks and good wishes for 2010: Thanks to everyone who attended and who assisted with our 60th anniversary dinner in December.  By all accounts it was a great event.  The Holiday Inn served us good food, Jim Condon with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory presented a fascinating talk and Gary Cowardin and John Barnett helped us to reminisce on our 60-year history as an organization.   A special thanks also to Gary for bringing the audio-visual equipment and to Preston Kirby for locating the facility and for making the initial arrangements.

Best wishes to all of our members and friends in the astronomy community for a great 2010!

Light pollution in Virginia as viewed from space

Laura Graham and dark skies: Laura Graham has been working tirelessly as usual to advance the cause of dark skies.  On December 16, she traveled to Washington, DC along with Johnny Noles, a marine biologist who works with the Navy, and Milt Roney, who is a board member of International Dark Sky Association’s DC council. The IDA DC council specializes in working with legislators at state and national levels on the subject of light pollution. Laura and company met with Congressman Robert Scott’s staff to discuss the issues of light pollution along public waterways. Unshielded lights along shore lines are a serious safety problem when boats are approaching docks and piers, due to glare which impairs visibility of channel markers and other boats.

They requested a congressional proposal to study light pollution impacts on boating safety and environmental quality.  Such a study would lead to recommendations which could form the basis for further legislative action.

They are also in contact with a Maryland legislator, Alfred Carr, who has indicated that he will match a Virginia ordinance with one of his own for his state.

Separately, Laura has been in contact with Virginia delegate Lee Ware to discuss the possibility of working with local power companies and VDOT to assess what financial savings may occur through the use of shielded lighting.

Laura also notes that the city of Richmond will retrofit lights with shields where glare is a problem and that shielded lights could be requested in the vicinity of the Science Museum if we felt that it would be worthwhile to do so.

If you are interested in the preservation of dark skies or can help Laura in any way, please contact her at laura@darkvirginiasky.org.  Also check out the Virginia Dark Skies web site at http://www.darkvirginiasky.org/.

Don Rosenfield with his 100mm binoculars

Donald Rosenfield’s 100mm binos and the skyshed pod: Don Rosenfield gave me a tour of his Skyshed Pod and a short test drive of his new Burgess Optical/TMB Optical f/7 100mm right angle binoculars.  The binoculars are fresh from assembly (this is the only one that exists at this time) and were delivered by Bill Burgess himself.  The views of the skies will undoubtedly be spectacular through these binoculars.  Don also showed me his 10-inch fork mount Newtonian telescope which is also in the Pod and built like a tank.  We look forward to seeing the binoculars deployed under the stars.

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Dues are due: Our treasurer, Jim Blowers, advises that about 40% of our membership has paid dues for 2010.  If you have not already done so, please make payment as soon as possible.  Regular membership is $30.  If paying by check, please send payments to Jim at the address below or provide to him at a meeting:

Jim Blowers
4514 Foxwood Rd.
Chester, VA 23831-8011

Information on observatory memberships and payment by PayPal are on our web site at http://richastro.org/ras_payments.htm.

Upcoming outreach events: John Raymond is providing support to a skywatch at Sutherland Elementary School in Dinwiddie January 27th^. If you can help John out by bringing a telescope, please let him know.

Recent image of Mars captured by Randy Tatum with his ToUcam and f/12 10-inch Newtonian

John Barnett and the aphelic Mars opposition of 2010: Thanks to John Barnett for the great presentation on the upcoming opposition of Mars this month.  Mars will reach opposition on January 29th in the constellation Cancer. On January 24th, John will be hosting an open house at our observatory  starting at 6:00 PM.  The moon will be visible early in the evening on the 24th and for those that stay until 9:00 PM that night, Mars will clear the eastern tree line and treat us to a view of the planet with a disk 14.1 arc-seconds in diameter. Please join us at the observatory if you can and watch the Richastro Yahoo group for last minute weather calls.  John will update us as to whether the weather will permit us to see the moon and Mars that night.

Next RAS board meeting: The next RAS board of directors meeting will be held at Extra Billy’s restaurant at 7:00 PM on February 15.  Please arrive earlier if you wish to eat with us.  Any member is welcome to attend the board meeting.

Science Museum skywatch: Terry Barker, Jim Blowers and John Barnett supplied telescopes and binoculars along with their expertise at the last Science Museum skywatch.  Terry reports that about 300 people showed up for the event.  That’s a lot of people for three astronomers to entertain.  Many thanks to Terry, Jim and John for being there.  The next skywatch/LiveSky will be on Friday, February 19.  Please help out with the event if you can.

Regards,
Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society