Category: Club News

Join us Saturday August 9 at 7 PM for out next regular meeting. I know it is hard to believe that another month has come and gone with all of the activity that CAAS has been involved in but its true.  We’ll try to have a cooler classroom this time around.
Besides the normal fun and frivolity, Rocky Togni will present:
Variable Stars and their Observation, Keys to our Cosmic Knowledge

Observing variable stars is one of the areas of Astronomy that any amateur astronomer can make a contribution to science.  Armed with binoculars or a dob, many stars can be estimated.  With more sophisticated equipment such as goto telescopes and CCD’s even more and better estimates can be made.  We’ll talk about the history of variable observations and what it has meant to our knowledge of the Universe and also how to start your own Variable Observation Program or just observe some of the exciting variables.

Saturday evening, July 26, CAAS members joined with park interpreter James Mullins to host a public star party at the Pinnacle Mountain State Park Visitor Center.  If you discount the mostly cloudy conditions and frequent lightning, the weather was astounding.  Approximately 65 visitors came by to enjoy the show.  The weather put a limit on what could be seen but we did manage to to show a few summer highlights and have a couple green light saber duels.  Members in attendance were Jim Fisher, Don & Carolaina Ferren, Allen Lee, Bill Sanders, John Reed, Jason Wallawine, Pat Morris, Rocky Togni, and myself.  If I’ve forgotten anyone, please forgive me.

If you’ll pardon a sports analogy, the other team won the first two games in a best of five series putting CAAS in a must win situtation for every other game in the series.  Now we’ve come back from behind to win two in a row and the series is all tied up.  The next star party, on September 6, at PMSP again, will decide who wins the pennant.

At last a star party that was not greeted with a solid blanket of clouds at best or a statewide line of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes at worst.  CAAS members joined the good people at Woolly Hollow State Park for a star party by the lake tonight (July 19).  The estimate of the crowd from Julie Lovette was over 300!  Members John Reed, Carl Freyaldenhoven, Rocky Togni, Bill Sanders, Jason Wallawine, Allen Lee, Jim Fisher, Linda Sorrows, Don and Carolaina Ferren, and David and Nightvid Cole greeted the enthusiastic group. There was also some other scopes and people I did not recognize.  If I missed anyone my apologies.  The sky was hazy compared to the recent days but crystal clear compared to recent star parties.  The usual summer fair was on order plus a brilliant Jupiter and even brighter pass of the ISS almost directly overhead.