Friday, September 12, 2008

Updated Activities

The Upcoming Activities page of the website has been updated with details of our planned trips and some scheduled activities this semester: http://www4.wittenberg.edu/student_organizations/astronomy_club/members.html

If going on a trip has ever even crossed your mind, go read about them now. If you're interested, Dr Fleisch needs to know so we can get the planning started.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Observing tonight!

Hey everyone: observing, tonight, 9:30, the observatory. Clear Sky Clock says it's gonna be awesome.

Class observing, so usually I wouldn't announce it, but it's the first one.

Meeting: Tuesday, September 9

Hey all,

On behalf of your secretary who hasn't had a chance to register with the blog yet, here are the minutes from last night's meeting. Remember, if you have questions about any of the events we're planning, email any of your officers; all the contact information is here.

§ Meeting Dates

o 9/25

o 10/07

o 10/23

o 11/4

o 11/20

o 12/12

§ Observing Sessions

o 9/10

o 9/18

o 10/5

o 10/13

o 10/24

o 11/5

o 11/13

o 11/24

o 12/2

o 12/12

§ Special Events

o Music of the Spheres 9/19

o Speaker Dr. Stahl on replacement for Hubble Telescope 10/9

o Trip to Pittsburgh 9/26-9/28

o Trip to Stonehenge 12/28-1/7

§ Other discussed topics

o Rocket Field Day, Interclub activities, Julia Kregenow/Jason Wright speakers, Bad Scifi movies, Planet Watch, Messier objects, rappelling w/ caving club

Monday, August 25, 2008

FALL 2008 Class Observing Schedule

Friday August 29, 9:30 to 11:30

Wednesday September 10, 9:30 to 11:00

Thursday September 18, 9:00 to 10:30

Sunday October 5, 9:00 to 10:30

Monday October 13, 9:00 to 10:30

Friday October 24, 8:30 to 10:00

Wednesday November 5, 8:30 to 10:00

Thursday November 13, 8:00 to 9:30

Monday November 24, 8:00 to 9:30

Tuesday December 2, 7:30 to 9:00

Friday December 12, 7:30 to 9:00

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Meeting: April 1, 2008

Hello all Wittenberg Astronomical Society members,

I hope you all have enjoyed a fabulous year in the Astonomy Club.

In case you missed the last meeting of the 07-08 academic year, here's the minutes:

We played a game of "Astro" (aka Bingo) with common Dr. Fleisch sayings and astronomy words.

If you were planning to go on the Chicago trip, Dr. Fleisch is trying to reschedule it, so email him ASAP if the weekend of the 11th, the 18th, or the 26th works for you.

This Friday, April 4th, is the next Friday Night Lecture. Come hear our wonderful president, Nick's presentation titled "I bet Newton could draw" at 7:30 in Bailey Auditorium. Observing will follow.

Another Friday Night Lecture is also in the works: Music of the Spheres II presented by Keith Ward is scheduled for April 25th at 7:30.

Our remaining observing sessions are all at our beloved Weaver Observatory
April 4 8:30pm
April 18 start time 9 or 10 pm (it's Girl Scout Science Night)
May 9 9pm (if you're around for graduation)

We talked some more about the Flag of Earth. SETI and the North American Astrophysical Society are in charge of it, so check out their websites or google 'Flag of Earth' for more information.

SENIORS: contact me to sign our Alumni Canvas. Leave your mark on the Observatory (well, just our canvas).

We appointed next year's officers (see Nick's post).

Other topics:
  • Gamma Ray Bursts
  • badastronomy.com
  • AIBS Science Wars: April 15 8:30 watch for flyers

Meteorites!!!

  • We're thinking of buying some small ones for the club.
  • The three types are iron, stony, and stony-iron.
  • meteoroid = in space; meteor = in atmosphere; meteorite = on Earth's surface
  • A meteorite fall lands next to you. A meteorite find is found later and must be analyzed to know it is a meteorite.

Dr. Fleisch's book A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations is "selling like hotcakes" and has sold out on Amazon twice!! See him if you want a copy or more information.

Erin and I will be ordering T-shirts this week, so email her if you have not already. T-shirts will be in by April 25.

I guess that's it, gang. See you at the upcoming events!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Officers

Hey all, 
Well, new officers were decided at the last meeting of the year (yesterday). Here are the new officers for Astro club 08-09':

President: Erin Kapp
Vice President: Caroline Rentz
Secretary: Keith Meyers
Treasurer: Karsten Treu
PR officer: Anjelika Gasilina

Congrats to all, I know you'll do a good job in the following year.

Cheers,
Nick (lame-duck President 07-08')

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Final Tshirt Design

Front:



Back:

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Meeting: March 11, 2008

Greetings Astronomy fans!

Welcome back from Spring Break. Here's what we talked about at this month's meeting:

Observing sessions:
3-14 @ 9 to look at Saturn
4-4 @ 9
4-18 @ 9 to look at the moon

Nick's Friday Night Lecture is April 4th at 7:30 pm. We are planning to have this recorded on video. Try to make it. Observing will happen afterward at the Observatory.

TRIPS:
The group going to Chicago is leaving Friday at 9 AM. If this includes you, check your email for details.
The UK trip does not have enough interest to be a group, per se, but you can still email Dr. Fleisch if you want to meet up with him in Europe.

At next month's meeting we will be electing officers for next year. Be sure to email Nick if you are interested. We will also be discussing ways to spend this semester's budget. Let us know if you have ideas.

Other topics of discussion:
Gamma ray burster, "Death Star," badastronomy.com
Water on Mars
eclipse pictures are on the website
Dr. Bob Dixon is speaking on SETI tomorrow at 3.

Next Meeting is April 1st at 9:30 pm in Science Center room 319.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Observing: Wednesday, Feb. 20

43 people turned up for the eclipse Wednesday night. It was clear, so we had an excellent view of the moon in the eastern sky as it moved into the Earth's shadow. Once the moon was actually eclipsed, it turned a reddish color and it was much easier to see the nearby star Regulus and planet Saturn. Unfortunately, because of the recent snow and ice, it was impossible to open up the dome (in case it got stuck open, because that would be bad news for the telescope). Hopefully the weather will let up soon and we'll be able to have observing sessions in a little more comfort.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Observing Tonight

Tonight at 9pm the observatory will open so we can check out the total lunar eclipse tonight. It's clear as I type, the Clear Sky Clock looks promising, and we can hope the weather got all the snow out of its system earlier today, so be sure to stop by. Totality (complete eclipse) will be reached at about 10:00 and stay for the next fifty minutes.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Observing: Saturday, Feb. 9

So, despite the cold and predicted impending clouds a few brave souls made their way up into the observatory Saturday night. In between periods of complete cloud cover, the sky was remarkably clear, affording us a great view of the Orion Nebula. M-42 is one of the places where stars are born, and in the telescope it was especially distinct, with tendrils spreading from the top to the bottom of the field of view, which is unusual. Mars is also up high in the sky, with some small variations in the coloring visible; Saturn is rising later and beginning to tilt so that the rings will soon become edge-on from our point of view.

Our next scheduled observing is Friday, March 14, after Nick's lecture. It's possible that more sessions will be scheduled between now and then, but we're limited by the tendency of Ohio to be entirely overcast at this time of year.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Observing Reminder

A really delayed observing reminder, but hey, there's more than half an hour to go...

Observing is scheduled tonight for 8pm in the observatory.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Meeting: February 5, 2008

Hey Club members!

Here's what's coming up for the Wittenberg Astronomical Society:

Very soon we will be ordering club t-shirts, so keep an eye and ear out for more info on that.

The upcoming observing sessions are always listed on the WAS website and the next one is Saturday, February 9th @ 8pm. We are tentatively planning to go to Hocking Hills in April.

Other possible trips are to the Pittsburg Planetarium and the summer UK trip.

We also have 2 Friday Night Lectures this semester: "Magic and Science" on March 14 presented by our favorite president, Nick; and "Music of the Spheres" in April presented by Keith.

Topics of discussion at the meeting:
Asteroids
Near Earth Object Program
Clear Sky Clock
Mercury Messenger
Deep Space Broadcasting

See you all at our next meeting March 11th @ 9:30pm

Monday, February 4, 2008

Meeting tomorrow

If your inboxes have not jogged your memory enough, remember that tomorrow is our February meeting of astronomy club. 9:30, 319 Science. It will feature our three favorite meeting activities of talking, planning, and eating.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Meeting: January 8, 2008

Welcome back, Astronomy Fans! I hope you all are getting off to a great start this semester.

Here's what we covered at the meeting.

The first ever Spring Activities Fair is happening at dinner in the CDR on Jan 23.

Observing sessions (weather permitting, of course) :
  • Tues, Jan 15 8:00 pm at Weaver Observatory, to look at the first quarter moon
  • Tues, Jan 22 11:30 am in front of the Student Center, to look at the sun
  • Sat, Feb 9 8:00 pm at Weaver Observatory, to see the sky during the new moon
  • Fri, March 14 8:30 pm at Weaver Observatory, first quarter moon, after Nick's lecture
  • Fri, April 4 9:00 pm at Weaver, new moon
  • Fri, April 18 9:00 pm at Weaver, full moon
*On any clear night, you can call Dr. Fleisch and go to the Observatory.*

Friday Night Lectures

We have 2 this semester already scheduled: a repeat of Music of the Spheres in February, and Nick Gladman is presenting one on March 14 at 7:30 pm.

Trips
  • Chicago- one night, March 22 or March 28, price TBA
  • UK- summer, no credit, email Dr. Fleisch if interested
  • Pittsburg- overnight, email us if interested
  • Tucson/Arizona/somewhere in the Southwest- are you guys interested?
Astronomy News

Asteroid 2007 WD5 has a 4% chance of impacting Mars on Jan 30 at about 6:30am our time. This will be the first time scientists might be able to observe a plume of ejecta.

Atrium Display

In case you haven't noticed, it's up and working. Any suggestions? See Dr. Fleisch.

See you at the next meeting: February 5 at 9:30pm in BDK 319.