Greetings fellow astrophile! The June 2011 newsletter has been posted in advance of the next Public Viewing Session that occurs over the long 4th of July weekend. We roll the roof back during the Summer to find Sagittarius and Scorpius right at our eyepiece. As Saturn disappears earlier in the evening, the center of the Milky Way and a great wealth of intragalactic Messier Objects receive our nighttime focus. The long 4th of July weekend also gives all an excuse to spend a few extra hours outside to use all of the New Moon weekend. Check the website for more […]
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Greetings fellow astrophiles! NOTE 2 (8:25 p.m.): We Will Be Opening The Observatory. There is a bit of cloud cover around CNY that is expected to clear around 10:00 p.m. The observatory should be open and populated by 9:30 p.m. NOTE: Check Back Here At 8:30 p.m.Tonight for a Final Update With the recent solar flare now approaching a grazing blow to the planet’s magnetosphere (see, for instance, the fantastic movies at Bad Astronomy – blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/06/07/the-sun-lets-loose-a-huge-explosion/), it is possible there will be aurora activity tonight after midnight, just in time for the Moon to set below our Western Horizon. In […]
Greetings fellow astrophiles! We’re not even waiting until 5:00 p.m. to announce this one. Tonight looks fantastic for observing, so Darling Hill will be opening. There are no “reasonable” ISS fly-overs tonight (3 a.m. and beyond), but two Iridium Flares are predicted for tonight (shown below, from heavens-above.com). Date LocalTime Intensity(Mag) Alt. Azimuth Distance toflare centre Intensity atflare centre(Mag.) Satellite 03 Jun 22:33:10 -4 18° 273° (W ) 35.8 km (E) -6 Iridium 52 03 Jun 23:49:54 -2 37° 228° (SW ) 31.3 km (E) -8 Iridium 43
Greetings fellow astrophiles! Pardon the late announcement, but Ryan Goodson and Dan Williams have completed upgrading the focuser on the 16″ Cave Scope tonight, report excellent results, and are currently at the Hill for some Memorial Night observing. All are welcome.