On August 9, 2008, we had a pretty good turnout -- around 70 San Angeloans -- wanting to explore the night sky. The weather was nice, although a few clouds were in the sky. Our visitors were treated to a viewing of the video "Cosmic Voyage" narrated by Morgan Freeman and projected on our big screen.

Boy Scout Troop 321 (working on their Astronomy Merit Badge) helped demonstrate some of our Night Sky Network activities. Three Scouts, Tanner Vance, John Switalski, & Garrett Horner, demonstrated and helped participants make a CD scale model of the Milky Way galaxy. About 8-10 elementary age children participated. The Scouts also drew out the radius of several popular telescopes, using chalk on the large concrete slab. They used this large set of drawings to talk about some of the telescopes that astronomers use, including Hubble, Keck and Palomar. The Scouts also demonstrated Gravity and the Fabric of Space, allowing our visitors to participate in the hands on activity.

Several members had their telescopes set up. We looked at Saturn while it was still up; also Jupiter and the double star Mizar-Alcor. We pointed out constellations, answered lots of questions and generally had a good time.

Using an ETX-90, CCD camera and a TV, Fred Johnson set up on the Moon for visitors to get a close-ups of different features on the Moon. Visitors really seemed fascinated by how the moon really looked close-up with the number of craters, mountains and the overall shape of the moon’s surface.

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On Saturday, October 4th, we celebrated the beginning of World Space Week with a star party behind Fannin Elementary School . With over 100 guests, several telescopes, the Night Sky Network activities, the big screen and all the supporting club members, the Neighborhood Astronomy Night defiitely ranks among our top events. Our visitors all seemed eager to take a look through the telescopes and see what we see. The weather was even cooperative!

Fred had set up his telescope and video to display on a TV screen. Lots of positive comments came in about that! Walt, Billy, Brian and Mick had telescopes set up for viewing. I noticed that several visitors had brought their own binoculars. Others brought lawn chairs and blankets to make themselves comfortable while watching several videos on the big screen. In between videos, I directed our guests over to the telescope area.

Several of the kids participated in our Night Sky Network activities with Susie, making CD versions of the Milky Way and experimenting with the “Fabric of Space.” During one break, I pointed out some of the constellations that were visible and had a star talk with questions and answers. Bob kept track of our visitors, who were spread out and kept coming and going. Jim helped with PR and helped keep things going. Good job and pats on the back to everyone!

Even though we don’t normally have our star parties in town, the attendance of this event seems to say maybe we should be in town more often. We have had a couple requests already for another Neighborhood Night.

World Space Week, October 4 - 10

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New Display at ASU Planetarium
Dr. Mark Sonntag at the ASU Planetarium unveiled a new display celebrating the International Year of Astronomy this past Friday, Feb. 27. The club joined him in setting up telescopes in the parking lot for a special viewing of the crescent moon and Venus.
The display is two new mural-sized images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Following the unveiling, guests attended a program in the Planetarium theater.
The murals each contain stunning photographs of the Messier 101 spiral galaxy. A six-foot-by-three-foot image shows three striking, full-color images that showcase the galaxy’s features in the infrared light observed by Spitzer, the visible light observed by Hubble and the X-ray light observed by Chandra. The images show details of the grand design spiral structure for which the galaxy is famous, the underlying giant clouds where stars are born and the hidden locations of black holes and exploded stars.
The other 3’ x 3’ image of Messier 101 combines the views from all three telescopes into an amazing composite. It has been compared to seeing the galaxy with your eyes, night vision goggles and X-ray vision all at once.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo first using a telescope to study celestial bodies. From Galileo’s first spyglass, telescopes have grown ever-larger and more powerful and have moved to mountaintops and to space. NASA’s great observatories represent the achievements of astronomy four centuries later and are honoring this legacy with this national image unveiling. The ASU Planetarium was selected by the Space Telescope Science Institute to present these images to the San Angelo community.
The new images will be on permanent display in the Planetarium lobby, which is open daily from 8:30am to 4:30pm.