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.

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!

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.

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

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.

Meeting: November 6

Hi All,

Here's the recap from the meeting:

We started off by talking about the T-shirt voting (see previous post). Then we moved on to regular meeting stuff.

Future Observing:
Thurs. Nov. 8 @ Dr. Lewis' leave from student center at 7:30pm
Thurs. Nov. 15 @ Weaver Observatory, Cub Scouts will be there 8:30
Mon. Nov. 19 @ Weaver Observatory 8-9:30pm

Trips:
The trip to Booneshoft was not so impressive, but we are planning to go next semester and try to have more control over the show.
Chicago is booked this month. Email Dr. Fleisch if you want to go over winter break or early next semester or if you have suggestions.
The non-credit UK trip has about 8 of you interested. If anyone else is possibly interested email Dr. Fleisch right away.

Comet:
The comet 17P Holmes is on its way out. You might be able to see it in the constellation Perseus (down from Cassiopeia). It is slightly fuzzy.

Thanks to Keith for presenting on Deep Space galaxies!

Next meeting we will be talking about Sky & Telescope pictures.

The Atrium Display will be put up over Christmas break.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, December 4th at 9:30pm.

Observing: Tuesday, Sept. 18

A friendly warm night was popular for sky knowledge and general stargazing. Jupiter is increasingly lower in the sky, making it harder to see with the binoculars on the deck. The moon was at first quarter, so the sky was fairly bright. The Summer Triangle is straight overhead during observing this time of year, so interesting telescope sights like Albireo and the Ring Nebula are more easily visible. Not so visible was M-13, the globular cluster in Hercules, which was wiped out by a combination of haze, moonlight, and light pollution.

Our next scheduled observing session is Saturday October 29th, during Parents' Weekend, so if you have family members on campus be sure to bring them by.

Observing: Wednesday, Sept. 5

Our first observing of the year was a great success, even though the weather conspired to annoy us. Despite a solid week of perfectly clear skies, it managed to be hazy, but in any case we didn't let that stop us.

Through the telescope we looked at Jupiter and its Galilean moons, Albireo, the double star at the head of Cygnus, M-57, the Ring Nebula, which is part of Lyra, and very last we looked at M-13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. Out on the deck we saw the usual suspects for late summer observing, such as the Summer Triangle (Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila), Cassiopeia, Pegasus, and the Little Dipper. The new binoculars with the parallel mount stayed trained on Jupiter all evening (until it went below the trees, anyway).

The next class-scheduled session is Tuesday, September 18.

Observing Sessions: Astronomy Class

These sessions are open to everyone.

That said, they were scheduled for the benefit of the astronomy class, who have to do sky knowledge for an actual grade. As such, there were will be a lot of constellation-and-star-names learning, as well as any planets that are out.

So, weather permitting,* the observatory will be open on the following dates and times:

Wednesday, 9/5 9:30-11:00
Tuesday, 9/18 9:00-10:30
Saturday, 9/29 9:00-10:30
Monday, 10/8 9:00-10:30
Friday, 10/19 8:30-10:00
Wednesday, 10/31 8:30-10:00
Thursday, 11/8 8:00-9:30
Monday, 11/19 8:00-9:30
Tuesday, 11/27 7:30-9:00
Friday, 12/7 7:30-9:00

*weather permitting=visible stars. Complete cloud cover all the time, thunderstorms, rain, snow, tornadoes, and heavy fog are good reasons to not come, since no one will be there.

Observing & a sneak preview

Even now freshmen are on campus, and that means a new semester is about to start. And the astronomy club will start it with two things:

1. Observing on Friday August 24 at 9:30 at Weaver. This is near the anniversary of Voyager 2's flyby of Neptune.

2. A new and sleeker webpage which will debut sometime in September. Sneak preview:

Moon-landing observing!

For everyone who didn't get Dr. Fleisch's email, or didn't read it, or forgot about it, and is not going to a Harry Potter book party (cough), tonight at 9:15 is observing during, apparently, the one time of night it's supposed to be cloudy. But even if it's cloudy, while you huddle around the telescope hoping for a break, you can celebrate the 38th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Solstice observing

Okay everyone, it's officially been summer for eight hours and seven minutes as of my typing this sentence. That means new and exciting stars to look at. And if you're inclined to do so, there's observing tomorrow night at Weaver at 9:30pm (as always, weather permitting). Right now Venus and Saturn are in the western sky, while Jupiter is very bright in Scorpius in the east. As for constellations, the ever-famous Summer Triangle is starting to creep higher in the sky along with Hercules, Ophiuchus, and Scoprius, while Leo's still hanging around with Saturn and Venus over toward the west.

Observing: Friday, January 23

Tonight Boy Scouts visited the observatory! It was cold and icy but they came anyway, and we got to look at winter constellations like Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, Auriga, and Taurus, as well as the always popular Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Cassiopeia. Bright stars in these constellations included Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Saiph, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, and Polaris. We also saw three things through the telescope: the first-quarter moon in the west, right near the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula (M42) toward the south, and Saturn in a generally east direction.

Lots of good questions were asked, and all links will open in a new window.
What is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?
Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
What causes meteors, and how are they different from meteorites?
What's a meteor shower?
What is it that they just found on Titan?
Can we see the things left on the moon with a telescope? (scroll down to "The Moon")
How do we know the moon landings weren't a hoax?
Is there a southern pole star?
What is precession?
What's a nebula?
How are stars born?
What will happen to the sun?
Will the sun turn into a black hole?
What are wormholes? (Note: wormholes are more theoretical than these other questions, so there are three links to three different articles: the other two here and here, to provide a variety of explanations at varying levels: the first link is from Scientific American, the second from National Geographic, and the third from the Astronomy Cafe Ask the Astronomer)
Is the Hubble the biggest telescope?

Observing: Friday, January 9

Really clear skies alternated with cloudy periods for a while, but soon it clouded over completely. While we could see, though, the visibility was excellent, and we looked at the Orion Nebula, M42, through the telescope, using both the regular eyepiece and two other filters to test the filter and try and get better clarity. We tried to look at Saturn, but once the telescope was lined up only a few people managed to get a look before it clouded over permanently.

Constellations we saw included Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga, Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, and Cepheus. Stars were Rigel, Saiph, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Bellatrix, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, El Nath, Capella, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Sirius, and Polaris.

We also decided that we need to buy more working red lights so we can see what we're doing without ruining our night vision.

Since we could observe tonight, there won't be any observing tomorrow, January 20.

Observing: Friday, November 3

An 8:00pm observing session in Weaver Observatory. Lots of Circle K members from many different universities came (even though it was really cold), and everyone got to see something. Outside, the sky was clear but the moon was just a couple days shy of full, meaning that a large portion of the sky was washed out. The Summer Triangle is on its way down, so as the night went on the people viewing Albireo through the telescope had to climb higher and higher on the stairs to see it. In the east, Auriga and Taurus are rising toward the middle of the evening, while later, around eleven, Orion is just visible over the chapel. Click here for a guide to the more obvious winter constellations or here for a guide to winter Messier objects.

Observing: Saturday, October 21

Some dark sky observing in Hocking Hills. The sky at Hocking Hills was extremely impressive, dark enough that you could easily see the Milky Way with the naked eye. There were so many stars that it was sometimes a little difficult to pick out familiar constellations. Some people saw shooting stars, and everyone got to see constellations like Sagitta, Delphinus, Aquila, Lyra, Cygnus, Auriga, Taurus, Cassiopeia, Pisces, Ursa Minor, Pegasus, Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, and Draco; a few people saw Sagittarius before it set. An interesting easily visible star was Fomalhaut, in Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish: it's a southern constellation that is only occasionally visible at Wittenberg because of light pollution from Springfield. Along with Fomalhaut, Albireo, Altair, Vega, Alpheratz, Polaris, Capella, Aldebaran, El Nath, Phercad, Kochab, Mirfak, Algol, Rastaban, Eltanin, and Thuban were up. The Pleiades were also up, and we looked at Albireo through the telescope. A fun fact about Polaris, Thuban, and Vega all being visible at the same time: due to the wobble of the Earth's axis as it spins, called precession, Polaris has not always been the North Star. Thuban was the most recent one before Polaris, and Vega is next in line for the honor. Read more about precession here. Sadly, clouds moved in after an hour or so, and we didn't get to see fainter Messier objects like the Ring Nebula or later-rising constellations like Gemini and Orion. Thanks to everyone who drove and to the Reno family for hosting us.