Category Archives: CSAS News

Joe Grida, President of the Astronomical Society of South Australia notes that on Feb 15 the ASSA celebrates its 125th anniversary.  You can find the Feb issue of the ASSA Bulletin in the Member Downloads section.

Scott Donnell
President, CSAS

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

Joe Grida, President of the Astronomical Society of South Australia sends his holiday greetings along with the January issue of the ASSA Bulletin (found in the member’s download section of the CSAS web page). They experienced the hottest Christmas day in 75 years in Adelaide with the temperature reaching 41.3 deg C!

Scott Donnell
President, CSAS

Due to a schedule conflict with the Space Foundation, we have moved our July monthly meeting one day to the right – FROM Tue Jul 26 TO Wed Jul 27. Meeting start time remains at 6:30 pm.

This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!

Each Month we give a “What’s Up in the Night Sky” presentation at our monthly meeting. I’ll try to also start a monthly posting of this presentation for those that are unable to attend our meeting. Hope this works! Dave Warner

This Month: The Lyrids Meteor Shower is coming up this month with a radiant near the star Vega. A series of double moon transits of the planet Jupiter ends this month with two more that will be visible in our local night skies. We’re moving into “galaxy” season with many great galaxies and globular clusters that will be high in the night sky this month. I’ve included a couple of messier finder charts to find a couple of my favorites that are at optimum viewing this month. And finally, the Astronomical League has started a new Mercury Transit Observing Challenge where I list the requirements. Go to the AL web site for specifics to complete this challenge. The Mercury transit is May 09 and the next one won’t be until 2019 so get in on the action, get ready to see this transit and do some science!

Colorado Springs Astronomical Society members will be at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument visitors center on March 4th with our telescopes for viewing of the stars. The evening events start at 6:30 PM. Admission for the program is the regular park entrance fee, which is $5 per adult (16 years and older);children and federal pass holders are free and provides 7 days of access to the park if y0u’d like to come back and explore over the weekend.  The dark skies are worth the trip.

Florissant Fossil Beds is an excellent place to learn about and enjoy the wonders of the night sky.  Located 1 hour from Colorado Springs, Florissant Fossil Beds is easily accessible yet far enough away from light pollution to provide for dark skies to observe things we can’t see here in Colorado Springs even through our big telescopes. From the park, it is possible to see the Milky Way, other galaxies, star clusters, nebula, comets (when they are around) and much more. The night sky programs begin with a 30 minute interpretive program inside the visitor center. The program is followed by 90 minutes of sky watching. No reservations are necessary. Space is limited inside the theater where the presentation is given.

It is March and the weather is unpredictable so be prepared!

Find out more:

http://www.nps.gov/flfo/learn/news/night-sky-program-march-4.htm

Relayed from Joe Grida, President of our sister organization ASSA in South Australia:
Hello all,

I’m pleased to report that our observatory at Stockport was spared by today’s fire only by metres. Our neighbour to the south, Pat Savage, reports that the observatory is fine. There are burn marks in his backyard. There was a building fire in the adjacent property to the west, but details of actual damage are at present sketchy.

David Bennett, our Vice-President, plans to visit the site tomorrow morning and will report back.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/premier-jay-weatherill-announces-loss-of-lives-from-deadly-sa-bushfires/story-fnl1ee8j-1227623145573

This Friday a wake will be at Eric and Pam’s place. 9752 Stoneglen Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. This is open to all who wish to come. We are trying to get some pinball machines there. We will have plenty of games. Kilts are welcome!!! This starts at 5pm. There may or may not be a public star party at fox run park. If there is we (the family) are going to make an appearance to do what Jim loved. His scope will be there, but not in use.
On Saturday at 11 am there will be a Memorial at Starry Meadows. http://rmss.org/directions.htm . This venue is a no power and one porta-potty place and cell service is not great, just a heads up. This is where we will tell our stories and spread the ashes (assuming we have them -we are working hard on this). There is a covered large building in case of weather.  Once again CSAS Members are welcome.

Dear Fellow Astronomer,Spring is (finally) upon us and although the cold weather didn’t necessarily stop us from going outside, the nicer weather is sure to entice more of us out under clear skies. A must-have resource for any of us (beginners, experts, and fair-weather astronomers alike), is a red light. Texas Star Party upper field, 2009.. Ron Ronhaar and Todd Hargis Ideally, visual astronomers would work without any light source – it takes time for the human eye to adapt to darkness. Fully dark-adapted eyes are much more likely to make your observing session a success, particularly if you’re searching for dimmer objects with averted vision. But even on the most organized observing nights, it can be useful to have a little bit of light assistance when changing eyepieces and filters, or thumbing through a sky atlas in search of an unexpected target. In these situations-which should be infrequent to best preserve your dark adaption – only a dim, red light should be used.Continue reading “Red Lights for Astronomy – Skilight Mini”

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