Hey,
I'm Denise and my husband, Jim, and daughter, Maggie are new to
Auburn. Maggie has always been fascinated with the night sky and asked
for a telescope from Santa. we, uh, I mean Santa gave her a Bushnell
525 X 3 Voyager Reflecting scope (We got a phenomenal price and it
came recommended as a first scope).  We went out with the scope to a
place near Society Hill last nite to use the scope for the first time.

We saw the moon and Maggie was in awe. We had a little trouble with
focusing and keeping on target but it was pretty cool to see the
surface.  I tried to spot a nearby star and saw the most amazing
thing: a circle of lights. what was this? A star?  Unfortunately my
husband and daughter when inside to warm up and by the time we got
back to scope to look at it it was out of field and I couldn't spot it
again.

So kids join you guys and gals on your star parties?  We are thinking
of joining one of the star gazing nights at the forest preserve next
time around. We are looking forward to getting out when the nights get
warmer to see more things.

While this is not directly related to astronomy, some members are
probably interested, so I thought I would share.

Saturday, February 7, the USSRC in Huntsville will be hosting an
Apollo Anniversary Gala. The astronauts scheduled to appear include:

Alan Bean (Apollo 12, Skylab 2)
Scott Carpenter (Mercury 7)
Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7)
Charles Duke (Apollo 16)
Owen Garriott (Skylab 2, STS-9)
Joseph Kerwin (Skylab 1)
Jack Lousma (Skylab 2, STS-3)

The actual gala is a black tie optional event starting at 6:00 PM.
There will be other events during the day including a book signing by
Walter Cunningham and Owen Garriott at 2:30 at the gift shop.

Links:
http://www.spacecamp.com/gala/
http://www.spacecamp.com/community/node/414

Looking a little farther ahead and away, the Astronaut Scholarship
Foundation will be holding its Astronaut Autograph and Memorabilia
Show November 6-8 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (I
attended both the 2007 and 2008 shows). You can already purchase
tickets on their website.

Link:
http://astronautscholarship.org/aams/index.html

My source for most of this is the collectSpace website:
http://www.collectspace.com/

South Mississippi Astronomical Society

Jeff Wernikowski

cowskis@...

228-865-8354

I accepted a job offer at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean
Springs, MS today. We'll probably be moving and the end of the month
and will not make it to the 12/7 meetings. I will be closer to
Conecah NF now and try to make it to a dark sky star party.
Let me know if you want a beach holiday.

r

Early this month Horseshoe Bend NMP hosted a special stargazing event.
The visibility was excellent and I'm looking into hosting a proper star
party on site.
The astronomy events here have been increasing over the years and this
was the best yet. We counted 84 visitors and half a dozen Auburn
Astronomy Society volunteers. We couldn't do it without you. The giant
scopes, laser pointers and approachable volunteers were real crowd
pleasers.
I'm still receiving calls and emails about the program and people
looking forward to the next. The superintendent of the park was there
and she was very grateful to the volunteers as well. Special thanks to
John Tatarchuk, Scott Thompson, Brent Holman, Russell Whigham, Everett
Leonard and John Howard.
I'll be busy with work and family this month but hope to see you all in
December. Thanks again.

Rand

Rand,
At 10:16 AM 9/13/2008, you wrote:

>We'll be offering another stargazing event at the park on 11/1 starting
>at 7:00 and ending when the last person goes home. We had a good turn
>out last February and hope to have a repeat.
>Any help from AAS members or friends would be great. Please let me know
>if you can make it. I hope to see you at the 10/4 forest preserve event.

I'll be there with the C-11.

Thanks for coordinating this,

Russell

Russell Whigham
Montgomery AL
<http://www.auburnastro.org/>Auburn Astronomical Society Webmaster
and Astrofiles editor

We'll be offering another stargazing event at the park on 11/1 starting
at 7:00 and ending when the last person goes home. We had a good turn
out last February and hope to have a repeat.
Any help from AAS members or friends would be great. Please let me know
if you can make it. I hope to see you at the 10/4 forest preserve event.

Rand

At 11:05 AM 4/14/2008, you wrote:

Hello Rand,
At 09:34 AM 4/5/2008, you wrote:

I'm trying to put together an astronomy program here at the park before
it gets too humid. Any interest in coming up here on 5/3 or sometime in
June?

How's June 7 -- the Saturday after our June meeting.  There'll be a 4-day-old Moon.

Russell

Russell Whigham
Montgomery AL
Auburn Astronomical Society Webmaster and Astrofiles editor

Hello Rand,
At 09:34 AM 4/5/2008, you wrote:

I'm trying to put together an astronomy program here at the park before
it gets too humid. Any interest in coming up here on 5/3 or sometime in
June?

I just wanted to let you know that no one else responded to your request for May 3.  If you think you and I can do it, I willing to come up.  Otherwise, I'll keep trying for June.

Russell

Russell Whigham
Montgomery AL
Auburn Astronomical Society Webmaster and Astrofiles editor

between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99 <hr size=1>Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ "> Try it now.</a>

I'm trying to put together an astronomy program here at the park before
it gets too humid. Any interest in coming up here on 5/3 or sometime in
June? People are calling and requesting the 'folks with the scopes'.

I'm stuck at work on 5/10 but would like to offer something to the
visitors. I don't know if the club will be using the solar scope in
Montgomery that day. If it's avaliable I would like to borrow it.

I tried to get to the meeting last night but the bad weather turned me
around.
I'm trying to put together an astronomy program here at the park before
it gets too humid. Any interest in coming up here on 5/3 or sometime in
June? People are calling and requesting the 'folks with the scopes'.
I'm stuck at work on 5/10 but would like to offer something to the
visitors. I don't know if the club will be using the solar scope in
Montgomery that day. If it's avaliable I would like to borrow it.
Looks like bad weather for viewing tonight. Hope to see you next time.

Rand

Hello Everett,

Nope I missed that one, but thanks for the heads up for tonight and
Wednesday.

Russell

Hope others were fortunate enough to see this evening's pass of the
European ATV "Jules Verne" followed by Shuttle Endeavour and the
International Space Station.

The ATV rose in the southwest and passed through Canis Major before
disappearing into the Earth's shadow. It was bright enough to be
spotted easily.

Several minutes later, the Station rose and was so bright I could see
it through the tree line before it cleared.  Endeavour was performing
the flyaround maneuver at the time, heading behind then below the
station.  They were difficult to separate at first, but as they
climbed in apparent altitide, I could easily distinguish Endeavour
through binoculars as it moved behind the Station. It was also
interesting that after they passed into shadow, I could still follow
the Station in binoculars nearly all the way to the eastern horizon.
NASA TV showed lights shining from Endeavour toward the station,
which may have been the source of illumination, at least in part.
The TV image from the Station camera was also impressive in that you
could see the Orbiter's maneuvering thrusters firing in the darkness.

Tomorrow night looks pretty good.  The times are just after 9:30
EDT / 8:30 CDT.

The best upcoming pass is Wednesday evening around 8:25 EDT / 7:25
CDT for the ISS. Endeavour's first landing attempt will have it
coming back one orbit earlier.

We had a record number of participants for an evening event on 2/9. We
had people spilling out of the auditorium and many sitting on the
floor. Everyone really enjoyed the telescopes and talking with the
members of the AAS.
Many thanks and 'huzzahs' go out to Brent, Frank, Scott, Russel,
Christy and Alan S.
Last year the NPS counted over 137,000 volunteers in parks, donating
5.2 million hours and valued at $91.2 million.
Thank you again for your support. Hope to see you at a meeting or star
party soon.

Rand

I read that during the eclipse, rings of saturn will be visible.
Is there anyone going out with a telescope. It'll be great if I can see those rings

It looks like we'll have clear skies on Saturday night. The park is
located 12 miles north of Dadeville on Hwy 49. I will be here by 5:45
to help set up scopes and put down traffic cones. We'll begin the
indoor slideshow at 7:00 and head out to the viewing area around 7:30.

If you could come to the park with some knowledge of the great orion
nebula, the pleiades, andromeda galaxy, the double cluster and the
beehive that would be great. By knowledge I mean know how to find them.
Anything else you'd like to locate and share would be great.

Most people will just want to talk about the telescope and the 'cool'
stuff out there.

I hope to have a few scopes set up looking at different objects. People
can line up and talk with the scope operator. I'll talk about the
constellations, myths and help out with scopes.

This is our first attempt with telescopes and am really looking forward
to it. Thanks in advance for you help. Please feel free to call me at
256-234-7111 or email me at Randall_becker@... if you have any
questions on comments.

Rand,

I'm working on the newsletter that will go out in a couple of days,
and wanted to confirm that we're on for your star gaze for February 9.

Please edit the following as needed, to go in the newsletter.

Thanks,
Russell

----------

Randall_Becker, park ranger at Horseshoe Bend Nation Military Park,
is hosting a stargazing/astronomy program at the park on Saturday, February 9.

It will begin at 7:00 with a short PowerPoint presentation covering
light pollution awareness, basic orientation to the night sky
and maybe some Creek/Cherokee star myths.

We will then move out to the parking lot and have a constellation
tour with more stories.

It would be great if we could have some scopes out there. Things
would probably wrap up by 8:30 or so depending on the cold.

Rand,

I'm working on the newsletter that will go out in a couple of days,
and wanted to confirm that we're on for your star gaze for February 9.

Please edit the following as needed, to go in the newsletter.

Thanks,
Russell

----------

Randall_Becker, park ranger at Horseshoe Bend Nation Military Park,
is hosting a stargazing/astronomy program  at the park on Saturday, February 9.

It will begin at 7:00 with a short PowerPoint presentation covering
light pollution awareness, basic orientation to the night sky
and maybe some Creek/Cherokee star myths.

We will then move out to the parking lot and have a constellation
tour with more stories.

It would be great if we could have some scopes out there. Things
would probably wrap up by 8:30 or so depending on the cold.

Rand,

I'll plan to be there with my telescope for your event on Feb. 9.
We'll see if we can recruit some others.

Look forward to seeing you at the meeting,

Russell


--- In auburnastro@yahoogroups.com, Rand Rand <rand74b@...> wrote:
>
> Russell and gang-
>   Thanks for the response....I was wonder where the lag was. Don't
worry about rescheduling for me. I could offer the program on the 9th,
I have not sent out a press release yet. If I could get a commitment
from at least one group member then I could include that in the press
release and talk it up at the newspaper interview.
>   My wife and daughter are coming back from Australia next week but
I still hope to get down to Auburn for the meeting on the 1st. We'll
see about that.
>   Thanks again for the info.
>
>   Rand
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Looking for last minute shopping deals?  Find them fast with Yahoo!
Search.
>

Hello Rand,

I thought I had replied to your message via Webmail while I was out of
town, but I never saw my reply in the "Messages", so I'm trying again.

Our February meeting is scheduled for the regular 1st Friday, which,
this month, falls on February 1, the date you have in mind for the
stargaze.  Since we just had a stargaze in lieu of a meeting, I'm not
sure we want to do this back-to-back. Do you have a rain/cloud date in
mind?  Feb. 9 will be our star party date.  Maybe we could have it
there if you can reschedule.

I forwarded your message to AAS prez, Rhon Jenkins for guidance.

We'll try to let you know ASAP.

Russell
--- In auburnastro@yahoogroups.com, "rand74b" <rand74b@...> wrote:
>
> I don't know when the monthly meeting will be for February but I was
> thinking of putting together a stargazing/astronomy program here in
the > park that first Friday of February.
> It would probably start at 7:00 with a short powerpoint presentation
> covering light pollution awareness, basic orientation to the night sky
> and maybe some Creek/Cherokee star myths. We then move out to the
> parking lot and have a constellation tour with more stories. It would
> be great if we could have some scopes out there. Things would probably
> wrap up by 8:30 or so depending on the cold.
> Let me know if you're interested and I'll start planning the event.
>
> Rand

I don't know when the monthly meeting will be for February but I was
thinking of putting together a stargazing/astronomy program here in the
park that first Friday of February.
It would probably start at 7:00 with a short powerpoint presentation
covering light pollution awareness, basic orientation to the night sky
and maybe some Creek/Cherokee star myths. We then move out to the
parking lot and have a constellation tour with more stories. It would
be great if we could have some scopes out there. Things would probably
wrap up by 8:30 or so depending on the cold.
Let me know if you're interested and I'll start planning the event.

Rand

Here is an interesting documentary on the Rocky Mtn. Star Gaze:

http://www.astroshorts.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c962aa0d22ac97d69b79

Eddie

The group has quadrupled in the past few hours. ;-)

Welcome to Jim Chesnutt, Eddie Kirkland and John Howard.

Greetings

For a while now, we've needed to have a way for AAS members and
friends to post and receive messages.

For example, "Will anyone be attending the star party?"   Let's give
this a try.

If you want to participate, you'll need to join the group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/auburnastro

You can e-mail your posts
to:  <mailto:auburnastro@yahoogroups.com>auburnastro@yahoogroups.com

Russell

Russell Whigham
Montgomery AL
<http://www.auburnastro.org/>Auburn Astronomical Society Webmaster
and Astrofiles editor