The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club

Friday night at 8:00pm, July 13, the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club is pleased to host Astronomy Magazine columnist and President of the Amateur Astronomy Makers of Boston, Glenn Chaple, with a presentation titled “Double Stars For Backyard Telescopes — Double Stars are TWICE the Fun!”

In the 19th century and early decades of the 20th, when refractors were the telescopes of choice, double stars were the favorite fare of amateur astronomers. With the discovery in the 1920s that the so-called “spiral nebulae” were actually distant galaxies and the emergence in popularity of the reflecting telescope, double stars took a back seat to deep-sky objects.

Light pollution has made it harder and harder to observe deep-sky objects, but double stars remain relatively unaffected by streetlights or the Moon. As a result, double stars are regaining popularity among backyard astronomers.

In a colorful and informative presentation, Glenn will explain the nature of double and multiple stars, discuss the history of double star astronomy, and offer hints on observing double stars with unaided eye, binoculars, or telescope. He’ll conclude with a look at a Top Ten double star list, the Double Star Marathon, and resources for the double star enthusiast; you’ll come away well-prepared for some double-star observing.

We’ll hope to see you on Friday July 13, from 8:00 to 9:30, for an evening of great snacks, great conversation, and a terrific presentation by a GAAC favorite.

GAAC meets on the second Friday of every month except August, at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in Lanesville. A map is here. There are no dues or fees, and the public is warmly invited. No special knowledge or equipment is needed to have a great time.

Friday night, June 8, at 8:00pm is the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club’s “Welcome to Amateur Astronomy” night! Free, of course.

This annual event is always a GAAC favorite. We’ll be featuring a group of quick, 10-15 minute presentations on topics of interest to anyone interested in pursuing astronomy, as well as a roomful of different binoculars and telescopes to inspect and ask questions about, and all the great conversation and goodies you’ve come to expect at GAAC meetings.

You’ll be able to find out more about what you need to get started, how to do astrophotography, places to shop and how much to spend, what you’ll be able to see, the advantages of different telescope optical designs and brands, and much much more.

If the weather cooperates we can step outside after the meeting and look around a bit with some of the scopes. Jupiter’s up!

You’re invited — see you there!

GAAC members meet at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan Street in the Lanesville neighborhood of Gloucester MA, from 8:00 – 9:30pm on the second Friday of every month, for presentations, discussions and activities related to observational astronomy. There is no cost.

GAAC is fortunate indeed to have Dr. Jonathan McDowell with us this month, at 8:00 pm Friday May 11 at the Lanesville Community Center, speaking on "Space Junk: A Traffic Crisis in Outer Space."

Dr. McDowell is an Astrophysicist with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a mathematician and a programmer. Dr. McDowell maintains one of the world’s best databases of orbital material launched into space – aka space junk.

It's been over 60 years since the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and space is getting busier and busier.

There are over 1,500 working satellites up there, but there are also over 18,000 known pieces of orbital debris whizzing around at up to 18,000 miles an hour. At that speed, a collision with even a small piece of junk can ruin your whole day.

Dr. McDowell will talk about the demographics of the satellite population: who is putting satellites up there, what are they doing, what the space junk is, why there's so much of it -- and most important, what can we do about it?

Join us on May 11th for this colorful, engaging and important talk. Come early for great goodies, fun conversation with friends old and new, and really cool and accessible science.

You can subscribe to Dr. McDowell’s monthly space report here:

http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/jsr.html

GAAC is fortunate to have Sky & Telescope Magazine Senior Editor Kelly Beatty as a speaker for the December 8 Holiday meeting, with a riveting presentation on "The Sputnik Years." Kelly will show us how it all happened, who was involved and what some of the many important historic results of that event have been.

October 4, 1957 marked the beginning of the Space Age, with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union. The satellite sped by over the heads of the world, and the space race was on. Everything that followed, from John Glenn orbiting the planet, to the moon landings, to the Mars rovers, to New Horizons' visit to Pluto, follows from this event.  

Kelly Beatty has been honored twice by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society. In 2005 he received the Harold Masursky Award for meritorious service, and in 2009 he was honored with the inaugural Jonathan Eberhart Journalism Award. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Astronomical League Award (in 2006) for his contributions to the science of astronomy and the American Geophysical Union's Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism (2009).

Kelly holds a Bachelors degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology and a Master's degree in science journalism from Boston University. During the 1980s he was among the first Western journalists to gain firsthand access to the Soviet space program. Asteroid 2925 Beatty was named on the occasion of his marriage in 1983, and in 1986 he was chosen one of the 100 semifinalists for NASA's Journalist in Space program.

We'll be meeting a week late, but we have a program worth waiting for! Our Oct 20 meeting, at the Lanesville Community Center, will feature Dr. Bill Waller, with a presentation titled "Surfing the Galactic Froth." As it turns out, space is not so empty after all, but instead is shot through with frothy stuff.

According to Dr. Waller, this phenomenon arises mostly from microscopic grains of dust, irradiated and warmed by stars within our Galaxy’s disk, and concentrated in nebular regions of recent star formation and subsequent stellar death.

There's a lot we can learn from these complex emissions, which provide a record of processes that have structured and powered the interstellar medium for the past 100 million years. Some of these features can be described in terms of “filaments,” “loops,” and “shell fragments,” while others appear more random – consistent with turbulence and other processes.

In his usual colorful and irreproducible style, Dr. Waller will consider some of the hot stars, intense stellar winds, and supernova explosions that power the galactic froth, and will present recent images of this nebular emission from three nearby galaxies.

October 14th we have a free program of wonderful photography at the Sawyer Free Library in downtown Gloucester, from 2:00 to 4:00.

Well-known Gloucester photographer Roger Porter will show off his favorite photos of auroras and much more, and explain how he got each shot.

That alone is worth showing up for, but he'll be followed by expert astrophotographers and fellow Gloucester Area Astronomy Club members Barry Yomtov and John Hobbs with abundant examples of their best photos, as each presents a series of terrific, colorful photographs of the wonders of the night sky.

You won't want to miss this. Save the date!

Weather permitting, our final star party of the 2017 season will take place at Halibut Point State Park on Saturday July 22, from dusk to 10:30 or so.

The public is encouraged to come out and see Jupiter and its moons, Saturn, and an array of distant deep-sky objects like galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Of course there is no cost.

If you have a telescope, please bring it. These events are always well-attended, and we can use every scope we can get. Turn left off of Gott Ave, drive up the gravel road and turn right -- we'll be set up next to the white building. The 22nd is new moon weekend, and there will be observing opportunities after the star party in what may be the darkest site this close to Boston.

As always, unless you are unloading a telescope, please park in the paved lot to the right of Gott Ave and walk the short distance up the hill to the Visitor Center. Please keep white lights to a minimum, so everyone’s eyes get a chance to adapt to the dark.

Check the club Facebook page for announcements regarding the weather.

Weather permitting, Halibut Point State Park and the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club will be hosting a star party Saturday evening, June 17, next to the HPSP Visitor Center, where GAAC will have telescopes set up from dusk to 10:00 pm for public viewing.Everyone is invited! Come look through the club’s telescopes at Jupiter and its moons, and an array of distant deep-sky objects like galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Of course there is no cost.

If skies are cloudy we'll try again at the next scheduled event on July 22.

Please park in the paved lot off of Gott Ave and walk the short distance up the hill to the Visitor Center, and please keep white lights to a minimum, so everyone’s eyes get a chance to adapt to the dark.

The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club meets at 8:00 pm on the second Friday of the month at the Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan St. in Lanesville. There is no cost, and the public is welcome.