March 1, 2010 meeting minutes

Chicago Trip
We are hoping to go April 2nd - 4th, which is Easter weekend. The price for lodging is estimated at $70 for the first night and $40 for the second night plus money for food and entertainment. Museum admission is covered. We have 14 people signed up so far and Dr. Fleisch is holding 8 double-occupancy rooms.

Cleveland trip
So far, it's looking like we'll be going to Cleveland the weekend of April 17. More details to follow as we get closer.


Gaby demonstrated the Galaxy Zoo and Solar Stormwatch websites. These websites allow anyone on the internet to contribute to real, fascinating scientific research. Both are free, and no programs need to be downloaded. As Dr. Fleisch pointed out boredom and time on your hands can lead to some fascinating discoveries.
* www.GalaxyZoo.org
* www.SolarStormwatch.com


Murchison Meteorite. This large meteorite was found to contain non-terrestrial organic material, a good piece of evidence toward life on other planets.


The Wow! signal. In 1977, the Big Ear radio telescope picked up a shockingly strong radio signal that lasted 72 seconds. The signal very closely resembled a man-made radio signal, giving scientists reason to believe that this might have been our first evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence!

Our first meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will take place on Feb.1 at 9:30pm in room 319 BDK!!!

We'll discuss upcoming activities, talk about recent news in Astronomy, hand out t-shirts and learn about the "WoW!" signal.

See you then!

400 Years of the Telescope. The movie.

400 Years of the Telescope is a documentary that came out in light of the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy. The movie portrays the evolution of the telescope - from Galileo's observations to the Hubble telescope and new multi-mirror telescopes projects in progress - and also tells how our perception of the universe and the sky changed over time.
I truly enjoyed watching the DVD. Besides an educational value, this movie shows some of the most remarkable images taken here, on Earth, and remotely.

Meeting Minutes Oct. 12, 2009

Meeting Minutes October 12, 2009


T shirts

2009-2010 Astronomy Club t shirts will be white with navy lettering.
Design will be the same as last year.
$5 for S/S and $8 for L/S.
Order forms will be emailed to the club members.

Open House and Galilean Nights Homecoming Weekend (Oct 23rd)

We will have an Open House on Homecoming Weekend. The date coincides with the Galilean Nights planned as part of the International Year of Astronomy.
Entire Wittenberg and Springfield community will be invited to participate in the observing sessions.
We are planning to purchase several Galileoscopes (telescope similar in capacity to the one Galileo used).

Trips

We are planning short trips to Catawba and South Vienna. These would be evening trips to the dark sites.
Other trips in mind are Serpent Mound and NYC.
We will email with approximate dates and $$$.

WAS Activity Room

The larger bulletin board in the WAS activity room (the room in the lower level of the observatory) will have general information about planets, FAQ, myths, asteroid impacts, etc. Please email other ideas to the members of Astro Club.

Telescope Training Sessions

We will have several telescope training sessions. This will not depend on the weather conditions and can be done in daytime.
We will email dates for the training sessions.
Anyone interested, please email Keith (s11.kmeyers) or Anjelika (s10.agasilina).

Latest Astronomy News

Moon bombing was successful, however at this point NASA has no definite answer whether there is frozen water on the Moon.
And no, the world did not come to an end (whatever your definition of “the world” might be).

Saturn has yet another ring!!! It's extremely gigantic and the distance from the planet to the dust ring's outer “rim” is something like 7.4 million miles. The ring is formed by numerous meteorites that impacted Saturn's moon Phoebe and kicked up some dust as a result. The ring was discovered using NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope.

Fall 2009

Hey all-you-astronomers-out-there!

We are back and in full action for this coming semester! We were pleased to see that we had 90 new people rush at the speed of light to the astro table and are excited about our first meeting tomorrow September 7th at 9:30 pm in 319 Barbara Deer Kuss Science Center!

The observing sessions for the semester are:
8/28 8:30-11;00
9/9 at 9
9/17 9:00-10:30
10/4 9:00-10:30
10/12 9-10:30
10/23 8:30-10
11/4 8:30-10:00
11/12 8-9:30
11/23 8-9:30
12/1 7:30-9
12/11 7:30-9

We are proud to announce that the observatory is all cleaned up and looking great for this coming fall's observing sessions.

To be discussed at our 1st meeting;
tee-shirts
activities: Including Home-School children groups, trips, anything else you bring up

See you all tomorrow!
Heidi Wollaeger

NM Trip is on!

The NM/AZ/UT/CO is going to take place June 21st through June 28th. It would be good to know who is coming.
I already booked a ticket. Will be going for the entire week.
Who is flying when and from which airport?

New Officers

Yesterday the club voted and here's our new officers for 2009-2010:

President: Anjelika Gasilina
Vice President: Keith Meyers
Secretary: Heidi Wollaeger
Treasurer: Casey Browder
PR: Gaby Biordi and Courtnay Dollinger

Congratulations everyone!

We're not dead

I've been reminded that this blog exists, and I should update it. So!

Tshirts:
the design for this year has already been sent out via email, and order forms will follow soon

Events:

Girl Scout Science Night is April 3
-if it's clear (which is historically unlikely), volunteers to help guide the crowd and answer questions will be needed

100 Hours of Astronomy is April 2-5
-there will be some observing event, which we haven't decided on yet

April meeting is April 7
-it's at 9:30, in 319 Science

Relay for Life is April 25-26
-go here and sign up for the Astronomy Club team!

10th Anniversary Party is not scheduled yet
-but it'll be fun

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.

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

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

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!

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')

Final Tshirt Design

Front:



Back:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.