Phoenix Astronomical Society Blog

Monday, September 22, 2008

New Sunspot & September Equinox

Space Weather News for Sept. 22, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

NEW SUNSPOT: For the first time in months, a significant sunspot is emerging on the sun. It is a fast-growing active region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot Cycle 24. Because the year 2008 has brought so many blank suns, some observers have wondered if we are ever going to climb out of the ongoing deep solar minimum. Today's new sunspot is an encouraging sign that the 11-year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit slowly. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sunspot photos and updates.

SEPTEMBER EQUINOX: Seasons on Earth change much faster than they do on the sun. Today, autumn begins in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere when the sun crosses the celestial equator. The crossing, called the "equinox," takes place at 1544 UT (11:44 EDT) on Monday, Sept. 22nd. Happy equinox!

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

Friday, September 19, 2008

A MONTH IN ADVANCE

PAS has many forms of getting info out to the Membership and Public.

1) The [COLOR="Red"]PAStimes Newsletter[/COLOR] becomes available for download from the PAS site by the Sunday prior to the next PAS meeting (that's the latest it will be available). Should you want info earlier than the Newsletter provides, I suggest you check out these other options. The link to the PAStimes Newsletters is: http://www.pasaz.org/index.php?pageid=newsletter

2) The [COLOR="Red"]PAS Digest Blog[/COLOR] has info on upcoming events as well as interesting astronomy related news items. I only post when I have something to share or send out. So, you may not get info via the Blog daily. The Blog is set up so you can join the blog, receive info via email or RSS feed and leave the blog anytime you wish. I suggest you join it and keep tabs on what PAS is doing. The PAS Digest Blog is at: [URL="http://pasaz-digest.blogspot.com/"]http://pasaz-digest.blogspot.com/[/URL]. Visit the blog, and on the right hand side of the screen is an image with planets. There you will find the sign-up option. I use the blog to cancel events.... so if you need to know something is canceled the day of the event, check there. Especially if the weather is questionable.

3) [COLOR="Red"]News & Announcements on PASAZ.org[/COLOR] - this option is on our NEW PAS website. You can sign in to the website with a user name and a password and browse the info available in the Forums. I use the NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS forum to get info out quickly about events. This is the place for what's coming up in PAS. The link for this location of info is: http://www.pasaz.org/index.php?pageid=news

4) [COLOR="Red"]Calendar on PASAZ.org[/COLOR] - HAve you been checking the calendar a month in advance? And as a PAS member, did you know you can check the calendar for events on the PRIVATE CALENDAR SIDE? Only PAS members can do this. If you are a PAS member but you don't have the status of Member yet, email Chris Johnson to get your membership updated. He has the current PAS Roster and will change your account from Visitor (public) to PAS Member. Then, go visit the calendar section of the site and be sure to visit the Private Calendar for those Paid Star Parties. There is other info in the Private Calendar as well, so check it out. I suggest you check out both calendars a minimum of once a month for a month in advance. For instance, today is 9/19, so I'd be checking out the rest of September for events as well as ALL of October, to see if there is a star party I can assist at, in both the Public and Private Calendars. You don't want to miss out on all the fun!!! The link to the calendar is: http://www.pasaz.org/forums/calendar.php

Well, there you have it. The place where you can get the PAS info you need to keep in touch and have a great experience as a PAS Member. Guests/Visitors can also get in to the Public calendar, so don't be afraid to go to PASaz.org and check the calendar for events you may wish to attend. That's 4 ways to get news about PAS events. We will see you there!!!

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

Jules Verne is about to become a fireball

Space Weather News for Sept. 18, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

DOOMED SPACECRAFT: Jules Verne is about to become a fireball. On Sept. 29th, with NASA aircraft looking on, the 22-ton European spacecraft will plunge into Earth's atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean and harmlessly disintegrate. Jules Verne recently spent five months docked to the space station where it delivered supplies, used its engines help the station avoid a piece of space junk, and served as an impromptu bedroom for the ISS crew. Mission accomplished, the doomed spacecraft is now making its final orbits around Earth glowing about as brightly as Polaris (the North Star). US and European observers are favored with flybys this weekend. If you'd like to see Jules Verne, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times: http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

POLAR CROWN PROMINENCES: Colossal dark tadpoles. Fiery "plasma falls." Van Gogh vortices. These are a few of the strange things Japan's Hinode spacecraft has found inside polar crown prominences on the sun. Visit http://spaceweather.com for must-see movies.

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

Thursday, September 11, 2008

TONIGHT'S STAR PARTY 9/11 PVCC CAMPUS 6PM TO 9PM HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN!

Forecast for tonight, as of 1pm today, says 30-40% chance of rain.
If the forecast reads 40% you know it will be raining tonight.
And 69% cloud cover, which means the whole sky will be clouds!

Thus, I have canceled the star party and informed all who RSVP'd about it.

Please have a wonderful, relaxing and cooler evening!!!

We will see you at the next PAS event!!!

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

New book: Unmasking Europa

I just came across your web site, and I thought you and your members might be interested in my new book, Unmasking Europa, which just came out.

Best wishes,
Richard Greenberg
Professor of Planetary Sciences
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
University of Arizona

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Richard sent a pdf with the info about the new book, for which you can download that info here from the PASAZ.org website.

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

Anthem Star Party Nov 1 2008 Noon to 10pm VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Happy Thursday to you,

We are looking to pin down volunteers for the Anthem Star Party on Nov 1.
Let me give you a run down of what we have in mind, and then
you tell me where you can assist. Reply right to this Thread so we can
set this up and get the info out to the public!!!

My contact at Anthem needs the info today, so those of you doing something special for this event, may or may not get listed as individual activities, however, he is looking for info on what we have planned, so I am sending him some of the thing we have done in the past.

We need volunteers, and the volunteers do not need to be there all day. We can do it in shifts. If you wish to attend all day, provide an activity or do Solar Viewing, and then stick around for the evening as well, please do. The more we have the better this star party turns out to be.

Daytime: Activities include
Solar Viewing
Hands on demos
Posters of info set up for viewing by public

Evening: Activites are mostly viewing through the telescopes.

Please RSVP with:
1) Day or Evening or Both
2) If Day, what activity (s) do you wish to do?

Your assistance is apprecaited and needed. This is a major event that PAS does, usually yearly. We haven't been there in 1.5 years due to scheduling but we hope to make it a yearly event and be part of the Anthem Fall Celebration. Steve, my contact, has positioned us between two very fun-filled weekends. The weekend before has a special event, and the weekend after has a parade. We are squeezed into the center, so we should,
based on knowing that people already will know we are there, have a nice size crowd. Plan to attend.

If you do not wish to volunteer, but do wish to attend the events, you can RSVP with me. The RSVP would be just in case of weather canceling the event, I can contact you to let you know we won't be having it. Or if you are on the PAS Digest Blog, you will get that info the moment we decide on cancellation.

We are hoping for clear skies. The daytime events can still happen in cloudy skies, mostly, however, if the winds are above 10mph or we have impending rain, we will cancel the event.

RSVp your assistance, today, at Events@pasaz.org.
Thanks

Download the flyer and Map for this event!

HAVE A SPECTACULAR THURSDAY!

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

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Fireball Outburst

Space Weather News for Sept. 9, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

FIREBALL OUTBURST: This morning, Sept. 9th, a surprising flurry of fireballs lit up the sky over eastern parts of the United States. All-sky cameras at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recorded 25+ meteors, most as bright as Jupiter or Venus. A preliminary analysis by NASA astronomers suggests this is an outburst of "September Perseids," a little-known shower that has erupted this way three times in the past century. Although the show is almost certainly over, sky watchers are advised to be on the lookout for more fireballs tonight and in the nights ahead; the September Perseids are not well understood and they could surprise us again.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates to this developing story.