Jupiter's Stripe

Space Weather News for Nov. 11, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

JUPITER'S MISSING STRIPE, RETURNING? Earlier this year when Jupiter's great South Equatorial Belt (SEB) vanished, researchers urged amateur astronomers to be alert for its eventual return. The SEB had come and gone before, they noted, and the revival was something to behold. Alert: It might be happening now. An energetic white plume is rising above Jupiter's cloudtops, possibly heralding the return of the giant planet's missing stripe. Visit http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

SPACE STATION FLYBY ALERT: The International Space Station is about to begin a series of bright evening flybys over North America. It's easy to see. Let your cell phone tell you when to look using our Simple Flybys app for Android and iPhone: http://simpleflybys.com/

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

PAS is at the Desert Botanical Gardens 11/5 and 11/6

Good afternoon and happy Friday to you.

The Phoenix Astronomical Society will be at the Desert Botanical Gardens on

Friday Nov 5 from 7pm to 9pm for an Adult Event
and
Sat Nov 6 from 6pm to 8pm for a Kids Event.

The Desert Botanical Gardent address is:
1201 N. Galvin Parkway Phoenix, AZ 85008 ...

Fo

And here is what's visible for both nights.
Sun set is 5:20
Mercury is visible at 5:30 and sets 5:50.
Mars is visible 5:30 and sets 6:30.
Jupiter is visible 5:30 and then throughout the night.
Dark is 6:50.

We hope to see you there!
For more fun Astronomy related events, be sure to visit the PAS Website Calendar
where you will find the event listed, on the date it is happening, and a forum link
to give you more details about the events. Some events require RSVP prior to attending,
while others, like the DBG events mentioned above are Public events hosted by the
location we are doing the event at, and so no RSVP is required for attendance.

The link directly to the PAS website calendar is:
http://www.pasaz.org/forums/calendar.php

HAVE A SUPER FRIDAY!!!

Terri, Event Coordinator

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Phoenix Art Museum "Space Odyssey" Nov 5, 2010 6pm to 10pm

TONIGHT - Join us!!!

The Phoenix Art Museum is putting on SPACE ODYSSEY.
From 6pm to 10pm, tonight Nov 5, 2010, you can enjoy many of these activities & more:

* Making Foil Helmets and get your photo taken while wearing yours.
* Kids will launch air rockets and play with glow sticks
* Airbrush space tattoo-ist available

Plus the PHOENIX ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
will be there, out front to show you the night sky.

Please note, we are near the Museum building to our East, so
objects rising in the East, such as Jupiter may do earlier in the evening,
may not be visible until later in the evening. But this is what we hope to
show tonight through 3 telescopes. Come visit us there!!!

Sun set is 5:20
Mercury is visible to the West at 5:30 and sets 5:50. We hope to have some scopes
set up prior to Mercury setting for the night.
Mars is visible to the West at 5:30 and sets 6:30.
Jupiter is visible 5:30 and then throughout the night, the building might
be in the way earlier in the evening. It will be at the Zenith at 9:14pm. I predict we will
be able to see Jupiter come over the Museum building by about 7:30.
Dark is 6:50.

Address of the Phoenix Art Museum is:
1625 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004

More details can be found in the PAS public forums at this link:
http://www.pasaz.org/forums/showthread.php?t=479

We would love to see you there, tonight!!!

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

UPCOMING NOVEMBER PAS EVENTS

For the links to these events, download the Upcoming Events file from this link & use the links within the document to quickly get to these events within the online PAS Calendar: http://www.pasaz.org/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=49

Nov 2: Cancer Treatment Center (CTCA) Star Party. RSVP is with Joe. This is a paid star party & Only PAS Members are to attend. Dinner may be provided. Contact Joe for details. Official time of event is 8pm to 10pm.

Nov 4: PAS Meeting – PVCC Library. Mike Marron is guest speaker with a topic that will knock your socks off! Meeting is from 7pm to 9:30pm. Everyone Welcome. Bring the whole family!

Nov 5: Desert Botanical Gardens (DBG) Star Party. Private event, PAS Members only. Sign up with Sam to help out. This is a paid star party. Event is from 7pm to 9pm.

Nov 6: Cuttin' Edge Observatory (CEO) Star Party. PAS Members only. RSVP is with Chris webmaster@pasaz.org. This event is held in Mayer, Az. All PAS Members welcome. Serious observers only.

Nov 12: Back up date for Nov 5: DBG star party.

Nov 14: PAS FREE Telescope Workshop at Bookmans - 19th Ave & Northern – 3:30pm to 5:30pm. RSVP is with Terri Events@pasaz.org for this event. Bring your scope & accessories & learn how to use your telescope.

Nov 16: Back up date for Nov 2 CTCA star party.

Nov 17: Park Ridge Elementary School Star Party – Event is from 6pm to 8:30pm. RSVP is with Terri Events@pasaz.org for this event. We need telescopes at this event.

Nov 17: Aerospace Star Party – Paid event at the Biltmore. Event is from 10pm to midnight. Paid workers have already signed up.

Nov 18: PAS Meeting of the Minds (MOMs). This is the PAS Business meeting where we Party & discuss topics. The MOMs Agenda can be found at this link: http://www.pasaz.org/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=60 If there aren't enough topics to hold a minimum of a 1 hour meeting, the meeting is canceled, & the topics move to the next month's meeting. Everyone is welcome at this meeting. Check with Terri Events@pasaz.org as to if the meeting is on or off. No RSVP is required.

Nov 27: Virtual Star Party (VSP) at Chris's in Goodyear. Bring your laptop & come image the night sky. RSVP is with Chris Webmaster@pasaz.org. PAS Members only. This event begins at 6:30. Try to arrive ½ hour prior to allow time for set up.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Meeting of the Minds for Oct 28 has been CANCELED

Please enjoy your evening.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Sun Twister & Asteroid Flyby

Space Weather News for Oct. 28, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

SUN TWISTER: Earlier today, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded a spectacular eruption on the sun's northeastern limb. An unstable magnetic filament hundreds of thousands of kilometers long pirouetted and launched a fragment of itself into space. Earth was not in the line of fire, but the SDO movie is worth seeing anyway. Visit http://spaceweather.com for cinema.

ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 2003 UV11 will fly past Earth on Oct. 29th and 30th at a distance of only 1.2 million miles. Experienced amateur astronomers should have little trouble photographing the 600-meter wide space rock as it glides through the constellation Pegasus on Friday night, glowing about as brightly as a 12th magnitude star. Observers in North America and Europe are favored. Check http://spaceweather.com for ephemerides and more information.

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS: Would you like a call when geomagnetic storms erupt at your latitude? Sign up for Space Weather Phone: http://spaceweatherphone.com

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Orionids Meteor Shower

Sent to me by Joe, who got it from AOL's site

Here is a short article from AOL news on the Orionids to share....
A spectacular stream of meteors believed to be leftovers from Halley's Comet is expected to streak across the skies this week, but a full harvest moon will compete for attention and may obstruct some of the show.

The meteors, a junior version of the famous Perseid meteor shower, are called the Orionids because they appear to shoot from the second-brightest star in the Orion constellation, or from the hunter's elbow. Up to 30 meteors -- fast, bright streaks like shooting stars -- could be visible each hour in the night sky, starting tonight, Space.com reports.

"The Orionids are fast meteors and also have fireballs. The radiant of the shower will be observed north of Betelgeuse, the brightest star in the constellation Orion, the Mighty Hunter," Graciano Yumul, an officer at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, told GMA News.

The shower's radiant point is near the celestial equator, meaning that it'll be visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres, according to iSurf News.

Sponsored Links The annual show usually happens from Oct. 17 to Oct. 25, and this year it'll peak before dawn on Thursday. But that's also when a full moon will appear over North America, in most places on Saturday, perhaps dimming the light of the meteors. So the best viewing times are believed to be earlier in the week, when the moon isn't as bright. The best places from which to view the meteor shower are in rural spots that don't have other light pollution.

The Orionids are thought be caused by Halley's Comet, which was named for astronomer Edmond Halley and passes through the inner solar system once every 76 years. The last time was in 1986.

But every time Halley's Comet zooms past the sun, bits of ice and rock are evaporated off the comet and go flying into space. The debris hangs there in space and create the annual Orionid display.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

SUNDIVING COMET & ORIONID METEOR SHOWE

Space Weather News for Oct. 20, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

SUNDIVING COMET: A newly-discovered comet is plunging toward the sun for a close encounter it probably will not survive. The comet is too deep in the sun's glare for human eyes to pick out, but it is showing up nicely in coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Visit http://spaceweather.com for latest movies.

ORIONID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, and this is causing the annual Orionid meteor shower. Bright moonlight is reducing the number of visible meteors; nevertheless, sky watchers are reporting some bright Orionids. The best time to look is during the hours before local dawn on Thursday, Oct. 21st, and again on Friday, Oct. 22nd. Check http://spaceweather.com for a sky map and more information.

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS: With the arrival of northern autumn, aurora season is underway. Would you like a call when geomagnetic storms erupt at your latitude? Sign up for Space Weather Phone: http://spaceweatherphone.com

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Approaching Comet

Space Weather News for Oct. 1, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

APPROACHING COMET: Green comet 103P/Hartley 2 is approaching Earth for a close encounter on Oct. 20th. At that time, the comet will be only 11 million miles (0.12 AU) from our planet and should be dimly visible to the naked eye from dark sky sites. It already looks great through backyard telescopes, as shown by images featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com. NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is en route to this comet for close-up studies and a daring flyby on Nov. 4th.

UPSIDE-DOWN LIGHTNING OVER THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: An amateur photographer has photographed rare lightning-like discharges called "gigantic jets" shooting up from storm clouds near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Visit http://spaceweather.com for a movie and more information about the phenomenon.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society

Fireball seen 9/21/10 & more

Space Weather News for Sept. 22, 2010
http://spaceweather.com

GLOBAL ERUPTION ON THE SUN: This morning between 0230 UT and 0600 UT, the northern hemisphere of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a solar flare, a coronal mass ejection, and at least two dark magnetic filaments lifting off the stellar surface. The event appears to be a smaller-scale version of the global blast in early August that sparked auroras over some US states. As before, NASA spacecraft recorded the action in detail. Visit http://spaceweather.com for movies and updates.

SOUTHWESTERN FIREBALL RIVALS THE HARVEST MOON: Last night, sky watchers in the southwestern United States witnessed a brilliant fireball. It was almost as bright as the full Harvest Moon and caused a loud sonic boom over parts of New Mexico. A movie of the event is highlighted on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

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Terri, Events Coordinator
Email: Events@PASAz.org
Phoenix Astronomical Society