Posted on April 13, 2013 by admin

2013 KAS Trip To NEAF

Credit: Rockland Astronomy Club

On April 20th – 21st, The Northeast Astronomy Forum and Telescope Show will be held.  There is a lot of buzz going around related to the event.  So far, about 10 KAS members have committed to going.  Some KAS members go down for two days, and others for one day or the other.

This year should be especially great, as the KAS has many NEAF activities planned.  For the third year in a row, the KAS will have a table at the event.  Once again this year we will be on the showroom floor, and sharing a booth with the great folks from the Adirondack Public Observatory.  Everything is all set…stop by the KAS booth for a chance to win a Kopernik AstroFest T-Shirt.

Also, members of the KAS are considering volunteering some of their valuable NEAF time and equipment to help the legendary Barlow Bob with the NEAF Solar Star Party (NSSP).

Many KAS members will also be participating in the 4th annual NEAF Posse Tweetup.  Throughout NEAF, members of Twitter attending NEAF meet up in various locations of the conference to hang out with one another in person.  Also on the Saturday night, there will be the annual NEAF Posse Takeover of Applebees and an exclusive  tour of the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center. For information regarding this event check out this page: http://www.kreegan99.org/2013neafposse/

Please feel free to contact kas’at’kopernikastro.org if you are interested in joining us in our venture to NEAF 2013.


 

Filed in Events | Comments Off
Posted on April 7, 2013 by admin

Tonight’s Sky – April 2013

Brought to you by Hubblesite.org:

 

Filed in Astronomy & Observing | Comments Off
Posted on March 5, 2013 by admin

Getting Ready For Comet PanSTARRS

It’s not all over the mainstream news media yet, but it will be.  Comet PanSTARRS will start showing up in the Western Horizon around dusk starting March 7th.  This is likely to be quite an observing event if you have the opportunity to view it.  Here is an image from Jim Gif and was taken March 3rd in Australia.

Comet PanSTARRS

Comet PanSTARRS as imaged by Jim Gif in Australia on 3/3/2012.

Now this comet will continue to brighten, and shortly will become an object to observe in the Northern Hemisphere.  This transition occurs roughly around March 7th, and if you have a really good view of the low horizon (no hills), you will likely be able to see it. I plan on posting some ideas for locations to observe from as it gets closer to March 7/8.

Here’s an image from Sky & Telescope magazine (visit their Comet PanSTARRS Page for great coverage) that gives an idea of the location of the comet as the month progresses.  Any pair of decent binoculars will be the best of observing tools for viewing this comet.

Sky & Telescope Image of PanSTARRS location in the sky through the month of March.

Again note how low the comet is in the Western Horizon at the start of the month.  You will need a good clear view of the horizon to see the comet at dusk.  The KAS will be supporting the Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in any observing opportunities that will be possible as the month progresses.

KAS Members - if you are interested in observing opportunities and road trips to view the comet please contact kas’at’kopernikastro.org for more information.

Filed in Astronomy & Observing, Events | Comments Off
Posted on March 3, 2013 by admin

KAS – 2013 Messier Marathon

Planning is underway for the 2013 KAS Messier Marathon.  This is a great opportunity to view all the objects catalogued by Charles Messier that took him 24 years to observe.  Messier catalogued objects that he originally thought were comets, but could not confirm them as such.  Basically these objects appeared to him as “faint fuzzies” but unlike comets, they never moved. His list of 110 objects were considered a hinderance by him.

Messier Object Chart

Messier Object Chart (click to view larger - credit tripod.com)

Today, this list of objects are the most accessible and easiest to view objects in and around our galaxy.  About 10 of them can be spotted with the naked eye, and the rest are all findable with even a fairly modest telescope.  Every year during the new moon dark window in March, all but a few of these great objects is observable in just one night.  The window this year runs roughly between March 9th and March 18th.  It takes the entire night to see them all, and we here in the upstate NY area can see all but 1-2 objects that rest on the extreme southern skyline.

Read More →

Filed in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Posted on March 3, 2013 by admin

Tonight’s Sky: March 2013

Brought to you by Hubblesite.org:

 

Filed in Astronomy & Observing | Comments Off
Posted on February 28, 2013 by admin

A Testimony to the Public’s Astronomy Interest.

This year’s Winter Star Party at the Kopernik Observatory & Science Center was a very welcome event after having to cancel the event last year due to weather. We typically don’t schedule the public Friday’s at Kopernik in the winter time, as we have found public curiosity in observing Jupiter or distance globular clusters tends to go WAY DOWN proportionally with the temperature. So it’s nice to hold one higher profile event each year to keep pushing the interest in astronomy out to the public in the local area.

Many of us were worried what the turnout would be light due to the fact that the skies were completely socked in with clouds. We had a great speaker lined up, Dr. Michelle Thaller director at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and her topic “Things That Go Bump in the Dark” that covered the subject of Dark Matter. We really wanted a great turn out with such a premiere speaker like Dr. Thaller visiting us.

20130223_200628

Kopernik Observatory – Dr. Michelle Thaller Kicks off A Lecture on Dark Matter.

20130223_193819

Kopernik Director Drew Deskur Addresses a Packed House

The night turned out amazing. The Kopernik Winter Star Party was a standing room only event, and it was great to hear Dr. Thaller speak. She had great lines like “Most of the universe is made up of ‘dark matter,’ and what we are made up of is ‘Doesn’t Matter.’” The discussion was very informative, and was a great 45-minute introduction to the concepts surrounding Dark Matter.

The crowd was also entertained with Roy William’s discussion on comets, his preview of Comet PanSTARRS, and later in the Year Comet ISON. He also did his trademarked comet demonstration where he makes a comet out of a variety of materials, and passed around a 3lb Canyon Diablo meteorite to let people experience a piece of material that came from space.

Below is some video from wicz.com FOX 40 News where Dr. Thaller discusses briefly the subject of her lecture.

20130223_191604

Kopernik’s Roy Williams Makes Comets From Scratch

As another highlight, there were birthday cupcakes served to the crowd, after the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Nicolaus Copernicus for his 540th birthday celebration. It should be noted that Kopernik Observatory is named after Copernicus, as his name in Polish is Mikolaj Kopernik.

Unfortunately, there was no observing to be held, but it was great to see so many people enthusiastically show up to share and experience astronomy without the crowd pleasing eye candy through the telescopes. The turnout was a real testament for the general public’s curiosity of the universe that surrounds them.

Filed in Events | Comments Off