~ Membership Bulletin Board  ~

Posted 6/15/08
Dear Sky Watchers,
 
'Sundogs' was one of the site's oldest sections dating back 10 years.   It's had a major update with new pages on sundog formation, how they change with sun elevation and their colours.  The gallery has many new images and some older ones are shown larger - that was not possible with the 25k modems of 1998!
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Other additions since the last 'Update Newsletter':

The Oslo halo display of December 2007 / High sun arcs including Parry  and Lowitz seen in Israel / Rainbow images including a twinned bow.
  
See "What's New"
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/wnew.htm
  
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Do you visit "Today's Feature"?    
A different aspect of the sky is featured every day or so.  Also a place for a preview of recent images.  There is an archive at:
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/tfarc.htm
  
  
Enjoy,
  
Les Cowley
www.atoptics.co.uk
  
 

Posted 6/12/08
Check out this article on Space.com today about re-naming dwarf planets “Plutoids.” 
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080611-plutoid-planets.html      Eric Van Osten

Posted 6/12/08
Many might remember Scott Manning as one of the Compu-Dudes on a WHYY-NPR radio show.  Scott also assisted me when we did a Skytour with Derrick on NPR radio about 4 years back.  I was so grateful for Scott's assistance.  I knew nothing about live radio with call in listeners at the time.  Scott did the background work to make the show a success and hosted the show while fielding the calls from the listeners.  I will remember his will to assist and to make those around him shine their best.  His memory will continue to shine in the minds of those he touched.    Ted Williams

Posted 6/10/08
Scott Manning died earlier today, just a week(?) after learning he had stage 4 cancer. His death was unexpected in that he had begun chemo and we all expected he'd be with us for at least a bit longer.  As you know Scott was a great amateur and an enthusiastic ambassador for astronomy. Remember the watermelon telescope he and Peter made for Stellafane? It was just last Thursday that a picture of them at Stellafane with that scope sifted itself out of the rubble of my desk...He will be greatly missed....Derrick Pitts
 

Posted 6/10/08
The Great Planet Debate, Laurel MD The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland is hosting an onsite three day workshop called the Great Planet Debate from August 14-16 with the last day being a teacher workshop. Part of the three days includes a debate between Dr. Mark Sykes of the Planetary Science Institute and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History. Here's the information . . .  Wendy Ackerman

Posted 6/10/08

Force and Motion: An online course NSTA is hosting a a multi-session online course on Force and Motion starting July 10. More information here . .  Wendy Ackerman
 

Posted 6/9/08

Check out an amazing free tool now on-line by Microsoft: "WorldWide Telescope."  Want to see the same images that scientists at NASA use for their research or perform your own research with those images? Or do you want to see the Earth from the same perspective that astronauts see as they descend to Earth? How about taking a 5 minute break and viewing a panorama of a different city? Install WWT and start your explorations. Terry Underkoffer

Microsoft Research
WorldWide Telescope

Posted 6/3/08

Summer Roundup!  We have posted most of the local Star parties for the summer season within reasonable commute on our home page.  If we have missed any, drop us a line to get the posted before summer break!  Contact ttuu@rittenhouseastronomicalsociety.org.  If you are attending a star party in some far off location, please tell us so that we can promote it to our membership.  Thanks!

  Posted 6/2/08

A great course offered by The University of the Arts this summer titled "Celestial Navigation" is one not to be missed by area science or astronomy teachers.  Discover the history and science of navigating the day and night sky.  Registration is currently on line at :  http://www.uarts.edu/extension/pie.html   A course description is posted to the link "Celestial Navigation."  We have a few members of RAS that have signed up this summer, consider joining us!

  Posted 5/26/08

Images and Complete Success for Phoenix!
Hi All:  Everything has worked perfect, over 20 images transmitted with solar arrays fully deployed.  To look for pictures check out:

U Arizona
http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=7
and here JPL
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

Dr. Ken Kremer

POSTED  5/10/08

Thanks so much to Ruth List, Eric Van Osten, Dr. Carol Rudolph, Mike Mountjoy  and Ted Williams for your assistance on astronomy day this May 10.  Your representation of our Society is appreciated.  The display drew the attention of quite a few observers, and the celestial sphere was a hit with the young ones.  ("Who put those people in there anyway?  Must have been a big hand in space!")

Ted Williams- Secretary,  Ruth List- Treasurer, Eric Van Osten- Photographer , Dr. Carol Ludolph- not pictured

Learning together!  Eric Van Osten- Photographer

POSTED  5/8/08

I am looking for the electronic version of The Planets by Gustav Holst.  It was reworked to it's electronic incarnation by the artist TOMITA, I believe back in the late 1970's.  Do any members have the CD or even the original release of the album?  Contact Ted Williams if you do, and thanks much on any information you might know of this release or artist.

POSTED  2/19/08

Check out the History channel between 8:00-10:00 on Tuesday nights.  I highly recommend Universe.  Between 9:00 and 10:00 PM. is when the new episode shows, during the 8:00 hour they feature a previous show.

Enjoy!           Alan Daroff, Vice-President  

POSTED 1/14/08      

Hi all you crazy star gazers,
This is Cindy, Chairperson of the 2007 MDSP and 2008 MDSP. Our 2008 star party is July 30th through August 3rd, 2008. Once again this is a family oriented star party. Our keynote speaker is Tom Trusock of the Cloudy Nights forum. Tom is from Michigan and this is the first time he will be speaking at a star party on the east coast. Tom is a prolific equipment reviewer and is the one of the chief content architects of www.cloudynights.com. Tom also writes for Astronomy Magazine. Everyone is welcome to go to our website www.ycas.org to see the events of the 2007 MDSP along with photo galleries showing the fun that was had by all. Just click in the Mason Dixon icon in the upper left hand corner of the YCAS homepage.

If you notify me of your star party dates I will gladly add your link to your upcoming star party on the YCAS Mason-Dixon Star party and YCAS star party links page. Also we will have put this in the YCAS Yahoo groups and will have a link on the YCAS club's newsletter.  Also, I would appreciate you telling your club members about our event and any links that you are able to post to our website.

Hope to see you at the star party.
Thanks,

Cindy Tavares
YCAS Secretary
2007-2008 Mason Dixon YCAS Secretary
2007-2008 Mason Dixon Chairperson
www.ycas.org