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August 2012

On 15 Aug, 2012
Field of View Newsletter
By : Dan Wright
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Views : 1380

WAS on the road to Stellafane, How’s the Clock Tower This Year, Meetups, CSP and More!

by Dan Wright

The steamy, hot dog days of summer are on us and of course that means clouds! Opening the dome this summer has had it’s issues because of the weather but we’re still very busy with our outreach, more so than in many years. We did our first event at Westport’s Levitt Pavilion on behalf of the Westport Cinema Initiative as they screened Saving Hubble. Along with our friends at the Astronomical Society of New Haven, we had our telescopes on hand to show the public views of Saturn and the Moon. It was a great night!

Unfortunately our scheduled Meetup for the Perseid Meteor Shower was rained out but we’re going to take another stab at a Meetup on August 24th at 8:30pm. Again, these are great fundraisers for the Rolnick Observatory and if you can come up to help out, we’re expecting around 60 new people to check us out. Thanks to everyone that’s already confirmed but we could sure use some more help.

We’re all packed up for the Stellafane Convention on August 16-19. Bob Meadows took the 25 Obsession on his vacation up to Lake George in New York and will meet us on the Observing Field in Springfield VT Thursday afternoon. We set up camp on the Northeast part of the observing field, right next to the McGregor Observatory. Anyone that’s interested in the roots of amateur astronomy should make the pilgrimage at some point in their lives. It’s a very special place.

Speaking of star parties, the 22nd Annual Connecticut Star Party is coming up rain or shine September 14-16. This is a wonderful nearby star party in Ashford CT that’s extremely well organized and a lot of fun. I encourage all of our members to sign up and come up to the lectures and take in some of the “darkest skies” in Connecticut. If the weather’s bad we carpool so there should be people that can get you there and back. It’s important to support events like this so they can continue. Sign up today and show your support!

A very special thank you to our summer intern Cole Miller. He’s headed back to college after helping Bob all through his summer vacation. Bob and Cole accomplished a ton of stuff that needed to get done at the observatory this summer and we cannot thank you enough Cole! Also headed off to college is Niles Lathrop. Niles has been a huge help volunteering his time on public nights, random events and has taken some amazing pictures of the Rolnick Observatory we use currently use on our Facebook pages. And sadly, Adam Yates has taken a new job in upstate Connecticut. Adam will continue doing all the behind the scenes work on the WAS Web Pages and so much more that no one ever sees. Thank you to all for everything and please come back soon!

 

BOB MEADOWS!

Next Meeting: Bob Meadows Annual Stellafane Report, Tuesday August 21, 8:00pm

Intrepid investigator Bob Meadows, the Observatory Director of the Rolnick Observatory, goes deep with his annual Stellafane report. Bob reports on all of the new telescope developments at the Stellafane Convention in Springfield VT in the hotly contested mechanical, optical and craftsmanship categories.

As usual, Bob will attempt a photo of the Springfield Clock Tower while executing a break neck turn at or about 3 miles per hour.

 

Tuesday September 18, 2012 – David L. Rabinowitz aka “Pluto Killer“

Animation showing the movement of Eris on the images used to discover it. Eris is indicated by the arrow. The three frames were taken over a period of three hours.

Searching the sky for exploding stars, black holes and distant planetesimals

Our September speaker David L. Rabinowitz is a research scientist from Yale that builds giant CCD cameras that search the sky for some of the most interesting of all objects: Exploding Stars, Black Holes and Planetesimals. An expert on trans-Neptunian objects, Rabinowitz assisted in the discovery of the most distant solar system objects such as Eris; an object more massive than Pluto that helped kill Pluto off to “less than planet” status.

Rabinowitz also helped discover dwarf planets Makemake, Pholus, Orcus and perhaps the first known inner Oort cloud object, Sedna.

 

Upcoming Events at the Rolnick Observatory

Stellafane: August 16 – 19, 2012
Bob Meadows Annual Stellafane Report: August 21
Meetup Private Star Party: August 24 8:30pm
Connecticut Star Party (CSP): September 14 – 16, 2012 
David L. Rabinowitz: September 18 – Yale research scientist, co-discoverer of Eris and co-killer of Pluto. “Searching the sky for exploding stars, black holes and distant planetesimals “
Mordecai-Mark Mac Low: October 16 – Curator of the American Museum of Natural History, Department of Physics
Phil Harrington: November 16 – Founding member of WAS, contributing editor to Astronomy Magazine and author of many books including the recently published ultimate observing list for amateurs: Cosmic Challenge
David Mestre: December 18 – Director of Space Science Education at the Discovery Museum and Planetarium drops in for the annual WAS Holiday Party!
Robert Gendler: January 19, 2013– One of the world’s best astrophotographers returns to chat about making images from the Hubble Legacy Archive
Kerstin Perez: February 19, 2013 – Columbia University research physicist currently working on the NuSTAR X-Ray Space Telescope.

Astro Web Site Of The Month
by Cal Powell

One of the highlights of August is the mid-month Perseid meteor shower. This well-known shower is but one of many that occur throughout the year. The Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) is an automated effort to capture meteor images on video to help validate suspected minor showers. Their website at http://cams.seti.org/ has instructions for participating in video meteor astronomy as well as links to the IAU Meteor Data Center, scientific papers submitted from CAMS observations, and information on meteorites found in California.

Please send e-mail on your own personal web pages, or astronomy links that you find interesting or noteworthy to me at planetarium.guy@gmail.com.

Observatory Report
by Bob Meadows

Bob Meadows and Cole Miller, who is our intern for the summer, finished painting the Pisces shed and the base of the tower.  We also painted the top of the trailer, and the railings and legs of the ladder for the 25 inch telescope.

We will be taking the 25 inch telescope to Stellafane in Springfield, VT, on August 16 to 19.  We plan to camp in an area just east of the Schupman telescope at the top of the observing field.  Get more information at:  stellafane.org

The Connecticut Star Party is September 14 to 16 in Ashford, CT.  We plan to attend with the 25 inch telescope.  Get more information at:   www.asnh.org

On July 30, there was a showing of the movie “Saving Hubble” at the Levitt Pavilion to benefit the Westport Cinema.  The movie was followed by telescope viewing.  WAS and ASNH provided telescopes.  Thanks to Bob Meadows, Anthony Media, Franco Fellah, Keith Smith, and Adam Yates for their help.

Telescope classes resume in September. If you’re interested in learning how to use the dome telescope, please send an email to register for the fall classes.

ROTATION SCHEDULE

  August

15   Bob Blasko       David Ives         Evan Tilley          — Stellafane —

22   Mike Bellacosa  Karl Procop       Frank Cirino        *Franco Fellah

29   Bob Meadows   Tom Davis         Quintin Brantley

September

5    Bob Tobin         David Ives           Nick LaRocca       *Dan Wright

12   Bob Blasko       K. Moskovitz     Adam Yates          *Franco Fellah

19   Mike Bellacosa  Frank Cirino     Evan Tilley            *Bob Meadows

26   Tom Davis         Karl Procop       Quintin Brantley

   October

3     Bob Tobin         David Ives                                        *Dan Wright

10   Bob Meadows   Bob Blasko          K. Moskovitz       *Franco Fellah

17   Mike Bellacosa  Nick LaRocca     Evan Tilley          *Carl Lancaster

24   Karl Procop       Quintin Brantley   Frank Cirino

31   Bob Meadows   Tom Davis           David Ives

 

* * * * * *

Phil Harrington’s Binocular Universe

Bookmark http://www.was-ct.org/ for semi-regular updates and now you can follow the Rolnick Observatory on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates on our speakers and current sky events!

We are an all volunteer society that is financially responsible for everything at the Rolnick Observatory, and we are always short on money. Please donate and renew your membership today!

Check out the WAS Wear Store! Incredible custom gear made for the Star Parties! Show your WAS pride!

 

* * * * * *


WAS Officers

President: Dan Wright
Vice President:                                      Bob Meadows
Treasurer: Franco Fellah
Secretary: Adam Yates
Board Members at Large: David Ives
Carl Lancaster
Anthony Maida
Martin Hamar
Web Master: Adam Yates

 


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About The Author

Dan Wright

Mysteriously elected president of this fine group. Favorite quote: I would never belong to a group that would accept someone like me as a member. ~ Groucho Marx


Number of Posts : 33
All Posts by : Dan Wright

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