Rainwater Observatory E-News 12/7/09
NEXT RAINWATER PROGRAM EXAMINES CHRISTMAS SKY LORE DECEMBER 11
Friday December 11 at 7:00 P.M. we will be presenting a revised version of our traditional program for the Christmas season. It will focus on some of the traditions of the Christmas season especially the story of the Christmas Star. It will look at some the possible astronomy links to the Christmas Star. What might the Star of Bethlehem have been and who were the Magi. We’ll also look at what astronomy has to say about the possible date of Jesus birth.
We hope you’ll save the time to come join us for this presentation. If you’d like to bring a group, please let us know so we can prepare. After the talk we’ll go out to observe the sky if it’s clear. Bring warm clothes because if it’s clear this time of year, it will also be cold.
GET READY FOR THE JANUARY WINTER “BACKYARD ASTRONOMY SERIES
We’ll be sharing about the winter sky in four Friday programs in January and February. The programs are free to the public and sponsored by the Mississippi NASA Space Grant Consortium. All programs will begin at 7:00 pm and b followed by observing sessions with the observatory telescopes, weather permitting, or a planetarium program.
January 8: The Fabulous Orion Nebula, Edwin Faughn
January 15: The Constellations of Shine Brightly, David Teske
January 29: Mars is Back Again, David Teske
February 5: The Life History of Stars, James Hill.
We’ll skip a week to do a workshop for the Mississippi NASA Space Grant January 22-3.
You can register for these free programs at http://www.rainwaterobservatory.org/programs/backyard.html
SUMMER 2010 PROGRAMS
The dates for two summer activities are set. The “Astronomy for Teachers” college credit class for 3 semester hours credit through Ole Miss is down for June 13-18. This is an intensive week and you must be enrolled in the university to take the course. Call for more information.
We have scheduled a summer astronomy camp to be held June 20-26 in conjunction with the Camp of the Rising Son. This week long event will be for 13-16 year olds. Campers would be at the observatory mornings and evenings and have time in the afternoons for swimming and other camp activities. If you know someone who would be interested in learning about the sky and how to observe, please have them contact us.
HAPPENING ON THE HILL
This time of the year it tends to be really cold if it’s clear, but much of the time it’s cloudy. Be sure to get out and learn the fall and winter sky whenever you have a clear night. If you need a good sky chart, go to www.skymaps.com Jupiter is getting low in the western sky after dark, and Mars is rising earlier each night in the northeast. You might even see Mercury just below Jupiter.
We are anticipating getting the kit to upgrade the 32” scope in January. We need to have a naming contest to have something to call it. Send in your suggestions.
We also hope to have the Sangre scope back in operation when a crew from Las Cumbres comes to put it back together again. Right now it reminds me of Humpty Dumpty after his fall.
We participated in a workshop on setting up the Rainwater Astronomical Association as a tax exempt organization. We plan to use the Christmas holiday to fill out all the forms and get the application sent in January. Once we are OK’d by the IRS and the Mississippi Secretary of State we will be able to accept tax deductible donations from individuals and foundations. We will be building an endowment and seeking support through a number of sources. Contact us if you’d be interested in including Rainwater in your will or in other ways.
COMING EVENTS: ATTEND A PROGRAM NEAR YOU
Notice below that we have a number of “away” programs around the state in November. If you’re in the neighborhood of any of these programs, join us. If you know a group that needs a program in your community or wants to set up a field trip to Rainwater, contact us.
December 11: Rainwater Program meeting, 7:00 PM
January 8: Backyard Astronomy: The Birth of Stars in Orion 7:00 P.M.
January 15: Backyard Astronomy: Learn the Winter Constellations, 7:00 P.M.
January 16: Madison Cub Scouts
January 22-23: Mississippi NASA Space Grant Education Conference
February 19-20, 2010 “Hands-On Astronomy Activities Workshop” John Frassinelli will be our clinician. http://www.rainwaterobservatory.org/programs/handson.html
April 14-17, 2010 Mid-South Star Gaze Regional Astronomy Conference and Star Party. Flyers to previous participants will go out this week. Information and online registration can be found at http://www.rainwaterobservatory.org/stargaze/
April 16-17, 2010 “Mid-South Astronomy Conference Educators Workshop”.
IT’S TIME TO RE-UP
Renewal for Rainwater Astronomical Association membership ($15). If you subscribe or renew your subscription to Sky & Telescope magazine through the club, you get at $10 discount. (Make the S&T subscription checks out to Sky Publishing for $32.95.)
ASTRONOMY PROGRAMS AT GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE THIS WEEKEND
Friday, December 11th and Saturday, December 12th - Astronomy - 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Spend some time looking up at the wonders of the night sky. Astronomers and telescopes from Pontchatrain Astronomy Society will be set up at the campground amphitheater. The cooler air makes winter a great time for stargazing.
Sunday, December 13th - The Telescope as a Time Machine - 2:00 p.m.
Join astronomer Jack Huerkamp for a slideshow presentation. Astronomy is history. Because light takes time to travel from one place to another, we see objects not as they are now but as they were at the time when they released the light that has traveled across the universe to us. This program will explore the universe and is geared towards grade school children. Meet at the William M. Colmer Visitor Center.
ASTRO NEWS: If you have info or links you’d like to share, let us know.
Nice article about Galileo and the history of the telescope’s 400t anniversary can be found at www.lpi.usra.edu/lpib/ There are other news briefs in the issue of the Lunar & Planetary Institute Bulletin.
The Sprit rover on Mars may be stuck for good, but it’s still making discoveries.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/02dec_troy.htm?list899987
Where do cosmic rays come from? There have been hypotheses for decades, but now there is hard data. http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/02/solving-the-mystery-of-cosmic-rays-origins/
It has been thought that stars could only get a dozen or so times the mass of the Sun., but now there is evidence of stars that might be several hundred times more massive that the Sun. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091202-violent-massive-supernova.html
Finally, a new record for the most distant object found in the universe
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/28/more-observations-of-grb-090423-the-most-distant-known-object-in-the-universe/
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