The MAS Spring Banquet will be held on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at
Note that the banquet replaces the February monthly meeting. There will be no meeting at Space Place on Friday, February 10.
Menu Selection (Select One):
Each dinner is served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Vegetable Medley and Garden Salad with House Dressing and includes dinner rolls, soft drinks and coffee.
Cost is $21 per person regardless of selection. Includes tax and tip.
Make your check payable to JOHN RUMMEL and send to
Mark your menu selection on the postcard and return with your check.
If you did not receive a banquet reservation postcard, a printable copy is available here.
Checks must be received by February 1st.
See you there!
On Tuesday, June 5th, starting about 5:04 pm (22:04 UT), Venus will pass across the face of the Sun, for the last time until 2117.
Mid-transit will occur at about 8:26 pm (01:26 UT), and sunset at 8:34 pm CDT will end Wisconsin's viewing.
Or you could see more of the transit in Tahiti, where Captain James Cook and crew observed the transit of June 3, 1769.
Watch this space as well as UW Space Place and the MMSD Planetarium websites for planned local viewing activities.
Transits of Venus occur at intervals of 8, 121.5, 8 and 105.5 years, repeating every 243 years. Transits of 1631 and 1639, 1761 and 1769, 1874 and 1882, and 2004 and 2012 will be followed in 2117 and 2125. Don't miss the 2012 transit.
The MAS meeting on Friday January 13th will be held at the MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School, 201 S Gammon Road.
The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal gathering, followed by a presentation.
Our guest speaker will be UW Madison astronomy professor Christy Tremonti, who will speak on her research concerning how galaxies acquire, use, and lose gas. Don't miss this special meeting at a special place!
Directions to the Planetarium can be found on their web site at http://planetariumweb.madison.k12.wi.us or from Google maps.
On Friday, December 9th, 7:00 pm, the general meeting will include a Telescope Purchasing Workshop. Got the aperture itch? Wanna buy a telescope but don't know how much to spend or what you're going to get? Join us at the December MAS meeting at Space Place to see a variety of different types of telescopes on display, and talk to the owners. Find out why people bought the scopes they did - and if they'd do it again. There will be a short presentation on the different types of telescopes and some basic buyers' advice.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
In observance of the seasonal celebrations afoot, members are invited to bring a snack or drink (non-alcholic please) to share with the group.
Space Place is located in the basement of the Villager Mall in Madison, at 2300 South Park Street, on the west side of the street, between Hughes Place and Ridgewood Way, about three blocks north of the Beltline (Google Map).
Park in front near the center of the Mall, and enter at the Atrium Entrance. Once inside, walk down the hallway to the stairs and go downstairs. Space Place occupies the left-hand part of the basement just beyond the doors at the bottom of the stairs. There is also an elevator available.
On Friday, November 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, the general meeting will include a discussion of observing planning for the winter months, with an eye toward the upcoming special events: Jupiter up all winter, Mars opposition as spring approaches, and Venus transit in June.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
The general meeting on Friday, October 14th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, will feature a slide show on moving the KMO and the DGRO and maybe a discussion on the future of observing in the new building.
We will also review the very successful Moon Over Monona star party.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
It's on for tonight (Friday).
Moon Over Monona public star party on the roof of Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center.
Friday, October 7th from 7:00 until 9:30 pm. (rain/cloud date October 8th)
Please save this date and plan to attend MAS' greatest annual observing event -- right in downtown Madison.
MAS members bring their telescopes, and the public is invited to observe the Moon and planets and other sights of the night sky.
MAS members can begin arriving after 5:30 pm and can park in the loading area on the east side of the building with your equipment.
Carts will be available to move telescopes up the elevator to the roof.
At the general meeting on Friday, September 9th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, MAS members John Rummel, Mark Weller, and Andrea Rummel will present the results of a multi-year Milky Way imaging project and focus on how to edit these shots in Photoshop to bring out the most realistic detail for a deeply satisfying final product.
The general meeting on Friday, August 12th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, will include an update by MAS members Chris Zeltner and Les Phelps on the relocation of the newly donated observatory building, the DGRO.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentations will begin shortly thereafter.
Jeff Shokler will do a brief presentation on his recent visit to Florida in an attempt to witness a shuttle launch. Members may wish to discuss the temporary end of the US manned space program and directions for the future.
The July general meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society will be a shared observing event with the Friends of Donald Park, at Donald Park. Meet at this new Dane County park on Friday July 8th.
Photos of last year's Donald Park event
In the event of clouds or rain, a go/no-go message will be posted on the Friends of Donald Park website by 4:00 pm on the 8th.
Donald Park is about 17 miles from Madison. The park entrance is on the south side of Highway 92, southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G. Google Map (zoom in for more detail).
We hope to see a lot of MAS folks there.
Those with telescopes can begin arriving about 7:30. Members may drive their cars down to the pavillion located just to the east of the parking lot to unload, and then park in the lot.
The MAS swap meet and picnic will take place Saturday, June 18th at YRS (rain date June 19th).
We're going to take our chances with the "scattered thunderstorms" and go ahead with Saturday's date.
Swap meet at noon on Saturday and picnic at 4:00.
Observing will follow the picnic, if skies are clear.
Also, we have been offered, and the board and membership have accepted, the DGRO roll-off building, an LX-200 telescope, and moving-expense donations. We are now working to select a location for the new building at YRS. Come and contribute to the discussion.
At the general meeting on Friday, June 10th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, MAS members Chris Zeltner and Martin Mika will lead a discussion on Favorite Summer Observing Targets. Come and talk about your own list.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
We will also talk about the Swap Meet/Picnic/Open House to be held 8 days later at YRS.
And about the DGRO roll-off building, LX-200 telescope, and moving-expense donations we are being offered. The board has agreed to accept these items and will bring up the matter of acceptance and allocation of additional funds for the membership to discuss.
At the general meeting on Friday, May 13th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, MAS member Martin Mika will discuss Astrochemistry: Stardust to Life and the techniques used to study chemical processes in the interstellar medium.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
This is the annual meeting of MAS and the election of board members. Proposed board members are:
The MAS Spring Banquet will occur on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at
Note that the banquet replaces the April monthly meeting. There will be no meeting at Space Place on Friday.
Menu Selection (Select One):
Each dinner is served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Vegetable Medley and Garden Salad with House Dressing and includes dinner rolls, soft drinks and coffee.
Cost is $20 per person regardless of selection. Includes tax and tip.
Make your check payable to JOHN RUMMEL and send to
Write your menu selection on the memo line of your check.
Checks must be received by March 25th.
See you there!
At the MAS general meeting on Friday, March 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, Susan Nossal will give a talk on atmospheric climate change.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
Susan Nossal is a scientist and director at the Physics Learning Center of the UW Madison.
Her research applies optical spectroscopy to studies of the Earth's upper atmosphere. In particular, she has been using a long term data set to study the effects of natural variability on this region. Understanding natural variability is needed to isolate any effects of long term change.
The MAS general meeting on Friday, February 11th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, will feature several talks about Astronomy Programs at the Greiner Research Observatory.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
First, Doc Greiner will discuss the observatory building, its development and its current status.
Matt Mills will describe some of the work being done. Then there should be time for a few questions about asteroid searches.
Greg Sellek and Mark Hanson will try making contact with the observatory. They will at least visit the building and show some of the interior facilities. If the skies are good, some stars can be shown as well.
Mark will give a tour of his excellent imaging results, with some recent first-light results from the Ritchey-Chrétien telescope.
The MAS meeting on Friday January 14th will be held at the MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School, 201 S Gammon Road.
Directions to the Planetarium can be found on their web site at http://planetariumweb.madison.k12.wi.us or from Google maps.
The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal gathering, followed by a demonstration of the planetarium's multimedia capabilities as a tool for science education.
The full Moon will start moving into Earth's shadow around midnight on December 20-21, 2010.
The Moon moves eastward roughly its own diameter every hour, and the umbra of Earth's shadow may be about three Moon diameters wide. The path will be a bit off-center, and totality will last 72 minutes.
partial eclipse begins - 12:33 am
totality begins - 1:41 am
mid-eclipse will occur at 2:17 am CST (8:17 UT) on Tuesday the 21st
totality ends - 2:53 am
partial eclipse ends - 4:01 am
Get your warm clothes ready. Think of it as winter camping.
You can also contribute to two timing projects: Roger Sinnott - crater timings and John Westfall - timings of eclipse contacts.
At the MAS general meeting on December 10th, 7:00 pm at UW Space Place, we will talk about Observing Techniques: an observer's survey of some basic tools: star charts, atlases, reference works and computer software.
We'll explore some of the more common sky references and share how these tools can assist in planning and carrying out an evening of observing.
There will be laptops and several software programs, including Stellarium and Starry Night, along with Tirion star charts, the three volume set of Burnham's Celestial Handbook, and other favorite tools. It should evolve into a fun discussion.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
And mark your calendars now for our January meeting (January 14), when we will meet once again in the MMSD Planetarium at Memorial High school. Program information will follow, but don't miss this special meeting.
Space Place is sharing its Google calendar with MAS. The calendar is called Dane_Co_Astro.
Click through the months and on individual days to see what's going on.
MAS meeting events include a link to this News page.
At the November 12th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place, Dave Kriege, owner and president of Obsession Telescopes of Lake Mills, WI will talk about his telescopes and how he came to be the creator of one of the premier telescope companies of the last 10 years.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
The October 8th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place, will be a discussion on planning an observing session.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
Bring your favorite accessory box and star charts and be ready for a panel or round robin on preparing for and conducting an observing session. It could be a combination of show-and-tell with accessories and actual discussion of how you plan what you're going to observe and how you select proper eye pieces, etc.
At the September 10th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place, John Rummel will talk about:
Astrophotography: Sometimes more art than science.
The 7:00 - 7:30 period will be a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
The August 13th MAS general meeting, 7:00 at UW Space Place, will feature:
UW physics professor Peter Timbie speaking on the topic "Dark Energy".
This meeting will mark our return to the 7:00 start time, with the 7:00 - 7:30 period being loosely described as a "visitor/new member welcome" time. The meeting will be called to order at about 7:30 and the presentation will begin shortly thereafter.
The meteor watching event is a go for tonight (Thursday) at 8:00 pm.
The MAS and the Friends of Donald Park invite you to observe the Perseids in this scenic Dane County Park on August 12 (Thursday), 8:00 pm.
Bring chairs, blankets, bug spray and a thermos of your favorite cool beverage. Plan to stay into the wee hours of Friday morning. The Perseids this year correspond to a very young moon so we will enjoy dark skies at the peak shower hours after midnight.
In the event of clouds/rain for August 12, we will reschedule for Friday, August 13, immediately following the MAS meeting at Space Place.
Donald Park is about 17 miles from Madison. The park entrance is on the south side of Highway 92, southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G. Google Map (zoom in for more detail).
You won't want to miss this.
Madison Astronomical Society and the Friends of Donald Park hosted an observing event at this new Dane County park on Sunday July 18th.
Photos of the Donald Park event
Donald Park is about 17 miles from Madison. The park entrance is on the south side of Highway 92, southeast of Mt. Horeb or northwest of County G. Google Map (zoom in for more detail).
Other events put on by the Friends of Donald Park have drawn over 100 people. So we hope to see a lot of MAS folks there.
Those with telescopes can begin arriving about 7:30. Members may drive their cars down to the pavillion located just to the east of the parking lot to unload, and then park in the lot.
More information is available on page 3 of the recent Capitol Skies newsletter for July 2010.
The feature article in the 2009-2010 Wisconsin Blue Book by Peter Susalla and James Lattis is titled
Wisconsin at the Frontiers of Astronomy: A History of Innovation and Exploration.
History from early days to the present, with many wonderful historic photographs.
At the July 9th MAS general meeting, 7:30 at UW Space Place, society member Matt Mills will present a talk:
Madison Astronomical Society Expedition to Recover Meteorite Fragments from the April 2010 Fall in SW Wisconsin.
Please come to the meeting and add your own meteorite-hunting stories.
The May 14th MAS general meeting, 7:30 at UW Space Place, will feature UW Astronomy professor Dr. Snezana Stanimarovic. Her presentation will be about using the largest radio telescope in the world to study our Galaxy.
We will also discuss the MAS officer elections that will occur at the June 12th picnic, and we will produce a list of who will run for the various positions.
The Shop Talk at the April 9th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, will center around eyepiece astronomy.
There has been a lot of discussion about creating documents MAS can make available to new and current members for equipment and observing recommendations and How-Tos, at both the novice and more advanced observing member levels.
So bring your ideas about the types of document and their content to the April meeting.
Hope to see you Friday the 9th.
Don Martin
President, Madison Astronomical Society
UW graduate student Jon Dumm will be our guest speaker at the March 12th general meeting of the Madison Astronomical Society, 7:30 pm at Space Place.
Jon's presentation will emphasize physics analysis of the UW's Ice Cube Project.
The topic at the February 12th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, will be Shop Talk.
Details TBA.
The MAS meeting on Friday January 8 will be held at the MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School, 201 S Gammon Road. Note the 7:00 pm start time.
Directions to the Planetarium can be found on their web site at http://planetariumweb.madison.k12.wi.us or from Google maps.
The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal gathering, followed by a presentation on the 400th anniversary of Galileo's observations of Jupiter.
On January 7 1610 Galileo observed with his telescope what he described at the time as "three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness," all close to Jupiter, and lying on a straight line through it.
With this observation, Galileo helped to complete the revolution started by Copernicus. Join the MAS on this special evening in celebration of the 400th year of Galileo's observations of Jupiter. Using the planetarium's simulation capabilities, we will recreate the sky as seen by Galileo over Padua that night. Memorial astronomy teacher Art Camosy will present a program highlighting the significance of this event in history, science and art.
The December 11 MAS meeting will be our Annual Holiday Party at Space Place. An informal get-together starts at 7:00 pm, followed by a short business meeting at 7:30.
Plan to bring a dish to pass around and your own drinks, and if you have any piece of astronomy related equipment you'd like to ask anything about, bring that along and the knowledgable crew on hand that night will certainly be willing to help as much as they can.
The topic at the November 13th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, will be Shop Talk.
Details TBA.
At the October 9th general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, Jim Lattis will speak to MAS on Johannes Kepler: A mysterium historigraphicum.
Since 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Kepler's work on the orbit of Mars, it is appropriate to hear about his work as well as that of Galileo.
At the September 11th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, Doc Greiner will give a slide show about his new facility.
The title is The Doc Greiner Research Observatories.
There will not be a speaker at the August 14th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place,
The August General meeting topic is Shop Talk and is an opportunity for MAS members and guests to share information and advise on astronomy related topics.
At the July 10th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, there will not be a speaker.
Since we did not have a quorum at the picnic in June, elections were postponed until July.
Please try to attend this meeting, so that we can elect officers.
At the May 8th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, we will have a presentation by Dr. Peter Frinchaboy III, Ph.D., NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, titled Star Clusters: 'Simple?' Stellar Populations.
In this talk, I will discuss the key role star clusters play in astronomy, from understanding how stars evolve, to gravitational dynamics, and even the calibration of cosmological distance. I will also discuss current complications being found from new detailed studies of these key objects.
Need a telescope but can't afford to buy one? Interested in learning more about using a telescope but don't have one?
The Madison Astronomical Society awards "scholarship" telescopes to deserving young people every year. These are loaner telescopes that the recipients may keep for one year, and they come with the expertise of a local astronomy club behind them.
To learn more and download your application, visit the MAS Telescope Scholarship page.
The deadline for applications is April 15, 2009, so get yours in soon!
The April 10th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, will feature a special presentation by Professor Michael Shank titled Setting the Stage: Galileo in Tuscany, the Veneto, and Rome
Professor Shank is with History of Science and Integrated Liberal Studies at the UW-Madison.
The MAS Spring Banquet will be held this year at Space Place on Friday, March 13. Social hour will start at 6:00 pm and dinner at 7:00.
After dinner, Dr. Robert Benjamin will be giving a presentation titled Mapping the Milky Way.
MAS members should have received a recent email with the reservation form attached.
The February 13th MAS general meeting, 7:30 pm at Space Place, will have a presentation by MAS President Don Martin titled Seeing and Transparency.
On New Year's Eve MAS will begin the International Year of Astronomy by bringing telescopes to Olbrich Gardens, Monona Terrace, the Historical Society Museum on State St., and Space Place for public viewing from 6 to 9 pm.
Information about the International Year of Astronomy 2009 is available at Astronomy2009.org and at Space Place.
The MAS meeting on Friday November 14 will be held at the MMSD Planetarium at Madison Memorial High School, 201 S Gammon Road.
The evening starts at 7:00 PM with a short informal gathering, followed at 7:30 by John Rummel's presentation on the MMSD Planetarium's Overhead Projector (with apologies to John McCain). A demonstration of the planetarium's all-sky projection capabilities, a short sky tour, and your questions answered.
The WORT Radio Access Hour will feature MAS members Chris Zeltner, Jim Lattis, Wynn Wacker, and Don Martin in an open discussion and call-in program on Monday, October 6 at 7:00 pm.
Discussion topics may be available later. Be sure to listen.
At the September 12 meeting,
John Rummel and Mark Weller
will present a talk on
Photographing the Milky Way.
At the August 8 meeting, new MAS President
Don Martin
began a discussion on
the future of YRS
and on ways to increase member interest in activities.
The speaker for the May 9 meeting will be
Sanjay Limaye,
from the UW Space Science and Engineering Center.
Sanjay will give us An Update on Current Planet Missions.
At the Friday March 14 MAS general meeting at Space Place, Jim Lattis, UW Space Place Director, will talk about Christoph Clavius and the End of the Astrolabe.
The astrolabe was one of the most important tools of the astronomer from antiquity through the Early Modern era, but by 1600 was well on the way to obsolescence. By examining Clavius's astrolabe book, published first in 1593 and again in 1611, we can begin to see why astronomers were abandoning their venerable instrument--and the invention of the telescope had nothing to do with it.
February 20 lunar eclipse events at Space Place, Memorial High School Planetarium, and Sterling Hall.
Space Place:
Presentation on lunar eclipses at 6:30pm.
Eclipse viewing, 7 - 8:30pm.
Visit
http://spaceplace.wisc.edu/
for more information.
Memorial Planetarium: Planetarium presentations at 6:30 and 7:45 (one hour) on the moon and lunar eclipses. Admission $2 per person for the indoor planetarium presentations. Outdoors (weather permitting), telescopic viewing of the eclipse. If weather prohibits the use of telescopes outside, the planetarium presentations will go on as scheduled. Contact John Rummel at darksky25@charter.net for information.
UW Astronomy Department: Astronomy graduate students will have a public viewing at the telescope at Sterling Hall, starting at 7:30 pm. Visit http://spaceplace.wisc.edu/ for information.
MAS members are invited and encouraged to attend both the Space Place and the Memorial High School Planetarium events. Bring your telescopes to set up and show the public a good astronomical time.
At the Friday February 8 MAS general meeting at Space Place,
Dr. Andrew Sheinis,
UW Astronomy Dept, will discuss the
Southern African Large Telescope.
SALT is the worlds largest optical telescope, with an aperture of 11 meters in diameter. The UW Madison Astronomy Department is a major member of the SALT consortium, with approximately 17% ownership.
In this talk I will describe the design and the status of this novel telescope, and talk about the astronomical goals we at UW have for it.
At the Friday January 11 MAS general meeting at Space Place,
David Oesper
will discuss towns built around astronomy.
Many observational astronomers and stargazers dream of someday living in a community with little or no outdoor lighting, and it is certainly possible to make such a community work, provided it is not too large.
In fact, two such communities already exist, and they have filled up rapidly: Deerlick Astronomy Village in Central Georgia, and the Arizona Sky Village in SE Arizona. But these communities cater to the wealthy.
Is it possible to create affordable, sustainable dark-sky communities for those of more modest means? Yes! David Oesper will present his vision of dark-sky communities where any of us could live and work.
At the Friday August 10 MAS general meeting at Space Place John Rummel's talk will be
The Moon and the Capitol: My 21st Century Stonehenge.
Philip Jackson will speak at a later date.
The Friday July 13 MAS general meeting at Space Place will be a discussion of our recent observing experiences.
Jane Breun wants to share with you her Jupiter observations. Please come with your own observations to share.
John Rummel's talk is postponed.
At the Friday May 11 MAS general meeting at Space Place, Chuck Forster will discuss Radio Astronomy.
This talk is rescheduled from November's snowed-out meeting.
The Friday April 13 MAS general meeting at Space Place will feature
Jane Breun
on
What IS a "dwarf planet?": A brief overview of Solar System Nomenclature.
The Friday March 9 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place will present Equipment Expo, where members will bring in their favorite astronomy equipment. (telescopes, mounts, accessories, imaging devices, etc.) for members and guests to see, learn about, and explore.
At the Friday February 9 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place,
Sanjay Limaye,
of the UW Space Sciences and Engineering Center,
will present
Back to Venus: Venus Express and other new missions to Venus.
At the Friday November 10 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place, Chuck Forster will speak about radio astronomy.
The star party for MAS members at YRS, originally planned for
Saturday August 19, was
clouded out
and is
rescheduled for Saturday August 26,
from sunset to whenever.
As of noon on Saturday August 26, the weather is not promising. It is likely that the star party will have to be rescheduled yet again for a later date.
At the Friday August 11 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place, Wynn Wacker will moderate a discussion of our recent observations.
Did anyone watch the encounter between the Great Red Spot and Red Spot Jr during July? How about the meteor shower July 28 -- anyone see meteors hitting the moon? Or -- whatever else you may have observed in the past few months.
At the Friday July 14 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place, John Rummel will present a short program entitled Doing Everything but Astronomy in New Mexico, about his recent trip to New Mexico Skies with Jeff Shokler.
As the title indicates, they did not enjoy favorable weather, but they did get some bird pictures and played lots of cards.
George Urban of Kenosha has a Discovery DHQ 10 inch Dobsonian for sale.
DISCOVERY DHQ 10" 4.5 fl, Dob mount w/ metal handles, w/ telrad, w/ mirror adaptor. JMI DX 3 2", 1.25" focuser. 1.83" secondary enhanced pyrex. 1 - 25mm 1.25" abd 1 - 26mm 2" Super Plossl eyepiece. Dust covers. Excellent condition.
Details and photo are available at Astromart.
Call 262-551-0149 for more details, arrangements, and price, or email kenoshageorge@yahoo.com.
At the Friday May 12 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place, Jane Breun will present Eclipsed in Turkey: the March 29, 2006 total solar eclipse.
My husband and I, along with 15 other eclipse viewers, spent eight days on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Turkey, in order to view the March 29th eclipse.
The third contact diamond ring was the best I've seen (This was my fifth eclipse trip.), and there were several prominences visible, even though we are near sunspot minimum. The 360 degree twilight was very prominent for the four minutes of totality. All together a very successful trip!
At the Friday April 14 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place Prof. John Valley, will talk about A Cool Early Earth?
The annual MAS banquet will be held Friday, March 10 at CJ's East. Social hour starts at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. The banquet replaces the meeting for the month of March.
Dinner choices are: prime rib for $26, chicken cordon bleu for $19, broiled walleye for $23, or vegetable stir-fry for $13.
Send your check payable to MAS for your selection(s) to Mary Ellestad, 2810 Mason Street, Madison, WI 53705 by March 1, 2006.
The speaker will be from the UW Astronomy Department, on SALT - the Southern African Large Telescope.
At the Friday February 10 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place the speaker will be Dr. Gary Shiu, of the UW Madison Physics Department, on Superstring Cosmology.
He will discuss how ideas from string theory can impact the way we think about the early universe and vice versa.
Bring your D-brane.
A huge but very faint structure, containing hundreds of thousands of stars spread over an area nearly 5,000 times the size of a full moon, has been discovered and mapped by astronomers of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II).
At an estimated distance of 30,000 light years (10 kiloparsecs) from Earth, the structure lies well within the confines of the Milky Way Galaxy.
...the most likely interpretation of the new structure is a dwarf galaxy that is merging into the Milky Way.
The new dwarf galaxy is found toward the constellation Virgo.
At the Friday January 13 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
the speaker / moderator will be
Jane Breun, on
Mars in Review.
Even though Mars did not have quite as large an angular extent as in 2003, its position so much higher in the sky made for a great observing season. Let's share our images, observing stories and general impressions at the next MAS meeting.
If you have observations to share, please let me know ahead of time, so I have some idea of how the program will go.
Email me, Jane Breun, at seniormixed@tds.net.
The UW Memorial Union Distinguished Lecture Series will present physicist Brian Greene on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:30 pm in the Memorial Union Theatre (call 262-2201 for tickets).
Brian Greene is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists. His latest book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality, spent 25 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list and inspired The Washington Post to describe him as "the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today." An expert in string theory, Greene introduces the audience to a concept that might be the key to a unified theory of the universe.
At the Friday November 11 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
the speaker will be
Professor Ed Churchwell,
of the UW Madison Astronomy Department,
on New Results from GLIMPSE Survey.
GLIMPSE (Galactic Legacy Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire) is a survey of infrared stars made with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Professor Churchwell spoke last year about plans for the survey. Now he has more results to share with us.
UW's Washburn Observatory will host Mars viewings on:
Oct 26-28 from 7:30-10:30 pm
Oct 30 from 6:30-10:30 pm
Nov 2-4 from 6:30-10:30 pm
MAS members are encouraged to bring their scopes to Washburn (weather permitting) and are reminded that there are no power outlets.
And UW Space Place will present a Martian Halloween Oct 31:
Children's activities & replay of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds from 7-9 pm
and Mars Viewing from 9-10 pm.
The speaker at the Friday October 14 MAS general meeting at the new Space Place
will be
Jane Breun,
on Understanding the Structure of the Milky Way.
We live in a barred spiral galazy, about 2/3's of the way from the center.
How do we know this?
I will review the historical development of astonomers'
understanding of the Milky Way's structure.
The new
Capitol Skies newsletter
has an article about the winners of the 2005-2006 MAS Telescope Scholarship
Juan Rubalcava and
Ian Jarvis,
both juniors at West High School this fall.
There are also comments from last year's winners David Yu and Lena Song.
Congratulations!
Orion XT10 Dobsonian telescope for sale. All new, used twice. Stored inside; climate controlled. I'm in the service and leaving the country.
Please call if interested. Brock ---715-341-5706 Home; 715-570-1701 cell
Telescope - Orion SkyQuest XT10, original price $499
Padded carrying case - original price $90
Orion full-aperture solar filter - original price $139
Orion Variable Polarizing filter - original price $30
Orion SteadyPix Universal Digital & Film Camera Mount - original price $35
Note that the Friday July 8 general meeting will be held at YRS, starting at 7:30, with observing afterward. Space Place is still under construction.
Jim Lattis has asked MAS members for help in moving equipment to the new Space Place.
Meet at the old Space Place on Saturday, June 25, at 1:00 pm.
At the May 13 MAS general meeting Jane Breun will discuss the South Pacific total solar eclipse of April 8, 2005.
"On board the M/V Discovery, we only had 33 seconds of totality, but it was spectacular! Because the moon's apparent size matched the sun's apparent size so closely, the sun's chromosphere was visible during the entire eclipse. My husband, Bob, took his best eclipse pictures yet with his new Lumix digital camera with 12x Zoom."
There will be a star party for MAS members at YRS on Saturday May 7, from sunset to whenever.
This is the Saturday before the general meeting on May 13.
The speaker at the April 8 MAS general meeting is Jim Kotoski.
He will be discussing his concept for a Young Astronomers' Club for next fall and will then be asking for ideas from us.
Get applications for the annual MAS Telescope Scholarship well before the April 15th deadline for submissions.
The speaker at the February 11 MAS general meeting is Sanjay Limaye, senior scientist at Space Science and Engineering Center, UW Madison.
Spirit and Opportunity on Mars: Still Going.....
The two Mars rovers have now spent more than a year on Mars, far longer than originally planned or anticipated. The long survival on Mars has allowed them to explore a far greater vista and accumulate strong evidence of past liquid water on the surface of Mars through the discovery of minerals. The more they explore, the more are the questions about the past history of water on Mars.
At the same time, the European Mars Express orbiter has been observing the surface from a suite of instruments which have led to some interesting findings, e.g the discovery of atmospheric methane. The radar on Mars Express, which is expected to shed some light on sub-surface water has not yet been utilized, but it is hoped that in the near future it too will obtain some data.
The Mars findings are sure to influence the future missions and is already underway for the next missions.
MAS member Matt Mills has a telescope for sale: details here
The Madcity Paddlers have invited MAS members to join them at a group camp site at Wyalusing State Park the weekend of Aug 13- 15.
Wyalusing has an observatory run by the Star Splitters and there should be space to set up personal telescopes there.
For more details, contact Kathy at 231-1375.
The Photo Gallery page has some new images of the Transit of Venus on June 8, 2004, by MAS members Douglas and Mercedes Russell and John Rummel. (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
One of MAS member John Rummel's photo compositions has been selected as the Astronomy Picture of the Day.
The photo is a composite of the Phases of Venus over the past six weeks.
It is the picture for May 21, 2004, and will remain posted for a long time after that. (Images go back to June 1995).
Nice work, John.
The photo shows the winners of the 2004-2005
MAS Telescope Scholarship
Lena Song and David Yu
and last year's winner
Elise Gorchels (center).
All three are students at Madison West High School.
Since there were a number of very good applicants this year, two awards are being made in 2004 and two telescopes will be available.
MAS telescope expert Tom Jacobs (right) explains the operation of the 4.5 inch equatorial reflector to Lena, Lena's dad, and David.
Congratulations!
John Rummel is this year's winner of the MAS Education Outreach Award.
Congratulations, John!
The annual MAS banquet will be held Friday, March 12 at JT Whitney's, 674 South Whitney Way, in Madison. Social hour starts at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m.
Dinner choices are: chicken cordon bleu for $18, prime rib for $18, or vegetarian pasta for $13.
Send your check payable to MAS for your selection(s) to Mary Ellestad, 2810 Mason Street, Madison, WI 53705 before March 5, 2004.
The speaker will be Astronomy Professor Chris Anderson, speaking on "Renaissance Astronomy: setting the date of Easter".
A flock of migrating geese sent in this aerial view of YRS, blanketed in snow.
The photo is also linked from the YRS picture page.
On Saturday November 1st 2003 at 2:00pm the MAS will be conducting an Astronomy Merit Badge Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Space Place. For more information visit the webpage for this event.
Boy Scouts and members should periodically check this website for updates.
MAS members interested in participating in this event, please email AJ Carver. Members are needed to bring their telescopes for the observing session and to assist in the classroom portion of the event.
MAS conducted the annual Moon Over Monona Terrace public star party on the roof of Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center from 7:30 until 9:30 pm on Saturday, October 4th (postponed from Friday October 3rd because of clouds).
Many hundreds of people enjoyed looking at the Moon and Mars through telescopes and talking with MAS members. Two video hookups displayed images on TV monitors.
MAS member Mark Hanson's image of the Witch Head nebula is given a full page in Astronomy's gallery, the very last page of the magazine.
Quite an honor!
Mark's images are available on his website.
The winner of the 2003-2004
MAS Telescope Scholarship is
Elise Gorchels, pictured here
with her parents, George and Linda.
Elise will be a senior at Madison West High School this year. Until next May, she will have use of an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope, several eyepieces, and star charts.
In her application for the scholarship, she recalled a memorable experience from the Leonid meteor shower of last year:
"I decided to wake up early to observe the peak hours. I set my alarm for 3 am, but woke at 2:30. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I went to watch TV. They were talking about the shower on one of the networks, so I grabbed three blankets, some slippers and a pair of socks and went out to my back deck. I lay on my back on the frosted picnic table to look at the sky. Fortunately, my house blocked out a good amount of moonlight, and my neighborhood is relatively dark. I counted some 300 meteors before I finally came in around 5 am, numb to the bone and ready for coffee, but still excited."
She plans to come to the July meeting to meet the group.
Congratulations!
John Rummel has posted a nice set of images of the May 15 lunar eclipse on his website.
Have a look !
A picture of Jim Kotoski, Science Teacher at Spring Harbor Middle School in Madison and recent winner of the Outreach and Education Award, is now online.
At the Yanna Research Station MAS Secretary and avid
observer Matt Mills used a Doc. Greiner 12" LX200 and
the ST-7 ccd camera (on loan from Doc. Greiner) to
estimate the magnitude of comet 2002 T7. Matt's
observation was of such quality that it has been
posted on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Comet Observation home page:
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/RecentObs.html#02T7
Matt has also written an article describing his convenient tripod dolly that has been posted on http://www.cloudynights.com/, a website dedicated to review of astronomical equipment.
Congratulations Matt!
An image of M44 by MAS member and astrophotographer Mark Hanson has been recognized as "Best of January 2003" by Digital_Astro. His image of Jupiter was runner-up against other Jupiter images. Congratulations Mark!
And an image of M31 by Mark was recently recognized as "Best of December 2002" by Digital_Astro.
Against strong competition the nearly 3000 members of Digital_Astro voted for Mark's images to receive the honor.
The winning images can be seen at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital_astro/.
Past winners and contenders for this month's best image can be seen at http://velatron.com/dca/challenge/.
Submitted by A. J. Carver.
MAS conducted the annual Moon Over Monona public star party on the roof of Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center from dusk until 10:00 pm on Friday October 11th.
Members brought about 25 telescopes and binoculars, as well as a telescope equipped with a video camera and displaying an image of the Moon on a TV. Several hundred people enjoyed talking with members and viewing the Moon, the Andromeda Galaxy, and other celestial objects.
Mike McDowell took this picture of John Rummel and A. J. Carver setting up before dark.
The new Astrophotography Gallery will display some of the best imaging work of MAS members.
A new Observing page provides a link to the gallery from most of the other pages of the website.
Greg Sellek's recent image of comet Ikeya-Zhang has been published in the Spaceweather.com Photo Gallery
There are more comet images on Greg's website.
CNN has aired the image of the comet during several segments.
Don't miss it!
From Karolyn Beebe
The extraordinary beauty of the stars in an unpolluted sky belongs to everyone, but it's washed out in wasted light over communities worldwide. The Wisconsin Dark Sky forum is where advocates in the growing movement to stop light pollution in Wisconsin can exchange ideas and information. It's open to anyone interested in outdoor lighting designed and regulated to improve visibility, save energy, enhance the nighttime environment and preserve our precious night sky. To join, just point your web browser to:
Please direct inquiries regarding web site content to webmaster@madisonastro.org
