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: Thanks to John Barnett for the informative presentation on the Aphelic Opposition of Mars and thanks to Bill Dickinson for allowing John to show us his outstanding images of the planet.  I know I learned a lot.  Even though I missed viewing Mars around the opposition, it still is quite a nice view in the early nighttime sky.  Thanks also to Randy Tatum who has also been kind enough to share some of his recent images of Mars as well.  Randy typically uses a ToUcam coupled to an f/12 10-inch Newtonian for his planetary imaging.

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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

If you ‘re not familiar with the Ottewell Calendar, this may be a good way to get introduced to it. For those who are not faimiliar with this treasure, it’s a large (11 x 15 inches) paperbook compilation of information about sky events for the coming year.

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New board of directors and new officers: At the last regular meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society, the board of directors for 2010 was elected.  Many thanks to Chris McCann and Jeff Pike for assembling the slate of board nominees for 2010.  Many thanks as well to the outgoing board for their outstanding service in 2009 and to the 2010 board members for volunteering to guide our organization through the next year.

We really could not have the fine organization we do without the directors who handle the administration, planning, accounting and budgeting for our club and without those who coordinate and staff our skywatches, keep our observatory in good shape, take care of our library, prepare our SCC documents, support Astronomy Day and much more.  Thanks also to Leslie Bochenski of the Science Museum for serving as our liaison with the museum, making sure we have the access and audio visual support needed for our meetings.

We simply do not say thank you often enough to those who give their time to the RAS.  So let’s be sure to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all those who share their knowledge and skills with us and to all those who attend our meetings and support our events.

The new board of directors for 2010 is listed below.  The officers for 2010 were elected from the board of directors at the November board meeting in accordance with our by-laws.

John Barnett (Observatory Director)
Jim Blowers (Treasurer)
Jim Browder (President)
Gary Cowardin
Bill Jeffries
Chris McCann (Secretary)
David Medici (Vice President)
Jeff Pike
Prashant Reddy
Tim Streagle
Betty Wilson
Ken Wilson

Image of the Ragland Observatory Telescope in Action from the RAS Archives

Our 60^th anniversary celebration dinner will be held on Friday, December 4^th, starting at 6:00 PM at the Holiday Inn on Staples Mill Road (2000 Staples Mill Road, near the intersection of Staples Mill and Broad Street).  We will be reminiscing about our long distinguished history and enjoying a presentation by Jim Condon on “Weighing a Black Hole.”  Jim is with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory headquartered in Charlottesville.

The cost of the dinner is $30 per person.  This covers a 3-entrée dinner, cost of the meeting room and some wonderful door prizes that we will be giving away.  If you plan to attend, please send your money right away to Jim Blowers at the address below or pay by PayPal through our web site.  If paying by check, be sure to note with your payment that it is for the anniversary dinner and drop Jim an e-mail to let him know your check is on the way at treasurer@richastro.org.  We are required to provide an accurate count of the attendees to the hotel by November 30, so we need your payment right away if you plan to attend and we really hope you do!

Send payments ($30 per person) to:

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

(or send payments through PayPal)

Please join us if you can.  It will be a great event and a wonderful occasion to celebrate.  Note that this event will take the place of our regular December meeting.

Dues are due! This is the time of year when we renew our membership dues.  If paying by check, please make payable to RAS and send to Jim Blowers at the address above or by PayPal on our web site.   Standard membership is $30 for the year.  Information about magazine subscriptions and observatory memberships is on the web site.

The Cleveland County, North Carolina Astronomical Society will be hosting “BobFest” on January 23, 2010.  BobFest will be held at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC which is west of Charlotte.  This year’s event will feature speakers, vendors, swap-tables, door prizes and an astrophotography/sketching contest.  More information about BobFest can be found here.

Ted Bethune has gone international! Earlier this year Ted Bethune visited the 40th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing which took place on July 20, 1969. The event was held in Washington, DC with a number of former astronauts attending. Ted was interviewed on Chinese television.  Images of the event are at this link.

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We have added a feature to our web site! Virginia Skylines, a public radio show / podcast is now available on our web site under the “Links” section on the main page of our web site or at this link.  Leslie Bochenski produces the show on a weekly basis to tell us what’s up in the sky.  Check it out when you get a chance – it’s very well done.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

RAS 60^th Anniversary dinner: Please mark your calendars for the evening of December 4.  We will be holding our 60^th anniversary dinner at the Holiday Inn on Staples Mill, near the intersection of Staples Mill and Broad St.  Please plan to attend and bring your spouse or significant other.  Bill Jeffries has invited Jim Condon with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville to be our keynote speaker.

Galaxy UGC 3789 (Credit: STScI)

Jim will be speaking on “Weighing a Black Hole.”  More about his work can be found here and in this news release about a study to which he contributed regarding direct, geometric measurement of the distance to a galaxy using the very appropriately named Very Long Baseline Array.  The observation made as part of this study is a key element of a major effort to measure the expansion rate of the universe, known as the Hubble Constant, with greatly improved precision. This effort will help cosmologists narrow down possible explanations for the nature of Dark Energy.

The cost of the anniversary dinner will be about $30 per person and we will need to know in advance if you are planning to attend.  As the date of the event approaches, we will send out more specific information; however, if you wish to make reservations now, please feel free to send me an e-mail at president@richastro.org and I will add your name to the list.

November meeting: Our next meeting will be held on November 10 in the Eureka Theater of the Science Museum of Virginia at 7:30 PM.  Jeff Pike will be presenting.  Among Jeff’s astronomical interests are solar observing techniques.  The title of his presentation will be “Amateur Solar Astronomy. “   More tools than ever before are available for astronomy enthusiasts to view and study the sun and we are looking forward to hearing about Jeff’s experience in this area.  Please join us at the meeting and for dinner before the meeting at Arby’s across the street from the museum.

Mini-star party: We are planning another mini-star party for November 13^th at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation in Goochland.  Directions to the camp are here.  After passing through the main entrance to the camp, turn right, travel about 0.1 mile and turn right at the sign with a picture of a telescope on it.  For GPS users, the address is 1723 Maidens Rd. in Goochland (observing site coordinates N 37.678986, W 77.8708).  If there is another event at the camp which will have lights that may interfere with observing, Tim Streagle will move us to another location.  If this is the case, signs will indicate the new location.

SMV skywatch: The November Skywatch and LiveSky events at the Science Museum have been cancelled due to a large  event at the museum on the same evening which will make it difficult to have a good skywatch.

Matoaca High School skywatch: We we be hosting a skywatch at Matoaca High School on November 25.  Please contact John Raymond at al_nath2007@yahoo.com if you can bring a telescope.  As always, we very much appreciate all of the time and effort on the part of our members who support outreach events like this one.  We receive many compliments and thanks from participants at these events who find them informative and rewarding.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

Terry at the helm in Bryan Park

Bryan Park Skywatch: I understand that the latest Bryan Park skywatch went well.  There were about 50 visitors at the park. Tim Streagle, John Barnett, Terry Barker, and John Raymond brought scopes with Tim and John Barnett bringing their homemade scopes.  One of the attendees commented to me that they really enjoyed seeing the homemade scopes and understanding what could be done with some patience and skill.

Starfire Refractor at the Bryan Park skywatch

The weather was not optimal for the event, but allowed enough time to have a reasonable viewing session.  The sky cleared after sunset for a good hour before the clouds returned.  Visitors and park staff were very complimentary.  Due to the success of this and previous events at Bryan Park, John Raymond is planning more events in other Richmond Parks locations.

Camera Concepts Display at the East Coast Star Party

East Coast Star Party: The weather did not cooperate with Kent Blackwell’s East Coast Star Party that he hosts in Coinjock, North Carolina a couple times a year.  This event is one of my personal favorite star parties.  The location is good, the sky is dark and the people that attend the star party are great.  Camera Concepts from New York (Jeff and Greta for those that know them) try to make the trip to Coinjock every chance they get and to set up their mobile astronomy shop at the East Coast Star Party.  We appreciate all the effort that it takes to set up a mobile shop like that.  They have saved more than one of my observing sessions by having just the right part that is needed in the field.

We will hope for clearer weather at the next East Coast Star Party.  If you are interested in receiving updates about the next event, send an e-mail to kent@exis.net.

November SMV skywatch cancelled: I have received word that the November skywatch and Live Sky show at the Science Museum of Virginia has been cancelled because of a black-tie event with valet parking at the museum on the evening of the skywatch.  Probably best to cancel the skywatch and Live Sky show rather than have the two together because of the lights and automobile traffic that would not be conducive to a pleasant skywatch experience.

Meadow Glen skywatch: John Raymond has scheduled a skywatch at Meadow Glen on October 27^th.  If you are interested in attending or bringing a telescope, please contact John at al_nath2007@yahoo.com.

Astronomy road trip: Some of our members are planning a trip to Hands-on Optics in Maryland on October 31.  Check out the Yahoo Group for messages regarding who is going where and with whom.  An excerpt from the invitation from Gary Hand of Hands-on Optics is below.

Regards,

Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

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Invitation from Hands-on Optics:

“You and your club members are invited the 6th annual Eastern Telescope Show at Hands on Optics. The EAS will feature the largest and most exciting names from the telescope industry. Demonstrations and speakers & Mirror Making Class.

Go to www.handsonoptics.com for a full brochure.

Questions call 1-866-726-7371

There will be a FREE Hot Dogs and Drinks, and FREE giveaway raffle prizes every half hour all day long! You must be present to win. Everything is FREE. No we are not charging you for food and no reservation required.

There will also be a “One-Day Only” sale with special pricing on many exciting products, so call or stop by the store. The demo, blems, open box specials start at 8:00am.

Generous Donations from:

Celestron – NexStar 6SE Telescope – Grand Prize Stellarvue – SV70 Raptor Telescope, Takahashi – 5mm and 10mm Takahashi eyepieces Vernonscope – 50th Anniversary Brandon Gold eyepiece.

Donations from Meade, AstroTelescope, Lunt Solar, Antares, Lumicon, 1000 Oaks Optical, JMI, Kendrick, Farpoint and Others. Over 15 prizes, chances are exceptionally good that you will walk away with an amazing prize. Entry is completely free… no strings attached. You must be present to win the Door prizes.”

I post stuff periodically on the club’s Twitter site, richastrova. Up to this point, you had to have a Twitter account to see those postings, but now we’ve made those “tweets” available from the club’s web page. If you go to the web site, and page down, looking in the right hand column, you’ll see them, under the title “Twitter feed.” (more…)

Many, many thanks to Anne Verbiscer for fascinating us at our meeting on October 13 with the story of the discovery of Saturn’s largest ring by her, Michael Skrutskie (UVA) and Douglas Hamilton (University of Maryland)!

In February of this year, Anne and her colleagues used Spitzer’s infrared camera, called the multiband imaging photometer, to examine a patch of sky far from Saturn and just inside the orbit of Phoebe, one of Saturn’s moons, at a distance of approximately 215 Saturn radii from the planet. The astronomers thought that Phoebe might be orbiting within a belt of dust that had been ejected over millions of years from its minor collisions with comets and micrometeoroids — a process similar to that around stars with dusty disks of planetary debris. When Anne and the team reviewed their images collected with the Spitzer telescope, just such a band of dust appeared in the images as they expected.

The reason the ring has not been spotted until now is that it neither scatters nor reflects visible light to any significant degree. The particles within the ring are composed of ice and dust and are extremely diffuse. The unique ability of the Spitzer Space Telescope to see deep into the infrared part of the spectrum unobscured by Earth’s atmosphere was required to detect the faint infrared glow from the ring.

NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The discovery may help solve a long-standing mystery associated with Iapetus, another of Saturn’s moons. Iapetus has a strange appearance — one side is bright and the other is quite dark. It is logical to conclude, given that we now know of the existence this newly discovered ring, that particles from the ring have bombarded Iapetus over many millennia, impacting the leading face of the tidally-locked moon with particles from the ring, leaving a darkened region. This region is referred to as “Cassini Regio,” named for Giovanni Cassini, who first observed Iapetus in 1671.

Anne described for us the process of submitting a proposal for the telescope time and the need to obtain the data before Spitzer consumed all of its cryogenic coolant which was used to keep the telescope’s detectors at a temperature only a few degrees above absolute zero. This amount of cooling is required to minimize thermal noise in the infrared detectors and thus increase the telescope’s ability to detect faint infrared light from distant sources.  Fortunately for Anne and her team, the data was collected prior to the end of Spitzer’s coolant supply in May of 2009.  Spitzer has since that time been operating in a warmer mode — still able to peer into the infrared and collect useful data, but with less sensitivity and at shorter wavelengths.

Thanks again to Anne for sharing the story of her discovery with us.  Congratulations to Anne, Michael Skrutskie and Douglas Hamilton on their marvelous discovery of Saturn’s largest ring with the Spitzer Space Telescope, a mere 400 years after Galileo first aimed his modest telescope at the sky and observed the planets.

Regards,
Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society

We understand that the Masonic Home and Meadow Glen skywatches went smoothly this past week.  John Raymond reports that the attendance was good and the weather allowed for enough viewing time at each event, although some clouds rolled in and abbreviated one viewing session.  Thanks very much to John, Tim Streagle, John Barnett and Prashant Reddy for helping out with these events.

Ice Geyser Formation on Saturn's moon Enceladus

Please plan to attend the next RAS meeting on October 13.  Anne Verbiscer with the University of Virginia will be presenting at the meeting.  Dr. Verbiscer does some very interesting work studying icy surfaces in the outer solar system.  We very much look forward to hearing about her latest investigations.  The meeting will be at the Science Museum of Virginia at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 13.  A number of us will also be gathering for dinner at Arby’s across the street from the museum before the meeting.  Please join us for the meeting and for the pre-meeting dinner if you can.

John Barnett will be hosting an open house at the RAS observatory on October 24, starting at 7:00 PM.  John will have the telescope aimed at the moon, Jupiter and other objects in the Autumn sky.  The observatory is located behind the shopping center at the corner of Robious Road and Midlothian Turnpike in a small gated field.  Please feel free to join John at the observatory for the open house on the 24th.  More information about the observatory can be found on the Richastro web site or you can contact John at jmbart2@verizon.net.

There is a transit of the red spot across Jupiter’s face tonight along with an occultation of the moon Io by Jupiter.  If you are interested in seeing this event for yourself with your telescope (assuming the clouds allow), there is more information available at Sky and Telescope.   See the entries for October 4 and 5.

Kent Blackwell will be hosting his East Coast Star Party at the Hampton Lodge Campground in Coinjock, North Carolina on October 23 and 24.  Admission is $15.00 and no advance registration is required.  If you haven’t been to this star party, it’s a great event at a great location.  If you would like more information, please let me know (president@richastro.org).  I have some images from a past event on my web site.

We have added a weather page to the Richastro web site.  Please have a look and make suggestions as to how we should refine it.

Regards,
Jim Browder
Richmond Astronomical Society