Phoenix Astronomical Society meetings - February 2011

[The Phoenix Astronomical Society]

PHOENIX ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
February 2011 meetings

Glorious Globs of Summer
John Field, Programmes Officer Carter Observatory, President RSNZ
Wellington Branch.

When it comes to summer observing most telescopes get trained to the
spectacular sights through Orion, Taurus and Canis Major. These three
constellations contain a host of bright star clusters, nebulae and
double stars. One type of star cluster is poorly represented in these
constellations and that is the globular cluster. I can't recall many
people doing globular cluster hunts during their summer night but I am
sure there must some nice globs to have a look for! This presentation
will look at some I have found and imaged over the last few weeks.

Upcoming Astrophotography Workshop
Terry Galuszka, Phoenix Astronomical Society

This is a brief outline into the Astrophotography Workshop that Terry
is planning to hold over the next few months based around our
observing evenings. www.astronomypix.com

Documentary
How the Universe Works: Episode 2 - Black Holes

Delve into the mysteries of the most destructive force in the heavens.
Black holes were once only speculation, now modern astronomy is
proving them frighteningly real and showing that they may well shape
everything we see.

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Wellington Society Meeting
Thursday 24 February 7:30pm, Carter Observatory, Wellington

7:30 pm Society News
7:45 pm Glorious Globs of Summer
8:30 pm Upcoming Astrophotography Workshop
8:45 pm Supper and social time
9:00 pm Documentary: Black Holes

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Wairarapa Society Meeting
Friday 25 February at 7:30pm, Phoenix Clubrooms, Ahiaruhi, Wairarapa

7:30 pm Society News
7:45 pm Glorious Globs of Summer
8:30 pm Upcoming Astrophotography Workshop
8:45 pm Supper and social time
9:00 pm Documentary: Black Holes
Observing will follow the meeting if it is clear.

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Star Party Saturday February 26th from 6pm (Rain or Shine):

This year the lunar cycle allows us to once again place the monthly
star party the Saturday directly after Wairarapa meeting. This means
we get two shots at a clear, dark sky each month without interruption
from the moon. Reminders and any cancellations go out on the Phoenix
Announcements emailing list, if you‘re not receiving these then please
join up here: http://groups.google.com/group/phoenix-astro-announcement?lnk=srg.

We‘ll kick off at 6pm with the traditional BBQ. While we wait for the
sky to get dark we‘ll go for a tour through the constellations of
Monoceros and Gemini – which will also be the target of the
telescopes, as we try to track down all the objects to the right of
Orion, as faint as we can find them. In case the weather is inclement
(no stars) then we‘ll fall back a presentation from Stardate just
been: Binocular Summer Deep Sky.

We‘ll be playing a late night movie from 10pm to keep entertained
those people too tired or cold to observe. If the weather‘s rubbish
we‘ll start it a bit earlier.

6:00 pm BBQ and Get-together
8:00 pm Summer Night Sky AV
8:30 pm Tour through Monoceros and Gemini (live planetarium)
9:00 pm Observing: Monoceros and Gemini OR Binocular Summer Deep Sky
10:00 pm Movie - Bill and Ted‘s Excellent Adventure

Astrophotography
Don‘t forget that we have a working astrograph in the Nankivell
Observatory. You‘ll need a ball mount for your camera and matching
bolt to secure it to the mounting plate - which simply has four holes
spaced out along it for bolts to run through. The maximum realistic
focal length that can be mounted this way is about 300mm, which should
be plenty to get some great images. For information about getting
started contact Terry Galuszka Ter...@astronomypix.com.