Regular meeting at the Florida Museum of Natural History is canceled! Instead, meeting will be conducted virtually, using ZOOM webinar software. Stay tuned. Details to follow by email to club membership.
Speaker: Howard Eskildsen
Topic: Observing and Photographing the Sun
Synopsis:
This presentation will provide a brief overview of current solar cycle activity and then concentrate on imaging the Sun. Various techniques will be discussed along with a demonstration of processing high quality solar images will be given during the session.
About the Speaker:
Alachua Astronomy Club (AAC) and Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) member, Howard Eskildsen, has been interested in the stars, Sun and Moon since childhood. In grade school he learned the stars from star charts in a book and spent hours looking at the sky and watching for meteors. His first telescopic views came from his high school’s sadly abused Dynascope that he restored to working condition. Later he made a 6” reflector and placed it on a pipe fitting mount per designs by Sam Brown and used it for observing when time permitted.
In the years that followed, he attended medical school and raised a family, which left little time for stargazing. Finally, after a quarter of a century hiatus, he returned to regular observing in 2002 when his wife, Fairy, purchased him a Meade ETX-125. Since then he has observed the Sun and Moon regularly and anything else in the sky when time permits. He has sent nearly 5,000 observations of the Sun to the ALPO Solar Section and has written a piece on solar photography for their website. He also provided photos and written material for Jamey L. Jenkin’s book, The Sun and How to Observe It, and has given several presentations on solar activity
Howard also observes the moon and has submitted more than a thousand lunar photos to the ALPO Lunar Section. He has also written articles for Sky and Telescope, The Strolling Astronomer, Selenology, and The Lunar Observer. His photos have appeared on spaceweather.com, LPOD, Astronomy Magazine’s Photo of the Day, National Geographic, and other web sites.
Members and guest only event! Dr. Francisco Reyes has invited AAC's members and guest to a special Star Party at UF Rosemary Hill Observatory in Bronson. Sun sets at 7:58 pm. Please arrive after 7:00 pm and 30 minutes before sun sets to set telescopes. You may drive up to 30" dome or the 18" dome to setup scopes but must park in parking lot which is right of Dorm (Dorm on left side of street) or both sides of street (in grass/dirt) before Dorm.
Observatory's 30 inch telescope is undergoing repairs.
Event Alerts - Go / No Go email will be sent to registrants by noon the day of the event.
AAC Members, Newberry residents, and the public invited!
Free observing at Newberry Star Park. Residents of Newberry, and the public are invited to come out and join AAC members in observing the night sky.
Sunset is at 8:02 pm
Join us for our year long effort to view all the Messier Objects and receive an observing award from the Astronomical League! Bring a notebook to record your observations and a telescope. The club will provide telescopes if you don't have one. This program is suitable for beginners to experts.
Event Alerts- GO/NO GO email will be posted here and sent to registrants by noon the day of the event.
AAC volunteers with and without telescopes needed for this well attended outreach event at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville.
Moonrise is 3:01 pm @ 74% illumination.
Sunset is 8:07 pm.
Volunteers will have to be at the gate by 6 pm and stay until event ends at 11 pm.
Members and guest only event! Dr. Francisco Reyes has invited AAC's members and guest to a special Star Party at UF Rosemary Hill Observatory in Bronson. Sun sets at 8:16 pm. Please arrive after 7:15 pm and 30 minutes before sun sets to set telescopes. You may drive up to 30" dome or the 18" dome to setup scopes but must park in parking lot which is right of Dorm (Dorm on left side of street) or both sides of street (in grass/dirt) before Dorm.
Sunset is at 8:20 pm
Join us for an exciting and interesting evening at the Florida Museum of Natural History!
Agenda:
7:00 - 7:30 General Meeting & Announcements 7:30 - 7:45 Refreshments 7:45 - Public Presentation
Speaker: Dave Froiseth
Topic: Space Weather
This presentation will cover space weather phenomena such as solar wind, geomagnetic storms and coronal mass ejections and the resulting effects on satellites, manned high altitude and space flight, radio communications, power grids, etc. Types of optical and radio telescopes used for solar monitoring will be covered, along with other monitoring systems and processes used for reporting forecasts and events. Organizations that perform space weather monitoring, forecasting and reporting will be included, as well as systems in development or planned.
Dave Froiseth is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who served as the Commander of the 55th Space Weather Squadron. He spent most of his Air Force career in Space Command tracking satellites, launching GPS satellites on the Delta II launch vehicle, writing policy for Air Force support to commercial launch and managing the Technology Safeguard Monitor Program for the launch of US built satellites in China and Russia. He also served on the Safety Investigation Board for the explosion of the Delta II/GPS IIR-1 only 13-seconds after launch. He then worked as an aerospace contractor at Cape Canaveral for 17-years which included serving as the Space Based Space Surveillance Program Office representative at Vandenberg AFB, CA for the processing and launch of the Ball Aerospace built telescope.
Sunset is at 8:32 pm
Sunset is at 8:29 pm
Speaker: TBD
Topic: TBD
Sunset is at 8:09 pm
Speaker: Lowell Observatory
Topic: Live Tour of the GODO Observation Deck and Clark Telescope
Description:
Join us for a live Webex tour of the newly opened GODO observation deck at Lowell. The tour will wrap up with a look at the recently renovated Clark telescope.
Sunset is at 7:37 pm
Speaker: Estela Fernandez-Valenzuela
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Florida Space Institute(UCF)
Topic: Ground and Space Observations of Kuiper Belt Objects
2500 visitors are expected. Starry Night is the biggest outreach events of the year.
Volunteers with telescopes set up no later than 5:30pm.
Only AAC members with telescopes may use the small parking area. Others will be turned away.
Click map to enlarge.
