It Must be Astronomical ...

 

Loaners

The loaner program offers members a means to try scopes of various sizes and technologies before you buy. It is one of the real jewels of being a member of the club. Scopes are available for all experience levels. The inventory is constantly changing. The following list is a sample. For more information please see the loaner program web page: http://www.sjaa.net/loaners

 

Hot Dates

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June 20-24 - Golden State Star Party - http://www.goldenstatestarparty.blogspot.com/

July 22 - Total Solar Eclipse; Asia and Pacific Ocean. Next one is July 11, 2011

July 25 - AANC Star-B-Q. Fremont Peak State Park.

[Looking for a quick way to increase your astronomy knowledge. Check out the One Minute Astronomer at http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/ ]

 

 
Deep Sky Objects

Here are three recommendations for deep sky objects in May. For more information see http://www.resource-intl.com/Observing.Lists/Deep.Sky.Apr.09.html

 

Difficulty

Name

RA

Dec

Easy

M13

16h 41m 41s

36? 27? 37"

The great globular cluster in Hercules. Mag 5.8

Medium

NGC 6229

16h 46m 48s

47? 31? 40"

Another GC in Hercules but 1/4 the size of M13. Mag 9.4.font>

Difficult

Abell 39

16h 27m 33s

27? 54? 33"

A very cool planetary nebula - Her. mag. 13.7

 

 

  
“I think that the story of the creation of the universe is the most inspiring and exciting story science can tell.” – Sandra Faber, UC- Santa Cruz astronomer who discovered the flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope, leading to its first repair in 1993.

 

 

Q: How many stars are within 10 light-years of Earth?
A: 10 counting the sun and all components of double stars. Add just two more light-years and the number is 30. (RASC 2009, pg. 291)