A) SJAA's Houge Park Star Party Tonight!
B) SSP registration fees increasing tomorrow!
C) Exploring Saturn at Ames Research Center, Saturday April 16th
**********************************************************
Houge Park Star Party Tonight!
Friday, April 15, 2005 Public Hours: 8:30-11:30 PM PDT
Tonight, the SJAA hosts public observing session on the grounds at Houge Park.
Families are welcome to attend. Feel free to bring your scope and share views
with others. Saturn and Jupiter will be well placed for viewing. It looks like
the weather should cooperate tonight!
Clear Sky Clock for San Jose:
http://cleardarksky.com/c/SanJoseCAkey.html?1
NRL Monterey East Pacific & US West Coast Images
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/sat-bin/epac_westcoast.cgi
Star Party Details:
Sunset: 7:43 PM PDT
Civil Twilight: 8:10 PM PDT
Nautical Twilight: 8:42 PM PDT
Astronomical Twilight: 9:16 PM PDT
Moonset: 2:47 AM PDT on Saturday
10 Cool Things to Observe:
1) 1st QTR Moon
2) Watch the Moon Eclipse a Star!
Immersion of Upsilon Geminorum at 9:35:48 on the Dark Limb
Emmersion of Upsilon Geminorum at 9:44:18 on the Dark Limb
(Times courtesy of http://www.calsky.com)
More info:
http://sfsidewalkastronomers.org/thesky/thismonth/ugem/
3) An Iridium Flare:
-1 Magnitude at 8:04:15 Alt: 67 Deg Az: 135 Deg (SE)
Within 10 Degrees from Regulus
Can you spot it in the Twilight?
4) Saturn!
5) Jupiter!
Europa Eclipse Ends at 11:05:54
6) M44 The Beehive Cluster in Cancer. Nice in Binos. 577 Light Years Away
7) M3 Globluar Cluster: 33900 LY away, First Original Discovery of Messier
8) Gamma Leonis: Pair of golden yellow giant stars. Mag 2.2 and 3.5. Orbit is
600 years
9) M81 Spiral Galaxy about 18 Million LY away
10) Mel 111: Coma Bernices. 80 Mag 5 to 6 Stars in a 5 deg field. 288 LY away
**************************************************************
B) SSP registration fees increasing tomorrow!
The Shingletown Star Party Czar Mark Wagner reminds us:
Just a heads-up for those who have not registered or paid yet for SSP 2005.
The registration fee increases tomorrow from $40 to $50 per adult. If you
want to save the $10 per person, paypal your fee ($42 for paypal) today, or
get your check in the mail with today's postmark.
The SSP registration form is at:
http://www.shingletownstarparty.org/registration.html
Star Party at a glance:
Dates: July 6-11, 2005
Location: Shingletown Airport, CA (Near Mt. Lassen)
*******************************************************
c) Exploring Saturn at Ames Research Center, Saturday April 16th
Exploring Saturn at Ames
Saturday April 16, 2005
NASA Ames Research Center / Exploration Center
Free Admission, Open to the Public
6-10pm Exhibits and Activities for kids
7-8:30pm Presentations by Experts
8:30-10pm Viewing with Telescopes
The next Family Night at Ames event on Saturday, April 16. Last year they had
very successful versions of this event focusing on the exploration of Mars.
This year, we are looking forward to highlighting NASA's exploration of Saturn
and its moons. A panel of experts consisting of Dale Cruikshank, Jeff Cuzzi,
Chris McKay, and Jeff Moore will certainly be a big draw, and will be very
appreciated by the audience. The four will be presenting some of the latest
images and results from the Cassini and Huygens missions
This event officially begins at 6:00pm with some educational activities
conducted in the Visitor Center. Guests will be invited to the Eagle Room in
the adjacent building (943) for the 7:00 beginning of presentations. Following
that, the Visitor Center will remain open until 10:00. Weather permitting,
visitors will be able to conduct their own first-hand explorations of Saturn
and its moons through telescopes being set up around the venue by the Peninsula
Astronomical Society.
View Flyer at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/calendar/images/cassini.jpg
Want to help at the Star Party by setting up a scope?
Email Mike Koop for details.
koopm <ATah> best <DOTah> com
*************************************************************
Directions to Houge Park:
Houge Park is in San Jose, near Campbell and Los Gatos.
> From Hwy.17, take the Camden Avenue exit. Go east 4/10 mile, and turn
right at the light, onto Bascom Avenue. At the next light, turn left onto
Woodard Road. At the first stop sign, turn right onto Twilight
Drive. Go three blocks, cross Sunrise Drive, then turn left into the park.
> From Hwy.85, take the Bascom Avenue exit. Go north 0.2 miles, and turn
right at the first traffic light, onto White Oaks Road. Run another 0.2
miles to the first stop sign, then turn left onto Twilight Drive. You will
now be passing the park. Turn right at the first driveway, into the
parking lot.
See Map at
http://www.sjaa.net/img/houge.jpg
***********************************
Clear Skies,
Mike Koop
President, SJAA
Questions? Comments? Flames?
Email: koopm <AT> best <DOT> com
Received on Fri Apr 15 14:19:35 2005
