Phoenix,
Mars Polar Probe
Lands Safely
CSM
Astronomy website
In the Mail and In
the eMail
JPL and NASA News
Table of Contents
Directions to College of
San Mateo
Star Parties at
Crestview Park and CSM.
No SMCAS General Meeting at CSM in
July.
Events and Club News
Other Astronomy Events in Our Area
SMCAS Monthly Calendar
Club Websites, Membership Application
SMCAS Yahoo Groups Policy
SMCAS patches on sale
Update May 30
From: Edmund Pieret [mailto:epieret at comcast.
net]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 2:24 PM
To: SMCAS (SMCAS at yahoogroups.
com)
Subject: The June 2008 Event Horizon is Available
The June 2008 issue of the Event Horizon is now available for downloading by
clicking on the following link:
http://www.smcas.
com/file.
cfm?content=
47&pageId=
15
In order to view this you will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer. This can
be
downloaded free from:
http://www.adobe.
com/products/
acrobat/readstep
2.html?ogn=
EN_US-gntray_
dl_get
_reader
When viewing the newsletter you will notice differences between online
version and the mailed hardcopy version. Everything in the issue,
including
photographs, is in full color. Furthermore, the internet links are
“hot”.
Clicking them will take you directly to the referenced webpage with no need
to retype the address.
____________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_
Please note:
The SMCAS Board of Directors has decided to limit mailing the hardcopy of
the Event Horizon to those members who specifically request it. Starting
with the November issue we are going to mail issues only to those members
who have filled out and returned the form included.
The reason for doing this is both cost and the quality of the newsletter.
Mailing the Event Horizon is the single largest expense the club has, and it
keeps increasing with postal rates. In order to keep dues at a
reasonable
level we need to limit this expense.
The other part of the decision involves the superior quality of the
electronic version. This version allows us to incorporate color, an
option
prohibitively expensive for the mailed version. Since the electronic
version is on-line it also allows us to include live web links. Simply
clicking on a link will take the user directly to the web page referenced.
We will send a notice like the one above as soon as the new issue is
available electronically. We expect this to be available several days to
a
week prior to arrival of the mailed version.
Please send any comments to SMCAS@live.com
. This is your club and we very
much want your input on these important decisions.
Update June 28
Final entry for June Newsletter
Crestview Star
Parties
Number of people in attendance
subject to weather.
Crestview 2005/7 Sun Chart
Scobee Star Chart
Scobee
Planetarium
The Solar System Live
Expected Crestview star party dates:
Ages Days Time Dates
All Sat. Dusk - 10 pm 8/20, 8/27,
10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/22,
11/29, 12/20, 12/27/2008
Come out and see
how many different things you can
identify
in the night sky!
Bring
your binoculars, telescopes, star guides, and lounge chairs for some informal
star gazing at Crestview Park. Dress warmly, wear a hat. Cars should arrive before dark so that headlights don't affect people's dark
adaptation. Bring small flashlights only, with the lens covered with red
cellophane or red balloon. Please don't touch a telescope without permission.
And parents, please watch your children.
Directions to Crestview Park: Take Hwy 101 or El Camino to Brittan Avenue in
San Carlos, and turn west (right from El Camino). From El Camino, follow Brittan
about 2.3 miles to the intersection with Crestview Drive. From Alameda, go about
1.4 miles to Crestview. Turn right on Crestview. A small sign saying "Crestview
Park" is a half-block ahead on the right.
Look to the left for the park entry road, a small street between houses #998 and 1000.
If after dark, please park on Crestview to avoid disturbing the observing with
headlight glare.
From Highway 280 to Edgewood Road. Go east toward the Bay about 0.8 miles. Left on
Crestview Drive. Go 0.5 miles uphill to the intersection with Brittan Avenue. Go one
short block to the park entrance on the left.
Generally the first star party is around the 3/4
moon and the second party is a week later (around the new moon). Our
experience is that 4 or 5 days after the full moon the moon rises late
enough that it won't bother observing. Some months the calendar and the and
the moon phases give us a star party with a new moon or at least less than a
quarter moon. This is OK because we all like to do a little moon observing
once in a while. Sometimes we even call it a moon party.
Leroy Amen
Crestview
Park is at W122° 17', N37° 29'
|
==================================================================
ADVERTISEMENT - REACH FOR THE STARS AT CSM!
With its planetarium, variety of astronomy courses, top-notch faculty,
and special events such as Star Parties, when the College partners with the
San Mateo County Astronomical Society...or with CSM's many A.A., A.S., and
certificate programs, its scenic and historic campus, the ease with which
you can sign up for classes online as a first-time or returning student...
The possibilities are astronomical.
COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO. Visit us on the web at http://gocsm.net
=================================================================
Astronomy Events in Our Area
( Edited for June )
Hello All,
We have 12 excellent lectures from the Silicon Valley Astronomy Series and an
Eclipse party.
Don't forget to sign up for Yosemite with your AANC member club:
http://aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html
Fall Astronomy Day for us here in the Bay Area is October 4th. Let us know
what you're up to.
Happy Summer Solstice,
Ken Frank
AANC VP
+++
On behalf of Andrew Fraknoi:
Podcast audio recordings of twelve public lectures recorded at Foothill College
in the
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series by noted astronomers
are now available as free MP3 downloads at the web site of the nonprofit
Astronomical
Society of the Pacific (ASP):
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
and are made available to the public through the kind support of a donor with a
strong
interest in education who wishes to remain anonymous. Each hour-long lecture on
some
exciting development in our study of the universe is followed by an extensive
question and
answer period, in which the speaker gives further details and personal glimpses
about the
topics under discussion.
A sample of the talks now available are:
* Dr. Jill Tarter (SETI Institute): "Better Searches for Signals from
Extra-terrestrial
Civilizations"
* Dr. Geoff Marcy (U. of California, Berkeley): "Hunting for Earth-like
Planets Among the
Stars"
These lectures are co-sponsored by:
NASA's Ames Research Center, The SETI Institute, The Foothill College Astronomy
Program
and The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program, Foothill College
fraknoiandrew at fhda.edu
+++
On behalf of Raphael Rosen:
Total Solar Eclipse 2008 From Xinjiang Province in Northwestern China
An Exploratorium and NASA Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum Event
Overnight Eclipse Viewing Party at Exploratorium Begins July 31, 2008 at 9pm And
Continues
Through Friday, August 1 in the Wee Hours
Over 100 Museums Internationally Also Participating Live Webcast Begins at
3:30am (PDT),
and Totality at 4:09am (PDT)
Spend the Night at the Exploratorium!
See the eclipse in person live at the Exploratorium. Pack your sleeping bag and
camp out
on the museum floor for an overnight eclipse party.
This event will capture and actively observe the full eclipse, and investigate
space
weather and the sun as a power source.
It is both a celebration and party, a look at Chinese culture, and pure
Sun-Earth
Connection science. The celebration begins with astronomers, food, music,
and of course,
tea/caffeine, to keep you alert for the big event. Doors open at 9pm,
Thursday July 31.
Films and solar science activities, like spectroscope
making, will be held, as well as the sorts of traditional Chinese performances
that mark
special occasions, and in the name of science, roving
astronomers to answer questions. General admission will be open from
9pm-midnight.
Museum capacity is limited; we may sell out early.
We strongly encourage advance reservations through www.ticketweb.com.
As the date nears, please check for more details.
www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/2008
For full press release:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/pr/documents/08-7Total.html
_______________________________________________
Contacts mailing list
Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org
http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts
//////////////////////////////////
From Katie Berryhill:
Please join us on Monday, June 23 for the next talk in the Benjamin Dean
Lecture Series.
The program begins at 7:30 pm in Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community
Center of San
Francisco, 3200 California Street (at Presidio Avenue). Tickets are $5
online at
http://www.calacademy.org/events/index.php
or at the door. Please e-mail any questions to
deanseries@calacademy.org
or call 415-321-8000.
Orsola de Marco from the American Museum of Natural History will speak about
“Planetary
Nebulae: Death Shrouds of Lonely Stars or Aftermaths of Binary Interactions?”
Some of the most beautiful objects in the sky, planetary nebulae, are
thought to be the
death shroud of single, middle weight stars, much like our own sun;
however, evidence has
been steadily accumulating that this picture might have fundamental flaws.
Complex
shapes, jets, and other structures suggest a new scenario, with planetary
nebulae shaped
by the action of a companion star, or even a large planet, orbiting the
primary star at
some distance. But theoretical plausibility is not enough to prove a
conjecture, and
observations are ongoing to find the binary stars in the center of the
planetary nebulae
and to finally show that it takes two to tango.
#####
Vivian White of the ASP & SFAA discovered this glowing article in SF Weekly
entitled:
Best Local Nerds
San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
The San Francisco Amateur Astronomers is one of those societies that truly make
learning
enjoyable. Its name might summon images of
Trekkies at a sci-fi convention, but club members are super nice and hail from
all kinds
of professional backgrounds. You've likely seen
them cavorting around the city when something cosmological is about to occur —
you can
simply identify them by their enormous painted
telescopes, which are sometimes handmade but always effective. Best of all,
they're so
darned accessible and informative that it's fun to
stop and gab with them about Leonid meteor showers or just life in general. If
you're
interested in, you can always sign up and revel in
the society's myriad star parties and field trips to dark sites in Northern
California
(which is definitely a big deal, considering all
the light pollution that has mucked up the skies for modern-day Galileos). They
also hold
their annual Astrophotography, Literary and
Art Awards, an event that's invariably kooky and ethereal, a bit like really
good
interpretive dance for science and technology types. You
can get your fair share of scholarly fun with presentations on stuff like solar
eclipses
and black holes, so you can live out all your
vicarious Stephen Hawking fantasies.
####
On this Friday, June 20, at 10am, a commemorative marker will be dedicated at
the site of
the original observatory in downtown Oakland's
Lafayette Square. A representative of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' office will
read a
proclamation stating June 21st is Chabot Space &
Science Center Day in Oakland. At 11am, a ceremonial torch relay will be run
from the
original site, to Chabot's current location at 10000
Skyline Blvd. Chabot Executive Director/CEO will run the final leg of the
relay and will
arrive at Chabot Space & Science at approximately 1pm.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony and line the street for the relay.
More info:
http://chabotspace.org/125th/
####
Don't forget this Sunday, 10:00 am Dellums Board Room for the AANC Board
meeting.
We'll be discussing the upcoming FPOA/AANC Awards Star B Q and lots more.
http://aanc-astronomy.org/minutes/index.html
We need a volunteer secretary for Sunday's meeting as Alan Gould will be in
transit for a
meeting.
Hope to see you there,
Ken F
AANC VP
_______________________________________________
Contacts mailing list
Contacts@aanc-astronomy.org
http://mail.aanc-astronomy.org/mailman/listinfo/contacts
///////////////////////
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 8:19 AM
To: AANC Contacts
Subject: [AANC Contacts] Antimatter: Where'd it go? Summer Solstice
Solar Day Saturday, See Stars at FPOA's Star-B-Q and AANC Board Reminder
This from Rob Hawley, president SJAA:
When particles are created from energy both a normal and an anti matter
particle must be created. Certainly this is what happened in the early
moments of the Big Bang
.... so where did all of the anti matter go?
Scientists can tell from remote observation that everything we can
observe is made of matter.
Antimatter is supposed to obey all laws of physics the same as regular
matter ... but does it?
Dr. Helen Quinn of SLAC will talk about "The Mystery of the Missing
Antimatter"
this evening Saturday, June 21st at 8 PM at Houge Park, in San Jose.
She will discuss her work trying to discover a difference in the way
anti matter behaves that is large enough to explain why anti matter is
missing from the modern universe.
Rob Hawley
***
Solar Day today 11:30 am at the Randall Museum with Solstice and
Sundials info at:
http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/calendar.php?drawevent:882
The Randall Museum will host a family-oriented Summer Solstice
observance today with solar telescopes, a "What's a Solstice?"
demonstration, and a sundial making workshop.
Solar telescopes will be available throughout the day to hunt for those
elusive sunspots and solar proms.
***
It's not to early to plan for the FPOA/AANC Star-B-Q Saturday, August
2nd.
Meet friends, crash into our Moon, exercise your brain with the ever
popular Astronomical Trivia Quiz and eat your way through the
Astronomical-Gastronomical Contest.
To reserve your place at the eyepiece of the 30 inch Challenger or seat
on a picnic table
contact:
webmaster@fpoa.net
***
AANC Board Meeting Reminder: Tomorrow Sunday June 22nd, 10:00 am Dellums
Board Room, Chabot http://aanc-astronomy.org/minutes/Issues.html
See you in the dark,
Ken
////////////////////////
RANDALL MUSEUM ANNOUNCES
SAN FRANCISCO AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS’ LECTURE SERIES
Where: Randall
Museum
199 Museum Way (off Roosevelt, above 14th and Castro Streets), SF, CA
Directions: See the Sidewalk Astronomer’s Website:
http://www.sfsidewalkastronomers.org/index.php?page=star-party-directions
Ages: Geared for adults; All
ages welcome
Cost: FREE; donations
encouraged
Info: 415.554.9600
or www.randallmuseum.org
SPACE WEATHER
Dr. Janet Luhmann, UC Berkeley
8PM, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008
Join solar physicist Dr. Janet Luhmann from UC Berkeley for a
presentation about the Sun, which is entering a new eleven-year solar
cycle. Discover how this may affect our planet, our satellites, and
those who will venture into space.
SLAC Physics
Lecture Series at Stanford
University and Stanford Linear Accelerator
http://www.slac.
stanford.
edu/welcome/
location.
html (how to get to SLAC)
Dean
Lectures
California
Academy of Sciences, at their temporary home.
The Academy is closed until Fall.
Grand Reopening:
Sept. 27, 2008
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
|
For your planning purposes, the dates of the spring series lectures are:
........... & June 23
JKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJKLJ
Parking is available across the street in the UCSF Laurel Heights campus
parking lot. Parking in the JCC garage is $1.50 per half-hour.
The #1 California, #3 Jackson, #4 Sutter, and #43 Masonic MUNI lines
stop directly in front of the building. The #38 Geary and #24 Divisadero
buses stop only a few blocks away.
____________________________________
Benjamin Dean Lecture Series in Astronomy Morrison Planetarium
California Academy of Sciences
875 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-321-8593
deanseries@calacademy.org
http://www.calacademy.org/events/index.php
Silicon
Valley Astronomy Lecture Series
Foothill College
Los Altos Hills, CA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available
in MP3 format at:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
_______________________________________________
UC Berkeley's Lawrence
Hall of Science
http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org
Lick Observatory
 |
|
|
Mt Tam
Enthusiasts-
Mt Tam , website: mttam.net
The season listing can be found on the MTIA website:
http://www.mttam.net/Default.aspx?tabid=843
If you would like to help distribute brochures (being printed) send a
return
email with your mail address and how many you want to Tinka Ross <tinkaross
at comcast.net>
A word document for now can be found here: http://www.planitarium.net/aanc/08season-tam.doc
If the weather is questionable on program dates, check with the hotline
415-455-5370. The
message is changed if there is a change around 3:00pm.
Clouds and fog can cancel observing but programs are only cancelled for
rain, extra wet
conditions or fire danger. And remember that often when it
is foggy the fog line stays below our observing site and actually
improves our viewing by
blocking out the city lights. So don¹t give up too easily!
Remember to dress appropriately and bring a flashlight. Help spread the
word about our
programs and bring along your friends. See you on the
mountain!
2008 ASTRONOMY PROGRAMS
OUR TWENTIETH SEASON ON THE MOUNTAIN
6/7 8:30pm Lynda Williams- Santa Rosa Junior College
“Space Ecology: The Final Frontier of Environmentalism”
This message of the Mount Tam Program from Tinka Ross:
JUNE 7 the Mt Tam Astronomy Program will feature the physics chanteuse,
Lynda Williams, from Santa Rosa Junior College, speaking in the Mt
Theatre
at 8:30pm on ³Space Ecology: The Final Frontier of Environmentalism²
Fifty years after Sputnik launched the space age, humans are turning
space
into yet another junk yard, with millions of pieces of man-made debris
orbiting the Earth, putting targets both in space and on the ground at
risk.
One year after China blew up its own satellite on orbit, the US shot
down a
defunct satellite in space. Now the world is coming to grips with the
urgent
need to establish international rules for space debris regulation and
mitigation in order to prevent an environmental catastrophe in space.
Lynda
will survey the current situation and speculate on possible future space
debris scenarios created by the deployment of space-based weapons, the
private space industry and geo-engineering solutions to climate change.
As
Lynda likes to say: What the world needs now, before it is too late, is
an
environmental movement in heaven: Space Ecology.
By day, Lynda Williams is a physics instructor at Santa Rosa Junior
College
in California, and by night, she performs original science musicals for
both
scientists and the general public. KC Cole of the LA Times wrote of
Lynda:
"Every scientist dreams of seducing people with the beauty and
wonder of the
natural world. But few take it as far as Lynda Williams--the Physics
Chanteuse--who puts her microphone where her mouth is." Lynda has
been a
space enthusiast and amateur astronomer since getting a Newtonian
telescope
at the age 12. She has a BA in Math and an MS in Physics, and her areas
of
interest are Cosmology and environmentalism. Lynda has produced and
performed planetarium shows at both SRJC and SF State and has been
active in
space issues related to ecology and peace for many years. For more
information check out Lynda's websites: www.scientainment.com
&
www.space-ecology.com
Following the lecture, members of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
will
provide telescopes for viewing in the Rock Spring parking lot.
http://www.sfaa-astronomy.org/starparties/
June is the time to take a good look at the beautiful summer sky
with objects in the
Milky Way. Viewing continues until about 11:00pm, weather permitting.
This program is part of a series of FREE programs sponsored by the Mt
Tamalpais State Park. Lectures and viewing are held each Saturday
evening
between a new and a first quarter moon through October. The general
public
is welcome. Families and school and youth groups are encouraged to
attend.
For driving directions and additional information call the hotline:
415-455-5370 or check out www.mttam.net.
Thank you for sharing this information.
|
7/12 8:30pm Dr. Adrian Lee - UC Berkeley
“The Microwave Background - A Cosmic Time Machine”
Researchers use telescopes in stratospheric balloons, at the South
Pole, and in the high Andes to map the faint cosmic background
radiation that give a baby picture of the Universe just after the
Big
Bang.
8/9 8:30pm Dr. Margaret S. Race - SETI Institute
"Astrobiology, Planetary Protection and the Search for ET
Life"
A down to Earth view of preparations for space missions-- it takes
more than just rocket scientists!
9/6 8:00pm Dr. Raymond Hall – CSU Fresno
“Demarcation: Is There a Sharp Line Between Science and
Pseudoscience?”
A look at ways to discern the difference between astronomy and
astrology, and the application of these distinctions in the areas of
law, public policy, and education policy.
10/4 7:30pm Dr. Joel Primack
& Nancy Abrams - UC Santa Cruz
“The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our
Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos”
A progress report and philosophical reflection on modern views of our
place in the cosmos and how ideas of the universe have widespread
cultural implications.
Exploratorium in San Francisco
http://www.exploratorium.edu/
Mars Phoenix Lander Mission
Live Webcast at the Exploratorium
May 28 (1pm) and June 27 (1:30pm), 2008
http://www.explo.tv
Go to: http://www.exploratorium.edu/pr/documents/08-5.html
--------
Raphael Rosen
Public Information Department
The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
www.exploratorium.edu
Phone Contact: Leslie Patterson / lesliep@exploratorium.edu
The Tech Museum, downtown
San Jose
Western
Amateur Astronomers
OTHER CLUBS & EVENTS - For regularly-updated information on other
astronomical organizations and events, we refer you to the website of the
Astronomical Association of Northern California; www.aanc-astronomy.org
2008
Golden
State Star Party
Jane H J on your I-Pod,
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html
For those of you with an interest in Java Programs and/or
extra-solar planet search see:
http://oklo.org/?page_id=86
This is a forum run by students and instructors at
Lick Observatory concerning the reduction of extra-solar
radial velocity data. Update at: http://www.oklo.org/
|
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
ASP Website
10 Podcasts of Nontechnical Astronomy Talks Available
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audio recordings of ten
public lectures by noted
astronomers are now available as free MP3 downloads
at the web site of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of
the Pacific (ASP):
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
These talks were
recorded at Foothill College in
the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series. They are made
available through a kind donation to the ASP by a
donor with a strong interest in education who wishes to remain
anonymous. Each hour-long lecture on some exciting development
in our study of the universe is followed by an extensive
question and answer period, in which the speaker gives
further details and personal glimpses about the topics under
discussion.
Among the talks available so far are:
* Dr. David Morrison (NASA Ames Research Center): "Taking a Hit:
Asteroid Impacts and Evolution"
* Dr. David Grinspoon (Denver Museum of Nature & Science):
"Comparing
Worlds: Climate Catastrophes in the Solar System"
* Dr. Bruce Margon (University of California, Santa Cruz):
"Glimpsing
the Edge of the Universe: Results from the Hubble Space Telescope"
* Dr. Dale Cruikshank (NASA Ames): "The Planet Pluto: Maligned but
Not Forgotten"
* Dr. Alex Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley): "Dark
Energy and the Runaway Universe"
* Dr. Frank Drake (SETI Institute): "Estimating the Chances of Life
Out There"
* Dr. Nathalie Cabrol (SETI Institute): "The Mars Exploration Rover
Mission"
A few talks are also available as video files (instructions can be found
on the same page.)
NASA Ames Research Center
The NASA Exploration Center is open to the public free of charge. For information about the Exploration Center, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/exploration.html
To learn about other events hosted by NASA Ames, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/events/index.html
Dates set for Hubble repair mission.
Standardized solid state gyro sets
developed for space.
Briefing on the James
Webb Space Telescope
from Vacuum and Coating
Technology, August
2007. |
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Multimedia review of some major space telescope projects since 1990.
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/telescopetech/
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Astronomy at College of San Mateo
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College of San Mateo Maps
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