One KAS member arrived early to Cherry Springs State Park located in the northern tier of PA, to catch a chance at amazing skies earlier in the week.  There was some success in this attempt, and scored two observable nights under the Cherry Springs dark skies on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday was mostly rainy and about 4-5 KAS members gathered to enjoy each other’s company while waiting for the Friday activities to start.

On Friday, more KAS members showed up, and began to form the KAS encampment at the event.  Vendors setup under a large tent including Skies Unlimited, Hands on Optics, Astro Gizomos, and others.  Syracuse based member, Ryan Goodson, also set up one of his self built New Moon Telescopes in the vendor tent, and discussed the features of his design, hosted demos, etc..

KAS at 2013 Cherry Springs Star Party

Starting early Friday afternoon, various presentations were held including one given by Bob Naeye, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope Magazine who did a history of time presentation entitled “The Origin of Everything.”  A fantastic presentation discussing everything from the Big Bang to the modern civilization we are in today.  Other topics included technical discussions of telescope features and maintenance, and a presentation by Larry McHenry regarding the 2012 Venus Transit.

Unfortunately, the skies remained covered by clouds and misting rain throughout Friday night.  But the KAS members had a great time hanging out with one another, sharing a great meal, and discussing a wide range of science based topics.

Saturday again offered chances to purchase product from and interact with vendors, and provided a wide range of discussions on a variety of topics.  More KAS members arrived as the day progressed with the prospect of a possible clearing Saturday night.  Great presentations ran all day again, and as the day progressed the sky slowly started to clear up.

By 8:30 PM, the sky was mostly clear with large patches of clouds rolling through occasionally, and by 10:30 PM or so, the sky was clear the remainder of the night.  There’s just not much that is better in amateur astronomy than a clear sky at Cherry Springs State Park.  A really amazing experience that someday I hope I can find a way to express in words.

Saturn was first found around 8:20 PM, and for a period of about 2 hours, the KAS entertained between 30 – 50 people from the general public who were not there to attend the star party.  It has always been a major component of the KAS mission to offer public outreach support such as this.

The vast majority of the group was observing until 2 in the morning, and everyone finally concluded their viewing by 3:30 in the AM.  A great experience that was well worth the wait.  Those who roughed out the rain had a high yield payback in the single night of observing.  The core of the group observed together for about 4-5 hours sharing  telescopes, eye pieces and views.

This was our most successful outing as a club to Cherry Springs with a record number of members joining us at this great observing location this year. All that attended had a fantastic time, enjoyed great lectures, obtained amazing deals with the vendors, and were able to enjoy one wonderful night of observing.

Next up for field trips will be the Stelafane Amateur Telescope Makers convention in August.

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.

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.

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.

The objective here would be that the KAS gather on the first clear night during that window at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center.  So far there is interest with a a few KAS members.  This will be a Kopernik Astronomical Society ONLY event.

Here is a list of references for preparing, planning and executing a Messier Marathon:

• Introduction to Messier Marathons (Richard Bell)
• Messier Checklist (SEDS)
•  Star Hopping Guide to the Messier Marathong Text (Rob Hawley)
• Star Hopping Guide to the Messier Marathon Charts (Rob Hawley)

NOTE: If you are interested in joining the KAS please email us kas’AT’kopernikastro.org

Here is a great list of all the objects that can be viewed in the marathon night:

Type Key:

OCl=Open Cluster
Gl=Globular Cluster
Pl=Planetary Nebula
DN=Diffuse Nebula
G S=Spiral Galaxy
G E=Elliptical Galaxy
GIr= Irregular Galaxy
GS0=Lenticular Galaxy
SNR=Super Nova Remnant
2St=Binary Star
4St=4 Star System

Thanks to the member of the KAS for the information for this post: Frank, George, Art, Keith, etc…

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.

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

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.

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.

Winter Star Party Poster

The 2013 Kopernik AstroFest planning cycle has started and the KAS have announced that the dates of the event will be Friday October 4th thru Sunday October 6th.  We are very excited to be hosting the event at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in Vestal, NY for the 31st time in Kopernik history.

Details of the event are still being researched and discovered.  There will be speakers on topics related to astronomy as well as observing under Kopernik’s clear, dark skies.  As details become available, they will be published on the Kopernik AstroFest Web Page.

The 2012 AstroFest featured guest speakers Robert Naeye (Editor in Chief of Sky and Telescope Magazine), Nagin Cox (JPL/ Mars Science Laboratory), Father George Coyne ( McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy at Le Moyne College), Barlow Bob (legendary solar observing enthusiast), and Tom Field (RSpec Spectrascopy).

If you are interested in participating with the fantastic AstroFest Planning Team, or you are interested in more information, please contact the Kopernik Astronomical Society.

Jupiter & moons (left to right) Ganymede, IO, Europa

Lunar View 11/21/2012

If you are a KAS member and would like to submit your astrophotos to be displayed here, just send them on in, and they will be posted for the club to share!

Planning for the 2013 Kopernik Winter Star Party is underway.  Get ready for a great action packed Saturday.  Thought provoking NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller will be the keynote speaker! A full schedule will be developed soon. See the full moon, Jupiter, Pleiades star cluster, double stars and more!

Check the KOSC 2013 WSP website for updated information as it becomes available:
ABOUT MICHELLE THALLER:

Michelle Thaller is an American astronomer and research scientist. She is currently the assistant director for Science Communication at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Dr. Thaller has been featured in an episode of the National Geographic Channel documentary television series, Naked Science and has appeared on Life and Times on the Los Angeles based television station KCET. She is also a regular contributor to the online edition of the Christian Science Monitor for which she writes a monthly science column and has appeared seven times on the History Channel show, The Universe She also appears in the Science Channel’s “How the Universe Works”.{Season 1/Ep. 4 entitled “Extreme Stars”} Thaller also contributed to and appeared in the award-winning video podcast series IRrelevant Astronomy.