An aurora broke out over the US, and there was quite a view for those in upstate NY, especially the more western part of the state. Very little activity was seen from the Binghamton area, but in Candor, NY just a half hour away – check out these photos…
The Place: Candor, NY
The Astronomer: Art C.
The Date: 10/24/2011
Although the weather has been a bit challenging the past week. It is possible that there will be a clearing tonight for the Orionid Meteor Shower.
If the skies are clear, the observatory will open for the night, starting at around 8 PM. The shower will intensify around 11 PM or so, as the constellation Orion clears the site’s horizon. The meteor shower would occur at its highest frequency as the constellation approaches the zenith position (straight up) in the sky later in the night.
Keep an eye here for sky condition information:
Kopernik Clear Sky Chart
This image was taken by G.P. Normandin using a Celestron NexImage web cam on an OGS RC20 (F/8.1).
The following accounting of AstroFest is contributed by Patrick Manley.
This year at Kopernik AstroFest 2011, the skies were just down right mean to us. It never really rained (as far as I can remember) but we were socked in with clouds for 49 of the total possible 54 hours of AstroFest from Friday September 30th until Sunday October 2. We’ve come to expect this living in upstate, NY. That’s why our fantastic leadership team booked so many great speakers and guests to present and attend AstroFest 2011.
With this in mind, I first point to the time I spent with Barlow Bob. I have to admit, I was a bit leery about what magic Barlow Bob would pull out of the van with such dismal daytime skies. I’ve attended Barlow Bob’s NEAF Solar Star Party to observe “Bob’s Only Star he cares about.” And I know he has a VERY amazing inventory of solar observing equipment. When I previewed the weather forecast, I was a bit bummed out that I would not be able to play with these wonderful solar observing toys.
But as I’ve come to expect from Barlow Bob’s reputation – I wouldn’t be disappointed. We spent the better part of Friday and Saturday playing with different spectrascopes and spectragraphs. We observed a variety of different gases contained in small light bulbs that emitted different types of spectra. We observed everything from some elements similar to those in our sun to the ever-puzzling spectra produced by Iodine.
| Friday 9/30 | |
| 5:00 – 7:15 PM | Facility Tours |
| Telescope Observing – Sun, Moon, Venus | |
| Dark Sky Exhibit | |
| NYSERDA Exhibit | |
| 5:15 – 6:00 | Night Sky Network Workshop – Art |
| 5:30 – 6:30 | Dinner – Ziti, Meatballs, Tossed salad, Rolls with butter, Drinks, & Dessert ($12) |
| 6:45 – 7:00 | Welcome to AstroFest 2011 – Pete Andraesen, Town of Vestal Supervisor |
| Presentation of Award to KAS Volunteers of the Year – Sally and Fibber Magee by Drew Deskur, Kopernik Observatory and Science Center Director | |
| 7:05 – 7:25 | “Astronomy – The Year in Review” – Dr. Nicholas Guydosh, NASA Earth Ambassador |
| 7:30 – 9:00 | Dr. John Delano – University of Albany “Is there life out there?” This talk is intended for a general audience to provide them with a general overview of NASA’s current and future efforts to search for life on planets orbiting other stars. |
| 8:30 PM to Dawn | Night Sky Viewing – in the domes and in the yard |
| Saturday 10/1 | |
| 7:30 – 9:00 AM | Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Juice, Bagels, Donuts, Muffins, Pastries, etc. |
| All Day beginning at 8 AM | |
| NYSERDA Exhibit | |
| Facility Tours | |
| 9:00 – 2:30 PM | Swap Meet |
| Solar Viewing – Barlow Bob | |
| Solar Viewing and Imaging in Domes | |
| 9:00 – 11:30 AM | Tish Bresee, NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador – NASA’s “IMAGINE MARS” Workshop for elementary and middle school teachers. |
| 11:00 AM – 12:30 | Dr. John Delano Student/Family workshop (grades 6 to 12) – “Is our Solar System typical in the galaxy?” |
| 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Lunch – Roast Beef/turkey/ham/vegetarian choice of sandwich, Pasta Salad or tossed salad- choice, |
| Brownies, Drinks ($10) | |
| 12:30 – 1:15 PM | Night Sky Network Workshop – George |
| 1:30 – 2:45 PM | Dr. John Delano Teacher Workshop – “Topics in Astrobiology for engaging your students in all sciences.” |
| 3:00 – 4:00 PM | Alan Friedman*, “Catching Sunlight” a general talk on Solar Imaging. |
| 3:15 – 4:00 PM | Night Sky Network Workshop – Fibber – WHAT |
| 4:30 – 5:30 PM | Alan Friedman* – Advanced Session/ |
| “An exploration into the technical and aesthetic challenges of imaging our neighborhood star.” Geared to astronomers/imagers. | |
| 5:00 – 8:30 PM | Telescope Observing – Moon, Venus |
| 5:00 – 6:00 PM | Dinner – Marinated chicken breast, Pasta Primavera, tossed salad, rolls with butter, Drinks, Dessert ($12) |
| 5:00 – 6:00 PM | Robert Siegers & Tish Bresee – Vesta Presentation and activity. Observe Vesta if clear. |
| 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Dr. Joseph Veverka, Cornell University – Comets |
| 7:10 – 7:25 PM | Welcome to AstroFest 2011 – George Normandin, Kopernil Astronomical Society president |
| 7:30 – 7:45 PM | Raffle Drawing – you need not be present to win! |
| 8:00 – 9:00 PM | Dr. John Delano – Albany University technical talk “NASA’s search for life beyond the Earth” |
| 8:30 PM – Dawn | Night Sky Viewing in the domes and in the yard |
| Sunday 10/2 | |
| 7:30 to 10 AM | Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Juice, Bagels, Donuts, Muffins, Pastries, etc. |
| All Day | Dark Sky Exhibit |
| NYSERDA Exhibit | |
| Solar Viewing and Imaging | |
| 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM | Solar Viewing – Barlow Bob |
| 10:00 – 11:00 AM | Alan Friedman* – “Catching Sunlight” a general talk on Solar Imaging with a live demonstration if the weather is clear “Capturing the solar system from a downtown Buffalo backyard”. |
| 12:00 to 1:00 PM | Lunch – Pork BBQ, Chicken Spiedies or vegetarian choice of sandwich, Potato Salad, Cookies, Drink ($10) |
| 12:30 PM | Door Prize Drawings – Need NOT be present to win! |
| 1:00 – 1:45 PM | Night Sky Network Workshop – Art |
| 3:00 | Cleanup – Everyone |
On Friday August 19th and Saturday August 21st, we will host the 3rd annual KAS Campout & BBQ. This is the beginning of the planning of the event. If you are a KAS Member and are interested, please send an email to kas@kopernikastro.org.
As a reminder – the gist of this is NO BUSINESS – NO WORKING – JUST HANGING OUT & HAVING FUN. We are required to not promote this publicly by the park we will be camping at. We pull together a flyer to post to the residents of the park if they would like to join us when observing. So there’s a hint of outreach, but mostly fun. Last year we had a great BBQ/cookout one night provided by Sally, Fibber and Art (along with other dishes to pass). We were able to observe one of the nights. Nice campfires, and good camping. KAS Members don’t have to sign up for camping – they can still hang out to observe and enjoy a great meal with great company. KAS Member’s family are more than welcome to attend any part of or all of the event. We hope many of you will join us for a great time!
Thanks again to all of you for making this a great group!
Clear Skies!
The KAS held an event a few weeks back offering public outreach at Chenango Valley State Park. That’s right, we took the show on the road. Below is the President’s summary of the event. A great job by the members who supported this.
KAS Members Offer Solar Views and Planets during the day light
Check out all the photos in the 2011 KAS Event Gallery
KAS & Staff:
This really did turn out to be a lot of fun, and we had a bunch of “happy campers” despite the high cloud that limited us to the moon, Saturn, and some double stars (although I did get M-57 in my scope near the end, it looked pretty sick even with a nebular filter).
Every 3rd Wednesday of every month, the KAS gathers at some location to get together and just have some fun. With this in mind, this month, this event will be held at the Kopernik Observatory & Science Center starting at 7:00 PM. This is a KAS paid member only event. So if you are in the KAS, please join us. Here are the topics for this month:
1. Event Discussion – 20 minutes
– Black Forest Star Party
– Stellafane Trip
– KAS Cherry Springs Outings
– August 3rd Wednesday
– August KAS Camping trip to Greenwood Park
2. What’s up in July/August? – A general discussion about popular objects to observe – 45 minute presentation
3. Weather Permitting – A KAS member will gladly make a launch attempt of a small model rocket if anyone is interested! Is anyone interested in start a rocket club at the observatory?
4. The summer and fall constellations – How to navigate the sky – a brief discussion for our newest members. Everyone can talk about their favorite objects here too! – 30 minutes
5. Equipment Spotlight – Come share your eyepieces – KAS members will run through my eyepieces!
Of course these are proposed ideas, the floor is open if anyone else wants to do something else fun. Send an email to kas@kopernikastro.org.
If it is clear out, we will run out and fire up some equipment for observing at around 8:30 – 9 PM. Also, a few KAS members will gladly help new members learn their gear. That is what moony nights are best for!
Some snacks will be provided (chips, nut mix, etc…), but no dinner is planned for this event at this time. Bring your favorite non-alcoholic beverage, and whatever else you want to snack on or brown bag your dinner. If it is cloudy and we have enough takers, we can watch a movie. The KAS documentary library is fairly extensive.
Again – LEAVE YOUR TO-DO’s and LISTS AT HOME!
Kopernik Observatory: Dee-Top Observatory:  Owego:  Cherry Springs State Park:  |
S&T: Sky Tonight News
