Roper Mountain Astronomers News

News Updates

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:42:51 GMT

Our October meeting each year represents the time that we elect our leadership for the following year. This year we had an uncontested ballot that was approved by the membership at our monthly meeting.

The elected Executive Committee for the upcoming year is:

Jesse Nunez - President
Scott Stevens - Vice President
Bill Linton - Treasurer
Tim Stevenson - Secretary
David Quattlebaum - Member at Large (Immediate Past President)
Mark Stanford - Member at Large
Kevin Velasquez - Member at Large
Maggie Connelly - RMSC Representative

Membership Dues Scheduled to Change:

Additionally, after reviewing the budget for the upcoming year the membership voted to accept the board recommendation to change our yearly membership fee from $25/year to $45/year. The updated fee structure will go into effect with the new year (Jan 1, 2026)

Solar Scope Fund Goals Met:

Great News! Our equipment fund goals have been met for our club purchase of a solar scope rig. This rig will be used primarily for daytime outreach events such as school presentations. Over the years our members have faithfully volunteered at local schools to present content about astronomy. The real challenge is that most of those events are during the day. the addition of a Solar Scope will enable a more hands on experience for daytime presentations! Thank you all for your generosity!

DarkSky.org Capture the Dark Photo Contest

Fri, 02 May 2025 18:40:52 GMT

Capture the Dark is back! ✨ DarkSky’s premiere photography competition is the global stage for photography at night—celebrating the magic of dark skies, the beauty of the cosmos, and the wonder of the world after sunset.

Be sure to check out the new Capture the Dark website to learn how to enter and showcase your night photography to the world!

Capture The Dark Website

Messier Marathon!

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 14:16:05 GMT

We are planning two nights for a Messier Marathon this month! The Clemson Area Amateur Astronomers will be our hosts at a special location in Mountain Rest, SC on March 22nd and the 29th (weather permitting).

If you are a member of the club, login to the website and click on Events for details. Join us all night on one or both dates in an attempt to view as many of the 109 Messier objects as possible in one night!

Board Elections

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:55:09 GMT

Our annual board elections were conducted last Thursday evening. The membership voted to accept the board as proposed. Thank you all for your support and continued trust in our leadership team. We hope that the coming year will be an exciting time for the club, with new opportunities to share our love of astronomy with our community, while support that passion within our membership.

The elected leaders are:

President: David Quattlebaum
Vice-President: Scott Stevens
Treasurer: Bill Linton
Secretary: Dave Hoyt
Members at Large:

Sam Horton
Mark Stanford
Jesse Nunez

Thank you again for your support!

-David

Seeking a Board Position

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 17:20:15 GMT

Members,

Our current Treasurer will be resigning her position at the end of October, and as a result we are looking for a qualified member to help us manage the finances of the club. Responsibilities include monthly finance resport to the board, checking our PO Box for any physical checks and getting them deposited, as well as filing our taxes each year.

If you or someone you know would like to serve on the board, please let me or one of the other board members know ASAP.

Thank you in advance!

David Quattlebaum (davidq@rmastro.com)
President

Board Elections

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 19:34:59 GMT

Our annual board elections were conducted last Thursday evening. The membership voted to accept the continuation of our current board. Thank you all for your support and continued trust in our leadership team. We hope that the coming year will be an exciting time for the club, with new opportunities to share our love of astronomy with our community, while support that passion within our membership.

The elected leaders are:

President: David Quattlebaum
Vice-President: Scott Stevens
Treasurer: Casey Amarnek
Secretary: Bill Linton
Members at Large:

Sam Horton
Mark Stanford
Dave Hoyt

Thank you again for your support!

-David

An Amazing Star Party (Day and Night)

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 21:11:08 GMT

Yesterday we had a special StarParty day, beginning at lunch time, observing the partial annular eclipse of the sun. Lots of clouds early, but they broke in time to have some very nice views of the moon's shadow crossing the sun.

Later in the evening it was windy, but extremely clear. With the club's EdgeHD C14" scope we viewed the Dumbbell nebula, the Phantom Galaxy (M74), the Ring Nebula, and Saturn and Jupiter.

Other club members viewed and imaged the Veil Nebula, Sirius, and several star clusters.

If you have not yet attended a Star Party, please join us! It is a wonderful time for getting help with your telescope, enjoying the naked eye views of the Milky Way of getting to know other astronomy enthusiasts!

New Telescope Installed at the Observatory!

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 13:37:10 GMT

Yesterday was an amazing day! As most of your know we have been raising money to install a Celestron 14" EdgeHD telescope with a brand new Skywatcher EQ8R Pro Mount into the observatory. Yesterday, we did it!

I just want to thank everyone who contributed to this effort! Without even one contribution, this would not have been possible. First, thank you to our membership who donated generously to help us with extra-budgetary funds for this project. Secondly, we would not have had a project like this without the donation of the telescope by Furman University and spearheaded by David Moffett. Also, one of our club members purchased our prior observatory telescope, the Meade 14". Finally, I want to thank Sam Horton and Allen Hill for helping with the installation yesterday!

All of these contributions were necessary for our club to make this investment in the future, and I personally, and more importantly the board as a whole thank you for your contribution!

David Quattlebaum
President

Visit to the Adler Planetarium

Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:59:41 GMT

This week while I was in Chicago I decided to spend a few hours at the Adler Planetarium. The facility is beautiful architecturally and as it is located on the lake, affords excellent views of the city and the shore line. There are great presentations for kids, explaining the basics of our solar system and the universe in general with interactive displays and videos.

I took in a couple of shows while there as well. The first was Skywatch Live which simulated the actual date of the night sky in Chicago, dimming the light pollution to zero, and allowing those who do not have an opportunity to view the sky in a dark location the wonder of a truly dark location. I also viewed Planet Nine which simulated views of the Kuyper belt and explained the reasoning behind a Planet Nine hypothesis. Excellent visualizations and narration. Additionally and the end, we got to see a view of awards being presented to David Jewett who has been a speaker for our club a couple of times!

Finally I really enjoyed viewing the Adler’s telescope collection. They have a cousin to the Roper Mountain Science Center’s Observatory telescope, also made by Clark. While the objectives are no longer housed in the scope they have restored and preserved the OTA and mount beautifully. Also in the collection was the oldest telescope in the USA.

If you are ever in the Chicago area, the Adler Planetarium is definitely worth the visit!

International Dark Sky Association

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 15:43:12 GMT

The Roper Mountain Astronomers have joined the International Dark Sky Association

as a member. The IDA actively promotes the protection of our night sky from excessive light pollution. Our immediate past president Bill Michaud serves as an ambassador for the IDA. If you are interested in the IDA mission and would like to help or would like to learn more, please feel free to look up Bill in the membership section of our site and reach out!

Additionally, consider participating in the Globe At Night Citizen Science project. Each night you are out observing, take a couple of minutes to use their online app to note your observation conditions. Click here to visit the app.

New Board Members Elected

Sat, 22 Oct 2022 13:12:25 GMT

First I want to begin by thanking members of our club who have been and continue to be interested in serving through leadership. We are very lucky to have an engaged and active board who genuinely has the best interest of our mission at heart.

Thursday evening was our annual board election. We began with a contested election for two Member at Large positions, and just before voting one of the candidates graciously withdrew, leaving the election uncontested. As a result we took a yes/no vote and approved the board. Below is our list of board members for the coming year:

David Quattlebaum - President
Scott Stevens - Vice President
Casey Amarnek - Treasurer
Bill Linton - Secretary
Sam Horton - Member at Large
Dave Hoyt - Member at Large (New)
Mark Stanford - Member at Large (New)

I would like to especially thank the two members who stepped down this year, Bob Brauer and Ed Overstreet. Thank you for your time serving the club!

Clear Skies! (Please)

David Quattlebaum
President

Astrophotography Software For Linux

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 18:23:26 GMT

Oftentimes we retire an old laptop because it has become out of date or the hardware no longer meets our needs. I have found that converting an old laptop to a Linux operating system commonly adds life to a piece of equipment which would normally be sent to be recycled. Such was the case with my small HP Laptop which had seen better days. Instead of getting rid of it, I decided to convert it to a Linux Mint OS laptop. This is a variety of Ubuntu Linux which includes a ton of native drivers (which can sometimes be an issue with Linux) and has a user interface which feels a lot like Windows or a Mac.

My intent was to use this laptop as a secondary Astrophotography laptop for my smaller rig. Equipment I was interested in running:
1. Skywatcher HEQ5 Equatorial GoTo Mount
2. ZWO 533 MC Pro Cooled multi-color camera
3. Orion StarShoot Autoguider Camera
4. RedCat51 Telescope

Functionally I needed to have Planetarium Software to drive the mount, guider software for my guide scope/camera, plate solving, and imaging software to capture images for stacking.

Here is the software I installed:
1. KStars (Planetarium as well as INDI Server software (Replaces ASCOM)
2. EKOS Plugins for KStars. This is the backbone of the system for imaging, as it interfaces the mount, guiding, and image sequencing into one interface
3. Caffeine (Keeps laptop from going to sleep)
4. X11VNC Server (Remote desktop software that allowed me to control the laptop from inside my house)
5. Discord (So that I can chat with my fellow Astronomy enthusiasts while imaging)

A couple of things I learned:
1. The internal EKOS guiding software is very good. So much so that I uninstalled PHD2 in favor of the internal guiding
2. Take time and install ALL of the index files for plate solving. The solving software is quite good as well and allows for incremental solving to a ratio of accuracy
3. Using the Startup wizard in KStars was key to success. It finds all the drivers and asks you all of the questions the system needs to know. You will manually need to set up Aperture and Focal length to have successful plate solves.
4. If you want your planetarium experience to be similar to Stellarium, take the time to download the enhanced view files.

As a bonus, if you are a fan of EAA, or you are a planetary imager, the ZWO Studio suite is available natively on Linux.

For processing, nothing beats Pixinsight, and guess what....Pixinsight is built originally FOR LINUX. In fact, when you use Pixinsight on your Windows laptop, it is a PORT of the software from the Linux Version.

Feel free to message me on Discord if you have specific questions about this configuration. Most of this software is available from the package manager located in the start menu of Linux Mint.

Clear Skies!
-David

AstroPhotographer of the Year 2022 – winning images

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 13:01:20 GMT

See the spectacular winning images from Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2022/sep/16/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year-2022-winning-images

You can read more about the contestants at :

https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/galleries/overall-winners-2022

Jupiter to Reach Opposition, Closest Approach to Earth in 70 Years!

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 12:58:36 GMT

Jupiter’s opposition occurs every 13 months, making the planet appear larger and brighter than any other time of the year. But that’s not all. Jupiter will also make its closest approach to Earth in the last 70 years! This happens because Earth and Jupiter do not orbit the Sun in perfect circles – meaning the planets will pass each other at different distances throughout the year. Jupiter’s closest approach to Earth rarely coincides with opposition, which means this year’s views will be extraordinary. At its closest approach, Jupiter will be approximately 365 million miles in distance from Earth. The massive planet is approximately 600 million miles away from Earth at its farthest point.

/https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2022/09/16/jupiter-to-reach-opposition-closet-approach-to-earth-in-70-years/

Confirmation of Largest Comet

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 11:50:30 GMT

Our RMA speaker from last month is featured in several articles about the confirmation of the largest known comet. Last month David Jewitt discussed with the club details of comet discovery, and this month he is one of the team that used the Hubble telescope to confirm the size of the largest know comet to date. Check out the article on NASA's website

We Have Email!

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 03:44:01 GMT

We have some exciting news to share! The Roper Mountain Astronomers club now has its own email hosting! What this means is that we now can use official club email addresses with our RMAstro.com domain. Most communications from the website will now come from "admin@rmastro.com" instead of RMAstronomers@gmail.com, so please watch for the change in your inbox and update your Junk filter if necessary. Among the official addresses, we also have Webmaster@rmastro.com for website questions, Events@rmastro.com, Outreach@rmastro.com, Spectrum@rmastro.com, etc. Don't worry, we will still have our RMAstronomers@gmail.com address. Look for more information in the future, during our club meetings or Spectrum editions.

January Star Party

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 20:11:36 GMT

Thanks to everyone for joining us at our Dark Sky site for our January Star party (even if it was a week late). It was beautiful for viewing the night sky and some of the club members spent time imaging various targets, while others looked through the club's telescope in the observatory, or discovered new targets through the telescopes they brought with them.

If you have never joined us for a star party, please consider coming out to spend time with other club members. Each of us learn something new when we get together to view the stars in a clear, dark location!

Volunteer with RMA

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 16:18:38 GMT

At the end of the year I had the privilege to spend the afternoon with elementary students at one of our local schools in the upstate. The time I spent with them was awesome, and each of the students impressed me with their knowledge of the universe. I brought along my telescope for them to see as well as some images I have taken of galaxies and nebulae over the past year. A student explained to me that an exploding star was a supernova, and wanted to know if that was happening to Betelgeuse. Incredible!

One of the goals of the Roper Mountain Astronomers is to engage and help to educate our community. I can think of no better way to achieve this than through teaching kids about astronomy.

The club regularly gets requests from the community about demonstrations and star gazing events. If you are a member of the club and are willing to help with these events, or if you are great at organization and planning and would like to help coordinate events, please reach out to me or one of the board members to express your willingness to volunteer!

Clear Skies!

David

Classifieds

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 15:56:22 GMT

Now that Christmas has passed, it's a perfect time to check out our member classifieds in the Forums section. There are a few items there already. If you have anything that you'd like to list for sale, you can log into the website and create a new post, which will be seen by all website visitors. As a reminder, please update the post once the item has sold.

Sample Astrophotography Data Available!

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 14:17:13 GMT

There is now a set of sample astrophotography data available for RMA members to practice with. After logging into our website, navigate to Resources > Tutorials where you will find a link to an RMA Google drive folder. Here, you'll find DSO, Lunar, and Planetary samples that you can download and practice your processing skills with. If you have questions about the data or techniques, please visit our Discord server, where our experienced members will be happy to lend a hand.

Christmas Comet visible in early morning sky

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 12:52:19 GMT

Comet Lenard (c/2021) was discovered only in January of this year. It is visible in binoculars or small telescopes in the early morning hours around 4-5am. It is currently visible between Arcturus and the handle of the Big Dipper. It is moving rapidly through the sky so watch the YouTube link to see how it will move from day to day.

https://youtu.be/rMiLUB-skEg

Eclipse Tomorrow! (Friday)

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 01:28:28 GMT

Set your alarm clock for 4:00am EST and run outside to see the 99.1% lunar eclipse. Stargazers across the United States will be able to watch the peak of this brilliant Beaver full moon, which will be the longest partial lunar eclipse in over 500 years! Reflecting back on the fall colors we just experienced, the moon will have a red-brownish tint due to the light scattering across the earth's atmosphere.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1056205732/lunar-eclipse-moon-friday-morning-how-to-see

November Star Party Update

Sun, 14 Nov 2021 21:13:11 GMT

Last night we held our make up date Star Party at our Dark Sky Location, the Furman observatory. The night was clear and cool, and although we had a very bright moon high in the sky we had a great time observing and imaging a wide range of targets.

The long list included: The Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, The Orion Nebula, The Ring Nebula, The Heart Nebula, M35, M37, and a wide range of double stars that had varying colors.

New members were there, and we enjoyed lots of teaching and being taught. If you have never joined us for an in person Star Party, please do so soon! The next party is scheduled for December the 4th, assuming good weather.

Clear Skies, Look Up!

RMA in the news!

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:26:37 GMT

Member Ed Overstreet was recently featured in a segment on WSPA, speaking with Meteorologist Christy Henderson about astronomy. The club also received a special on-air mention for viewers who are interested in learning more about astronomy and telescopes. You can watch the story here:

https://www.wspa.com/news/top-stories/fall-weather-week-the-best-stargazing/

Christy has also joined the club as an Honorary Member and we are looking forward to meeting her at an upcoming star party. Welcome, Christy!

Club News-Board Elections

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 13:07:42 GMT

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the club president for the last two years. It has certainly been a crazy two years to say the least. The club has made some significant strides forward in many regards, despite the pandemic. Our web page is phenomenal to say the least. A very special thanks to Josh Palmer for championing that effort and making it happen. Additionally, the depth and breadth of our monthly presentations has reached a new level. The club’s ability to use Zoom and have speakers from Austria, United Kingdom, Colorado, and New Mexico, to name a few locations, has been outstanding. Our star parties have expanded to other locations as well, which is also been new and exciting. I want to thank the previous Board Members for making all this happen. A special thanks goes to Dennis Wilde, our Spectrum editor. Dennis is stepping down from this roll after doing it for at least the last 5 years. Thank you Dennis for producing such an awesome publication, and doing it for so long! I want to also thank the new Board Members for stepping up and serving. Many of them have been routinely participating in our monthly Board meetings already. I feel confident this transition will be seamless. Thank you again and see you soon!

ex-president

Bill Michaud

RMA SkySync Raffle Winner!

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 01:06:49 GMT

Congratulations Cathy Z on winning our club raffle. We hope you enjoy your SkySync GPS and we will be in touch with you to deliver your prize!

September Star Party Update

Sat, 18 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMT

The weather cooperated and we were able to hold our July Star Party at the Observatory site as planned. We experienced clouds and some rain in the area until 9:30pm when it started clearing. By 11:00pm the western and northern skies were very clear and the east/south skies had patchy clouds.

We had an unusually large turnout this month. A lot of first time visits from members that have joined since we had to quit using the dark site last year. It felt very good to be back in our "home" star party site. The security of the site and the comfort of the training room has been missed! Before darkness, we were able to meet and greet each other. We also shared a lot of snacks and camaraderie during the evening.

The younger visitors really enjoyed themselves with nature and other activities along with the exposure to astronomy. It was great to see the kids enjoying the beauty of the darkness and night sky with no game machines or phones glued to their faces!

Everyone appreciated the opportunity to be surrounded by our fellow club members and to be able to enjoy the skills of our talented members. Many members enjoyed casual observing with binoculars and telescopes. We were also treated to see Josh Palmer's obtain real time video of transiting satellites and David Quattlebaum's capture of nebula and galaxies!

Thanks to David Moffett, Kepler Tumler, and David Quattlebaum, we were also able to remove the Meade 14" SCT from the Observatory and store it safely in the training room. There will be a lot of maintenance activity in the Observatory this summer and we wanted the telescope to be safely stored.

We will post some photos in the members Photo Gallery area so you can be treated to some extremely nice smiles and happy faces.

Perseids Meteor Shower Viewing

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 01:00:00 GMT

Have you ever wished upon a star? Now is your chance!

Date
August 12, 2021
Time
9:00 pm
- 11:00 pm

Have you ever wished upon a shooting star? Now is your chance! Join PARI from 9-11pm on August 12, 2021 for evening viewing of the Perseids Meteor Shower and the night sky at our historic, mountaintop, Internationally certified Dark Sky Park.

Grab a picnic blanket or bring your own lawn chair and sit back and relax while enjoying the show that space provides as meteors rain down throughout the night! Expected to be the brightest with the most meteors all year, so wrap up your summer with the experience of a lifetime at PARI. PARI astronomers will also be on hand with telescopes for you to experience the night sky.

REGISTER HERE for AUGUST 12, 2021 9-11pm

Arrival time for this event is 8:30-9pm. Please make arrangements to arrive during this time. Late arrivals will not be permitted.

Want more PARI?? Check out our OVERNIGHT CABIN and OVERNIGHT CAMPING packages for the Perseids Meteor Shower that PARI will host on August 13-14, 2021.

For additional information please contact PARI at 828-862-5554 or programs@pari.edu.

Perseids Meteor Shower - Evening Viewing ONLY - PARI

Club News

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 16:28:31 GMT

Club Members

Summer is here and so is our unpredictable weather. The star party portion of our recent picnic at Musgrove Mill State Historic Site was cancelled. However, the picnic portion with Bucky’s BBQ did take place. If you haven’t done so check out the pictures on our website. Thanks to all who helped make this event happen!

We do have some great news! The Furman Observatory is reopening. Our July 10th Star Party will be held at the Furman site. Additionally, the Roper Mountain Science Center is reopening. Our July 15^th Club meeting will be in person at the Science Center in the conference room, at 7:30pm. We intend to broadcast this meeting via Zoom as well! July’s topic is practical astronomy. Based on our club survey there was a request for more hands on observational topics. This is the first meeting of this topic and we hope to have more in the near future. Randy Cockrill will demonstrate “Electrically Assisted Astronomy”. Josh Palmer will cover “Satellite Observing and Photography”. Ed Overstreet will discuss “Permanent Outdoor Telescopes With Wireless Remote Access”. We had a successful rehearsal broadcasting on Zoom from the science center this last week.

Josh Palmer has created a Private Discord Server for our club. Discord is a free platform that allows communities and special interest groups to come together to chat and hold video meetings. Check it out on our website under the Forums tab.

The October Club Meeting will feature Executive Committee Board elections. There are seven Board positions. All positions are open for election. Any club member can nominate someone for a position. You can also nominate yourself for a position. The seven positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and three each Board Members at Large. If you are interested in serving in anyone of these positions please contact me. It is highly suggested that you attend a board meeting prior to nominating yourself. Board meetings are all done via Zoom the second Thursday of each month.

See you soon!

Bill Michaud

President

Roper Mountain Astronomers Club

Enter IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 01:00:08 GMT

Enter IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest

on JUNE 21, 2021

Photography plays a powerful role in the dark sky movement. A photograph of the naturally dark sky connects those who’ve never laid eyes on the naturally dark sky to a universe hidden behind the veil of skyglow. Similarly, images of wildlife and the night impacted by light pollution can spark conservation awareness and action. Photography has the power to transport us and inspire us to connect with and ultimately protect the night.

In celebration, the International Dark-Sky Association is hosting the second annual Capture the Dark Photography Contest! It is free to enter and open to entrants worldwide. Winners of each category will receive a prize package that includes a Peak Design field pouch and camera strap, a PhotoPills license, a feature in our Nightscape publication, the IDA blog and social media, an IDA membership, and IDA swag.

Entry Period:

The contest submission window opens on June 21, 2021, at 12 pm PDT, and closes on July 23, 2021, at 12 pm PDT. To participate in the contest, please carefully review the submission instructions located here and use the submission links below.

Categories:

One winner will be selected for each category. Limit one entry per category per person.

Connecting to the Dark – Experiencing a natural night provides perspective, inspiration, and leads us to reflect on our humanity and place in the universe. Share a photo that illustrates our connection to the night.
International Dark Sky Place – Over 170 protected lands and municipalities around the world have been certified by IDA as an International Dark Sky Place creating havens for astrophotographers. Share a photo taken in one of these locations.
The Impact of Light Pollution – Light pollution can have significant impacts on the environment, human health, and our access to the night sky. Share a shot that demonstrates the impact of light pollution. This category also includes images of terrible lighting, glare bombs, etc.
The Bright Side of Lighting – Light pollution can give artificial lighting a bad reputation, but lighting that follows IDA’s Principles for Responsible Outdoor Light can be beautiful, healthy, and functional. Share a shot of lighting that respects the dark.
Creatures of the Night – Light pollution doesn’t only erase our view of the stars, scientific evidence suggests that artificial light at night has negative and deadly effects on wildlife including amphibians, birds, insects, and mammals. Share a photo of a creature that is impacted by light pollution.
Deep Sky – For thousands of years, humans have looked to the night sky and wondered what is out there. Today, we can take photos of deep space objects from our own backyards. Share a photo of an object(s) such as nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters.
The Mobile Photographer – No big camera? No problem! Share a shot from any of the above categories taken with a cell phone, tablet, or GoPro. No DSLR, mirrorless camera, or drone shots.
Youth – Share a shot for any of the above categories taken by someone 17 years old or younger.

Judging:

To judge submissions, IDA has coordinated a panel of astrophotographers from around the world:

Fefo Bouvier |@fefobouvier | Uruguay
Robyn Porteen | @skiesandcoffee | USA
Trevor Jones | @astrobackyard | Canada
Abdul Dremali | @advil | USA
Mara Leite | @maralphoto | UK
Kristine Richer | @kristinerosephotography | Canada
Shreenivasan Manievannan | @shreeniclix | USA
Jeff Dai | @jeffdaiphoto | China

Entrants will remain anonymous to the panel during the judging period.

Sponsors:
We want to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the 2021 Capture the Dark Photography Contest for their generous support.

Contest Details:

Be sure to carefully follow the submission instructions located here. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
You must include ALL of the required information in the caption section including camera settings (lens, shutter speed, ISO, aperture, etc.), technical category, and connection to the category. More information on what is required here.
The contest is free to enter. There is no purchase necessary.
One entry per category per person.
The same photograph cannot be submitted to more than one category.
Submissions must be received between June 21, 2021, at 12pm PDT and July 23, 2021, at 12pm PDT using the submission form.
The photo must be in JPEG format.
Entrants applying to the Youth category must be 17 years of age or younger at the time of submission.
Entrants must be the sole and exclusive author and owner of the photograph and have the full and exclusive right, power, and authority to submit the photograph to IDA’s Capture the Dark contest.
All photos should follow ethical dark sky and wildlife photography practices and be taken legally (see below).
In order to keep the judging process blind, submitted photos cannot be watermarked or be otherwise marked.

Photo Entry Rules:

All photos should follow ethical night sky and wildlife photography practices. Images that inappropriately add artificial light at night (such as light painting, shining white light towards the sky, etc.) will not be considered. Images must be taken legally, adhering to local access regulations such as nighttime closures or restrictions. Do not go to closed areas to photograph for this contest.

On the entry submission form in the caption section, you must indicate how your photo was taken or created! You must provide the correct information in the caption section when submitting your photo of your photograph will be disqualified.

In the caption section please tell us ALL of the following:

The camera settings you used for the photo (focal length, ISO, shutter speed, etc.) If submitting to the mobile category let us know what you used to take the photo. Be as detailed as you can.
Which technical category your photo falls under (single exposure, blend, stacked, tracked, panorama). Select all that apply, more information on each can be found below.
The connection your photo has to the contest category (less than 100 words)
Any additional information you’d like to share about the photo

The following is adapted from Royce Bair’s Nightscaper group.

The following images are ALLOWED:

Single exposure: The image is a single exposure. In expression: the camera triggered only once to acquire the image. The image is a single light frame.

Blend: A digital combination of several images taken from the same tripod position, during the same night, with the same shooting direction and focal length.

This includes:

Foregrounds captured during the blue hour/with moonlight, combined with a sky captured during astronomical night/without the moon in the sky.
Focus stacks for an increased depth of field
Tracked skies, blended with untracked foregrounds. In this case, small movement of the tripod position (i.e. to the backside of a foreground feature, to avoid too much blur in the tracked sky image) is acceptable but must be stated.

Stacked: Noise reduction by stacking multiple images taken in immediate succession and with exactly the same settings, focal point, and length, field of view, and tripod position.

Tracked: A tracking mount was used to capture the sky. These devices rotate the camera to counter earth rotation and thus allow longer exposures without producing trailed stars. Tracked & Blended images are allowed if they were both taken using the same tripod position as stated above.

Panorama: Multiple images stitched to produce a larger field of view. The individual images must be taken during the same night, from the same tripod position, and at the same focal length.

The following images are NOT ALLOWED:

Composite:

Images merged together from different tripod positions/locations or with different viewing directions
Images merged together taken during different nights
Images merged together with different focal lengths
Images merged together with daylight foregrounds and night skies

Make a Submission:

STOP! Please carefully review the submission instructions located here to be sure that your submission is successfully received with all of the required information. If you do not put the correct information in the caption section your photo will be disqualified. There is also a video walkthrough of the submission process located here. These instructions should help any answer questions that may arise during the submission process and ensure your photo is received successfully.

Note: There are individual submission links for each contest category, be sure you are submitting to the correct category.

Connecting to the Dark
International Dark Sky Place
The Impact of Light Pollution
The Bright Side of Lighting
Creatures of the Night
Deep Sky
The Mobile Photographer
Youth

Help Spread the Word:

We have put together an outreach kit will all the tools you need to help us spread the word about IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest. Click here to get a copy.

Contact:
Questions about IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest? Please reach out to Lauren Scorzafava (lauren@darksky.org). Note, submissions will not be accepted by email.

Looking for some astrophotography tips? We’ve got you covered! Check out this Astrophotography 101 YouTube video with Bettymaya Foott or check out her written guide.

Like this post? Share. Email. Print.

Enter IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest | International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org)

June Picnic at Musgrove Mill Memorial Park

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 19:21:14 GMT

Our picnic was held at Musgrove Mill Memorial Park on Saturday June 12. Severe storms went through the Laurens area around 3pm but were out of the area by the time we stated at 6pm.

Bucky's Barbecue catered the event with pulled pork and chicken barbecue, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, cold slaw and drinks. Everyone had plenty to eat and it was excellent as usual.

Before eating, several of us took to one of the 2.5 miles of nature trails in the park and walked to the Enoree River where the old bridge used to cross it for many years. Only the foundation pillars remain but the river is impressive at this site. We saw a display with a photo of the last mill house on the site from 1908. There is also a memorial commemorating the Revolutionary battle found at this location. We did not get to see the Horseshoe Falls area as it closed at 6pm.

After dinner, David Quattlebaum gave a talk on how to locate objects in the night sky using various coordinate systems, apps, and landmarks in the sky. This talk triggered a great discussion of what everyone liked to observe and how they find objects. The talk led into each person introducing themselves and relating how they got into astronomy as a hobby. It was great to meet our newer members that have not been able to get together in person.

Josh Palmer held a raffle for some items and Su Devaraj won the Wonder Globe and Scott Stevens won the Telrad red dot finder. Congratulations to the winners and we plan to have more raffles in the future.

After the raffle, Josh demonstrated how he track satellites and photographs then with his Celestron 11-inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The demonstration was held inside the picnic shelter due to the clouds. Josh will be repeating this in the future when we will be able to see satellites being tracked.

Overall we had a great picnic and only clear skies and a star party could have been better, Thanks to everyone who participated to make this event happen. Our members and board really work to make our club a success. Their passion for our hobby and our club is obvious with the participation we see in all our events.

We owe a special "Thank You" to Dawn Weaver. Dawn is the Park Manager at the Musgrove Mills park. She was extremely helpful in getting the Special Permit for our party to be held after hours. Dawn also met with us and shared her in-depth knowledge of the park. For instance, she informed us of the large bat population on the sire with two bat houses, the recent new births that were monitored, and the value of the bats in controlling mosquitos and other insects in the area.

Josh has added a folder to the Photo Galleries section for the picnic. If anyone else has photos they want to post, let Josh know and he can setup a folder for you.

New website pages!

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 14:22:21 GMT

A new members-only page has been added on the website; Located under the Members menu, the Club Bylaws page now lists the current, amended Club Bylaws document. This new document was voted into effect this past Spring.

Also added is a members-only page for our new Discord server. This page contains a description of Discord, a list of active users, and a link to join our server. The page can be found under the Forums menu. More details can be found there.

Hooray! We can have star parties at the HWY 11 Observatory again.

Sat, 22 May 2021 00:12:56 GMT

We just received some great news. Furman is allowing visitors on campus and that allows us to get back to our dark site at the Observatory on Hwy 11. We will have access to the air conditioned building just in time for our sweltering summer nights. It will also be great to have rest rooms again.

Anyone inside the buildings will have to wear masks per the University rules and unvaccinated people should wear them outdoors as it can be crowded at this site.

We have already scheduled the June Star Party and Picnic for Musgrove Mills Memorial Park, but the following dates will be at our home site.

Blood Moon 2021

Wed, 19 May 2021 00:08:26 GMT

Super Flower Blood Moon 2021: Where, when and how to see the supermoon eclipse | Space

Pluto, Our Distant Cousin

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 10:46:50 GMT

The Raleigh Astronomy Club is having an online meeting tonight and is open to the public.

Register to get the ZOOM link at : https://raleighastro.org/calendar/#!event/2021/2/26/indoor-meeting

Meeting Time: Friday 2/26 at 7:30pm (Meeting room opens about 7pm for informal chat)

Meeting Topic: Pluto, Our Distant Cousin

Abstract: Over the last few years, Pluto has turned out to be one of the most interesting places in our Solar System. Far from being just a remote rock/ice lump at the edge of the Solar System, it turns out that Pluto is a cooler cousin of Earth/Mars. The New Horizons mission transformed our understanding of Pluto and the data that was obtained is still leading to new questions and answers today. This talk will cover some of the latest research and theories on Pluto.

Speaker: Ian Hewitt is a long-time RAC member and long time amateur astronomer. He is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, teaches astronomy at Coastal Carolina University and is an Research Adjunct at the Astronomy and Astrophysics Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Although his main efforts are in astronomical data processing, he hasalways been fascinated by Pluto.

Messier Marathon Week

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 23:59:49 GMT

Hi all at Roper Mountain Astronomers,

Unistellar is hosting an international Messier marathon from March 10-16, 2021 featuring numerous astronomy “races” that can be completed in anywhere from an hour to an evening.

We’ll set a world record, bring international audiences together, have a lot of fun under the stars - all in the name of astronomy outreach.

We’re seeking partners to officially participate in the event, alongside Unistellar, SETI Institute, and some of the northern hemisphere’s leading planetariums, observatories and astronomy clubs. I thought you might be interested because it’s a fun and easy to participate, and there’s opportunity to connect with astronomy-lovers around the world.

A formal invitation is below, as well as here.
To see the races we have planned, simply check out this document which features a selection from our upcoming eBook.
You can find event information and a detailed Q&A here, as well as a high-level fact sheet here.
Click this link to see what Unistellar has to offer our official partners - beyond bragging rights, of course.

Please let me know if you’re interested and keen to participate, or if you have any questions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Clear skies!

Watch the Mars landing today!

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 16:28:17 GMT

The day has finally arrived! The Mars rover "Perseverance" is due to land on Mars this afternoon! If you'd like to watch live, there are multiple streams available, starting at 2:15PM EST. See below for more details:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/watch-online/

Update From Webmaster: Renewal Notifications

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 16:25:23 GMT

Greetings, RMA members!

In an effort to improve the membership process, we have enabled email alerts for upcoming renewals. 7 days before your membership renewal date, you will receive an email reminder and invoice. Your membership fees can be paid online instantly (preferred), or via check by mail. On your renewal date, you will receive another reminder, followed by a "Grace Period" email 7 days later, and a Lapsed email 7 days after that, when access to some website features will be suspended.

Since these notifications were enabled while some memberships were in a Pending Renewal state, you may only receive a Grace Period or Lapsed email for this cycle.

You will continue to see renewal-related messages when logging into the website.

If you have any questions or issues with your renewal, please contact us. Thank you for being a part of Roper Mountain Astronomers!

Josh Palmer
Webmaster

Northern Hemisphere Astrophotography Competition

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 03:23:29 GMT

Northern Hemisphere Astrophotography Competition

Happy New Year! The world’s most awesome astrophotography competition is back in the Northern Hemisphere! Between the 1st January and the 31st March, nPAE invites you to enter any two astro photos taken either by yourself or a group effort with your friends into our annual Northern Hemisphere Competition!

Not only can you win USD270 / GBP200 cash, there is also amazing nPAE gear up for grabs. See our website competition page for full details on how to enter.

https://www.npae.net/competition/

Once the 2021 North and South competitions have been won, they will, along with the 2020 World Champion, go head to head in a public vote to decide who will become the 2021 nPAE World Champion Astro Photographer!

Good luck!

nPAE Precision Astro Engineering.

Copyright © 2021 nPAE Precision Astro Engineering, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:

nPAE Precision Astro Engineering

North Gate House

North Gate

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG7 7BQ

United Kingdom

Happy New Year From The Webmaster!

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 15:14:23 GMT

I just wanted to personally wish everyone a happy and safe New Year! Thank you for sticking with us, not only through the transition to the new RMA Website, but also through the introduction of our virtual meetings and events. 2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone, but it also has been full of interesting opportunities: Seeing the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, watching all of the historic SpaceX launches, 4 consecutive "supermoons", a Lunar Eclipse, and more. I am convinced that 2021 will bring us together once again, where we can observe and share the night sky with each other in person.

Happy New Year!

Josh Palmer
RMA Webmaster & Board Member at Large

Saturn and Jupiter Conjunction!

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 03:54:44 GMT

From Allen Hill:

We had a good turnout for the Christmas Star event at the Blue Ridge RC field. RMA and flying club members took part. We had some guests come late as people went home and told their families about the event. Also Jonathan Zrake (our last guest speaker) brought his wife and baby daughter out.

I think we were the last people in South Carolina as Bob was showing the last guests the planets at 7:10pm as they were on the horizon!

November 29–30, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 13:00:18 GMT

Upcoming Lunar Eclipses.

This sight has details about upcoming eclipses and where they will be visible from. Very detailed!

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2020-november-30

European Space Observatory

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 17:02:25 GMT

Some cool thinks from the European Space Observatory

http://jean-ux.com/ESO/

Astrobiology Webcasts at Nasa

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:34:58 GMT

https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/

NASA has a rich selection of resources for anyone interested in Astrobiology in general or career opportunities in this field. One weekly series is an interactive meeting with leading astrobiologists at NASA. Ask An Astrobiologist allows real time interaction and recordIngs are also onsite.

November 24, 2020 10AM PST

Our guest is Dr. Melissa Trainer, a Deputy Principal Investigator (PI) for the Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan, and lead for the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), an instrument supporting the Dragonfly investigation of Titan's surface composition and characterization of potential prebiotic chemistry! She has spent more than a decade characterizing the chemical and physical properties of Titan and early Earth organic aerosol analogs.

Witness a Super-Rare Planetary Alignment Not Seen in 800 Years

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:10:46 GMT

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-planets-will-align-in-christmas-week-for-a-rare-spectacle-not-seen-in-800-years

Star-gazers are in for a treat over Christmas, as Jupiter and Saturn will get closer to each other in Earth's night sky than they have been for nearly 800 years. Set up your telescope, hope for a clear night, and get ready.

The celestial synchronisation has been in the works since summer as Jupiter and y have been moving closer together in the night sky, and between 16-25 December they'll be separated by only 1/5th the diameter of a full moon.

While the planets won't physically be close to each other at all, of course, they'll look like a single point of bright light to anyone looking up at the night sky.

"Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another," says astronomer Patrick Hartigan from Rice University.

How the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction will appear to telescope viewers. (Patrick Hartigan/CC BY 4.0)

"You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky."

To get the best viewing experience for this spectacular show, you're going to need to be somewhere near the equator – but if the skies are clear then the alignment should still be visible from just about anywhere on Earth.

The pair of planets will show up in the night sky for about an hour after sunset each evening, according to astronomers. If you're hoping to catch a glimpse yourself, you'll need to point your telescope towards the western sky.

"On the evening of closest approach on Dec 21 they will look like a double planet, separated by only 1/5th the diameter of the full moon," says Hartigan. "For most telescope viewers, each planet and several of their largest moons will be visible in the same field of view that evening."

"The further north a viewer is, the less time they'll have to catch a glimpse of the conjunction before the planets sink below the horizon."

The planets will be bright enough in the sky to be visible in twilight, which might be the best time to try and take a look at them if you're in the US. Websites such as Stellarium should help you work out where you should be looking from your vantage point.

While this kind of alignment hasn't occurred since the Middle Ages, it will happen again fairly soon, in March 2080. After that though, Jupiter and Saturn won't get as close in our night sky until 2400.

When we're dealing with these sorts of timescales, it always pays to keep up to date with what's happening around the Solar System – you don't want to miss something incredible

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 02:23:22 GMT

Rocky Kolb, "Schrödinger's Alarming Phenomenon"

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 20:07:55 GMT

If you missed this event, you can see a recording at:

https://youtu.be/PcCWLuO2zvI

This lecture ("Schrödinger's Alarming Phenomenon") was recorded on October 22, 2020 as part of the UofSC Department of Physics and Astronomy's weekly colloquium series.

Dr. Rocky Kolb is the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) as well as the Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.

Abstract: The big bang is a laboratory to explore the properties of particles that cannot be created in terrestrial laboratories. In addition to thermal processes, there is another source of cosmological particle production. In 1939, Erwin Schrödinger pointed out that particle-antiparticle pairs could be created merely by the violent expansion of space. The spontaneous appearance of particles from the vacuum so disturbed Schrödinger that he referred to it as an "alarming" phenomenon. The phenomenon is now thought to be the origin of density fluctuations produced in inflation as well as a background of gravitational waves. Gravitational particle production is a rich phenomenon, which continues to be explored.

Galileo and the Science Deniers-Mario Livio

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 23:59:22 GMT

If you missed this event, it is now on YouTube.

Link is at the bottom.

This event was sponsored by the University of SC.

Dr. Mario Livio is an internationally known astrophysicist, best-selling author, and popular speaker. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Livio has published more than 400 scientific articles. He has made significant theoretical contributions to topics ranging from cosmology, supernova explosions, and black holes to extrasolar planets and the emergence of life in the universe. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his research, including having been selected as the “Carnegie Centenary Professor” by the universities of Scotland in 2003, and as the “Danz Distinguished Lecturer” by the University of Washington in 2006.

Dr. Livio is also the author of seven popular science books. His bestselling book The Golden Ratio won him the Peano Prize in 2003 and the International Pythagoras Prize in 2004, as the best popular book on mathematics. His book Is God A Mathematician? inspired the NOVA program “The Great Math Mystery,” which was nominated for an EMMY in 2016. His book Brilliant Blunders was selected by The Washington Post as one of the Notable Books of 2013. His book Galileo and the Science Deniers appeared in May 2020.

Dr. Livio appears frequently in the media, including “The Daily Show,” “60 Minutes,” and multiple NOVA programs, as well as numerous radio programs such as “Science Friday,” “All Things Considered,” “On Being,” and “Studio 360."

During the past three decades he has given hundreds of talks across the globe at venues ranging from the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and the Hayden Planetarium in New York, to the Royal Astronomical Society in London, Tel Aviv University, TEDx Mid-Atlantic in Washington DC, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Ciudad de las Ideas in Mexico, and the Berlin Planetarium. He has been a regular speaker at the World Science Festival in New York, and was selected five times as one of the “Nifty Fifty” scientists by the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC. He is also Science Advisor to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and has presented science-related topics in a number of their concerts. He has collaborated with composer Paola Prestini in the creation of the “Hubble Cantata,” which was inspired by Hubble images and discoveries.

Click here to watch

Virtual Physics & Astronomy Colloquia Announcement (Fall 2020) U of SC

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:38:15 GMT

(This is a great opportunity to jojn with U of SC Physics and Astronomy students and faculty for current topics and research)

For those who may not know, the department also offers a colloquium series on select Thursday afternoons at 4:15 pm EDT during the Fall and Spring semesters.

Our colloquia feature speakers from both U of SC and other institutions around the world. This semester, our colloquia are being held virtually on Zoom, which may allow some to attend that could not typically participate in past face-to-face Thursday talks.

To be added to our colloquia email list (in addition to our separate public lectures and special events list), please reply to Sam Beals at beals@mailbox.sc.edu. I will send the Zoom meeting infomation each Thurday morning

For more information on our colloquia, feel free to visit this website.

Sam Beals - Student Services Coordinator

beals@mailbox.sc.edu

803-777-8105
Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Arts and Sciences
University of South Carolina

Club Christmas Party

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 00:09:26 GMT

Club Members

Hello and we hope you are all doing well. At our last board meeting we discussed the annual Christmas Party. Although this has been a tradition for many years and participation has always been very good, the board decided unanimously not to have a Christmas Party this year. With the safety of all club members we felt this was the right thing to do.

We have a few loaner scopes that are in need of use. We have an awesome 10" Meade LXD75 Newtonian that needs a home. If you want to borrow this scope or any of the ones on the web page, by all means let one of the Board members know. We will provide training on how to use them as well. This is a great opportunity to try a larger more sophisticated scope before purchasing a new one.

President

Bill Michaud

Dramatic Timelapse From Hubble Shows a Star Literally Exploding in Nothingness

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 23:13:56 GMT

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-hubble-s-incredible-timelapse-of-an-exploding-star

Upcoming ISS Passes

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 20:29:26 GMT

Over the next week, we will have many great opportunities to observe (or photograph) the International Space Station. Highest altitude passes are in bold. The cooler weather also seems to be bringing in some clear skies, which means our chances of seeing the ISS are greatly improved from over the summer. We also have the Spot The Station widget on the main page for the daily passes. If you have any questions about observing or photographing the ISS, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. - Josh

Date	Visible	Max Height*	Appears	Disappears
Thu Oct 1, 9:20 PM	< 1 min	10°	10° above NNW	10° above NNW
Fri Oct 2, 8:33 PM	1 min	13°	10° above N	13° above NNE
Sat Oct 3, 9:22 PM	< 1 min	15°	10° above NW	15° above NW
Sun Oct 4, 8:35 PM	3 min	30°	10° above NNW	30° above NNE
Mon Oct 5, 7:48 PM	4 min	20°	10° above NNW	13° above ENE
Mon Oct 5, 9:25 PM	< 1 min	17°	17° above WNW	17° above WNW
Tue Oct 6, 8:37 PM	3 min	74°	13° above NW	73° above SSW
Wed Oct 7, 7:49 PM	6 min	57°	10° above NW	16° above ESE
Wed Oct 7, 9:28 PM	< 1 min	10°	10° above WSW	10° above WSW
Thu Oct 8, 8:40 PM	2 min	20°	18° above WSW	15° above SSW
Fri Oct 9, 7:53 PM	3 min	37°	35° above WSW	11° above SSE
Sun Oct 11, 7:55 PM	< 1 min	11°	11° above SW	10° above SW

New Meteorite Site Page!

Sun, 27 Sep 2020 22:38:42 GMT

In response to the fantastic presentation given by Dr. Ludovic Ferrière, we have added a new site page featuring Dr. Ferrière, the Natural History Museum of Vienna, and the opportunities for Citizen Science. In the coming weeks, Dr. Ferrière has graciously offered to provide additional information about South Carolina meteorites in his collection. Stay tuned! Until then, enjoy the new page, the video recording of his tour, and consider helping with the hunt for meteorites through citizen science or direct financial support.

International Observe the Moon Night-Saturday September 26

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 17:45:59 GMT

https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/about/overview/#:~:text=International%20Observe%20the%20Moon%20Night%20occurs%20annually%20in%20September%20or,great%20phase%20for%20evening%20observing.

International Observe the Moon Night is a time to come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts and curious people worldwide. Everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science and exploration, take part in celestial observations, and honor cultural and personal connections to the Moon. Note that we encourage you to interpret “observe” broadly.

International Observe the Moon Night occurs annually in September or October, when the Moon is around first quarter ― a great phase for evening observing. Furthermore, a first-quarter Moon offers excellent viewing opportunities along the terminator (the line between night and day), where shadows enhance the Moon’s cratered landscape.

You can join International Observe the Moon Night from wherever you are. Attend or host a virtual or in-person event, or observe the Moon from home. Connect with fellow lunar enthusiasts around the world through our Facebook page, #ObserveTheMoon on your preferred social media platform, and join the International Observe the Moon Night Flickr group. Outdoors, at home, online, or wherever you may be, we’re glad to have you with us. However you choose to observe, please follow local guidelines on health and safety.

Discover possible impact craters from home-Citizen Science Project

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 01:04:24 GMT

See the link below to hunt for meteorite impact craters from home.

https://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/en/research/mineralogy__petrography/be_a_part/vigie_cratere

Club News

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 01:38:02 GMT

Club Members

Fall is finally upon us. As the leaves change and the weather cools there is hope for clearer skies for stargazing in the near future. The Club Board has been diligent conducting club business. Here is a brief summary: Monthly club meetings have continued in a virtual sense. We even added an August meeting, which is typically not a month we hold a meeting. We have had some very good presentations recently.

There has been some extensive effort to find an additional location for star parties. Musgrove Mill State Historic Site near Clinton was scheduled for July, but cancelled due to weather. Lake Rabon Park in Laurens County is the location of our September Star Party. We have also found an additional site in Piedmont. These three locations, are all in addition to our typical site off Hwy 11. I'd like to thank all the board members for their efforts during this crazy time.

Club elections will be held in October. James Carr, Member-At-Large will be stepping down when his term expires in October. This vacancy must be filled. Below are the current nominees.

Bill Michaud-President

Allen Hill Vice President

Bob Brauer-Treasurer

Bill Linton-Secretary

Josh Palmer-Member-at-large (webmaster)

Susanna McDonnell-Member-at-large

Member-At-Large open

Anyone interested in serving in anyone of these positions can nominate themselves or have someone else nominate them. If you are interested in any way shape or form, please email me and we can discuss duties and responsibilities.

Future of the Spectrum. The board has decided to reduce the frequency of the Spectrum, to quarterly. We discussed this matter extensively. We also surveyed the membership to get their input. With a functioning web site the board felt several of the Spectrum items were redundant, or immediately available on the internet. There is currently a significant amount of work done in the background to create and maintain this monthly publication. Members should expect a streamlined Spectrum, published quarterly. The Board is open to hear your comments concerning this change. I'd like to thank Dennis Wild for his time, energy, and effort as the editor of the Spectrum. He has done a phenomenal job doing this for the past 5 years and has agreed to continue for the time being. Thank you Dennis!!!

I hope to see everyone soon at either a star party or a club meeting.

Bill Michaud

President

Roper Mountain Astronomers

Ask your Astronomy and Astrophysics question during one of these sessions

Tue, 25 Aug 2020 20:15:15 GMT

Professor Chris Impey at the University of Arizona is conducting two questions and answer sessions on astronomy during these live Youtube sessions. These sessions are free. I have been attending these from time to time and thought some of our members might find them interesting.

If interested you can signup to receive announcements of future sessions which are conducted every week. - Randy Cockrill

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the days and times for the next TWO live question and answer sessions:

CLICK HERE for LIVE Session #1: TOMORROW on Wednesday, August 26th at 17:00 UTC, 10:00AM PDT and MST, 12:00PM CDT, and 1:00PM EDT.

CLICK HERE for Live Session #2: Next week on Friday, September 4th at 20:00 UTC, 1:00PM PDT and MST, 3:00PM CDT, and 4:00PM EDT.

These will be opportunities to ask any and all of your astronomy-related questions to Professor Impey online using YouTube Live.

For both of these sessions there is a countdown timer, in case you want to check on the exact start time in your time zone. You can also set a YouTube/Google reminder on this page. Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel, and click the BELL icon to make sure you hear about upcoming live sessions.

If you are unable to attend, or prefer not to ask questions in the live chat, you can email them to astronomysota@gmail.com. We do our best to answer as many questions as possible, but we often have more than we can cover in an hour. We try to select a balance of topics and keep the level of questions and answers appropriate for our audience. If your question is not chosen this time, please join us and ask again at the next live session.

If you are unable to attend, you can always catch up afterwards and watch the archived video by clicking on the links above. We look forward to having you join us!

Finally, we now have a Discord server! Come hang out with fellow Astronomy, Astrobiology, and Astrophysics enthusiasts! https://discord.gg/KJw8cGz

Hubble Snaps Close Up of Meathook Galaxy

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 00:54:52 GMT

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-close-up-meathook-galaxy-08748.html

See your favorite winter constellations in August

Sun, 16 Aug 2020 00:16:14 GMT

Do you like viewing the winter constellations, but hate standing out in the cold of January? If so, then wake up a little before sunrise and you can see your favorite constellations of the winter hexagon in the cool August mornings. This article on Space.com gives a detailed description of how it is possible to view winter constellations in the summer:

https://www.space.com/moon-venus-conjunction-winter-constellations.html

The photo below was taken from my drive in Simpsonville around 5:30 am on 8/12/2020. Venus is the overexposed bright object on the left side and Orion constellation is on the cenetr-right I used a standard canon dslr and 50 mm lens. This was facing east to southeast.

Hot 'blob' points to a neutron star lurking in Supernova 1987A

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 15:34:19 GMT

Hot 'blob' points to a neutron star lurking in Supernova 1987A

Astronomers have long suspected a city-sized neutron star hides within the dusty shroud of SN 1987A. And now, they’re closer than ever to proving their case.

By Yvette Cendes | Published: Thursday, August 6, 2020

https://astronomy.com/news/2020/08/neutron-star-found-hiding-within-supernova-1987a-new-evidence-suggests

RELATED TOPICS: SUPERNOVAE | STARS

Astronomers have found new, compelling evidence that Supernova 1987A harbors a neutron star (blue-white) within a newly imaged 'blob' of extremely hot dust (red), as seen in this artist’s concept.

NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton

On February 24, 1987, an unexpected cosmic explosion rocked the astronomical community. Dubbed Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), the fiery event — triggered by the implosion of a massive star — was the closest observed supernova to Earth since the invention of the telescope. It didn’t occur in our galaxy, though. SN 1987A self-destructed within the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that resides some 170,000 light-years from Earth. Nonetheless, SN 1987A was still so bright that naked-eye observers could see it for several weeks.

But the extraordinary sight of a nearby supernova lingering in Earth’s night sky isn’t the only thing SN 1987A bestowed upon us. It also gave astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to investigate what triggers supernovae, as well as how such powerful blasts ripple through their surroundings. In fact, we can see the shockwave from SN 1987A still speeding outward today, interacting with clouds of dust that encircle the original site of the cosmic explosion.

This time-lapse shows how Supernova 1987A's shock wave explodes outward over the course of 25 years.

Credit: Yvette Cendes/University of Toronto/Leiden Observatory

However, an enduring mystery remains: What did SN 1987A leave behind? According to new research, the answer is likely a neutron star.

The corpse of SN 1987A

For quite some time, astronomers have assumed SN 1987A initially left behind a neutron star. That’s because a few hours before the supernova’s light reached us, they detected an influx of neutrino particles washing over Earth, as would be expected if a supernova erupted nearby. These nearly unstoppable particles zip straight through the dense material present during a budding supernova — unlike light, which gets held up for a bit. In fact, SN 1987A was the very first time scientists ever detected neutrinos from beyond our solar system.

But even though these neutrinos almost certainly came from the birth of a neutron star in SN 1987A, astronomers aren’t sure whether that neutron star lives on, or rather quickly collapsed into a black hole. And despite decades of monitoring the site, observers have yet to find convincing signs of a compact object lurking near the center of SN 1987A. At least, until now.

In a new paper published July 30 in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers report they’ve found compelling evidence that SN 1987a is still harboring a neutron star, which would make it the youngest such stellar corpse yet known. (The previous record holder, called Cassiopeia A, is estimated to be about 330 years old.) The astronomers carried out the study using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — a radio telescope in Chile that’s able to peer through obscuring dust. These new, extremely high-resolution images revealed a hot “blob” lurking in the core of SN 1987A.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) captured high-resolution images to reveal a hot, slightly off-center “blob” (inset to left) within the core of Supernova 1987A. The material seen by ALMA in radio wavelengths is colored red and yellow. Hubble’s visible view is displayed in green, and Chandra’s X-ray view is shown in blue.

ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), P. Cigan and R. Indebetouw; NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton; NASA/ESA

However, the blob itself is not the neutron star. Because neutron stars compress about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun into a sphere roughly 15 miles (25 kilometers) wide, they are impossible to see directly. Instead, the newly discovered blob seems to be a giant gas cloud that dramatically outshines its surroundings, and it’s located right where astronomers think SN 1987A’s neutron star should be.

“There has to be something in the cloud that has heated up the dust and which makes it shine,” explained coauthor Mikako Matsuura of Cardiff University in a press release. At its longest, the blob spans about 4,000 astronomical units — where one astronomical unit is the average Earth-Sun distance — and it’s estimated to have a temperature of some 9 million degrees Fahrenheit (5 million degrees Celsius). “That’s why we suggest that there is a neutron star hiding inside the dust cloud,” Matsuura added.

This blob is not exactly at the center of SN 1987A, though; it’s slightly offset. But that’s not a bug in the theory, that’s a feature. Astronomers have long suspected that SN 1987A exploded asymmetrically, flinging more material in one direction than the other. Per Newton’s third law of motion, such an asymmetric blast would have “kicked away” the neutron star in the opposite direction at hundreds of miles per second. So, by simply calculating how far the neutron star traveled through space during the past 30-some years, the astronomers can predict its offset from the center of SN 1987A. As it turns out, it’s precisely where they found the blob in the ALMA images.

Want to learn more about pulsars and other extreme objects in our universe? Check out our free downloadable eBook: Exotic objects: Black holes, pulsars, and more.

Now that astronomers have likely found the location of the neutron star within SN 1987A — and nicknamed it “NS 1987A” — the real quest for understanding can begin.

For starters, researchers really want to know whether NS 1987A is a pulsar, which is a neutron star that emits a powerful beam of radio radiation as it rotates. (Remember, all pulsars are neutron stars. But not all neutron stars are pulsars). While astronomers aren’t exactly sure what mechanism produces a pulsar’s radio jet, they think it’s related to factors like the star’s spin and magnetic field. But so far, astronomers haven’t detected any such radio pulses from the direction of SN 1987A. Plus, the blob’s current amount of energy doesn’t seem to allow for extra energy coming from pulses within.

To definitively determine whether NS 1987A is a pulsar or just a run-of-the-mill neutron star, astronomers must continue to refine the estimated mass and temperature of the blob. Then, by closely seeking out periodic variations in the blob’s brightness, they might be able to tie any flickers to the consistent rhythm of a pulsar within.

Until then, however, researchers are simply happy that a decades-old mystery about what lurks in the core of SN 1987A is likely laid to rest. But even so, you can bet astronomers won’t stop tracking the aftermath of the cosmic explosion anytime soon.

Hubble Finds That Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 15:31:08 GMT

Aug. 13, 2020 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble-finds-that-betelgeuses-mysterious-dimming-is-due-to-a-traumatic-outburst

Hubble Finds That Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst

Observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are showing that the unexpected dimming of the supergiant star Betelgeuse was most likely caused by an immense amount of hot material ejected into space, forming a dust cloud that blocked starlight coming from Betelgeuse's surface.

Hubble researchers suggest that the dust cloud formed when superhot plasma unleashed from an upwelling of a large convection cell on the star's surface passed through the hot atmosphere to the colder outer layers, where it cooled and formed dust grains. The resulting dust cloud blocked light from about a quarter of the star's surface, beginning in late 2019. By April 2020, the star returned to normal brightness.

Betelgeuse is an aging, red supergiant star that has swelled in size due to complex, evolving changes in its nuclear fusion furnace at the core. The star is so huge now that if it replaced the Sun at the center of our solar system, its outer surface would extend past the orbit of Jupiter.

The unprecedented phenomenon for Betelgeuse's great dimming, eventually noticeable to even the naked eye, started in October 2019. By mid-February 2020, the monster star had lost more than two-thirds of its brilliance.

This four-panel graphic illustrates how the southern region of the rapidly evolving, bright, red supergiant star Betelgeuse may have suddenly become fainter for several months during late 2019 and early 2020. In the first two panels, as seen in ultraviolet light with the Hubble Space Telescope, a bright, hot blob of plasma is ejected from the emergence of a huge convection cell on the star's surface. In panel three, the outflowing, expelled gas rapidly expands outward. It cools to form an enormous cloud of obscuring dust grains. The final panel reveals the huge dust cloud blocking the light (as seen from Earth) from a quarter of the star's surface.

Illustration credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Wheatley (STScI)

This sudden dimming has mystified astronomers, who scrambled to develop several theories for the abrupt change. One idea was that a huge, cool, dark "star spot" covered a wide patch of the visible surface. But the Hubble observations, led by Andrea Dupree, associate director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), Cambridge, Massachusetts, suggest a dust cloud covering a portion of the star.

Several months of Hubble's ultraviolet-light spectroscopic observations of Betelgeuse, beginning in January 2019, yield a timeline leading up to the darkening. These observations provide important new clues to the mechanism behind the dimming.

Hubble captured signs of dense, heated material moving through the star's atmosphere in September, October, and November 2019. Then, in December, several ground-based telescopes observed the star decreasing in brightness in its southern hemisphere.

“With Hubble, we see the material as it left the star’s visible surface and moved out through the atmosphere, before the dust formed that caused the star to appear to dim,” Dupree said. “We could see the effect of a dense, hot region in the southeast part of the star moving outward.

"This material was two to four times more luminous than the star's normal brightness," she continued. "And then, about a month later, the south part of Betelgeuse dimmed conspicuously as the star grew fainter. We think it is possible that a dark cloud resulted from the outflow that Hubble detected. Only Hubble gives us this evidence that led up to the dimming."

The team's paper will appear online Aug. 13 in The Astrophysical Journal.

Massive supergiant stars like Betelgeuse are important because they expel heavy elements such as carbon into space that become the building blocks of new generations of stars. Carbon is also a basic ingredient for life as we know it.

Tracing a Traumatic Outburst

Dupree's team began using Hubble early last year to analyze the behemoth star. Their observations are part of a three-year Hubble study to monitor variations in the star's outer atmosphere. Betelgeuse is a variable star that expands and contracts, brightening and dimming, on a 420-day cycle.

Hubble's ultraviolet-light sensitivity allowed researchers to probe the layers above the star's surface, which are so hot — more than 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit — they cannot be detected at visible wavelengths. These layers are heated partly by the star's turbulent convection cells bubbling up to the surface.

Hubble spectra, taken in early and late 2019, and in 2020, probed the star's outer atmosphere by measuring magnesium II (singly ionized magnesium) lines. In September through November 2019, the researchers measured material moving about 200,000 miles per hour passing from the star's surface into its outer atmosphere.

Related: NASA Satellite’s Lone View of Betelgeuse Reveals More Strange Behavior

For several weeks in summer 2020, NASA’s STEREO had the solar system’s best view of the star Betelgeuse, revealing more unexpected dimming by the star.

Read more

This hot, dense material continued to travel beyond Betelgeuse's visible surface, reaching millions of miles from the seething star. At that distance, the material cooled down enough to form dust, the researchers said.

This interpretation is consistent with Hubble ultraviolet-light observations in February 2020, which showed that the behavior of the star's outer atmosphere returned to normal, even though visible-light images showed that it was still dimming.

Although Dupree does not know the outburst's cause, she thinks it was aided by the star's pulsation cycle, which continued normally though the event, as recorded by visible-light observations. The paper's co-author, Klaus Strassmeier, of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, used the institute's automated telescope called STELLar Activity (STELLA), to measure changes in the velocity of the gas on the star's surface as it rose and fell during the pulsation cycle. The star was expanding in its cycle at the same time as the upwelling of the convective cell. The pulsation rippling outward from Betelgeuse may have helped propel the outflowing plasma through the atmosphere.

Dupree estimates that about two times the normal amount of material from the southern hemisphere was lost over the three months of the outburst. Betelgeuse, like all stars, is losing mass all the time, in this case at a rate 30 million times higher than the Sun.

Betelgeuse is so close to Earth, and so large, that Hubble has been able to resolve surface features – making it the only such star, except for our Sun, where surface detail can be seen.

Hubble images taken by Dupree in 1995 first revealed a mottled surface containing massive convection cells that shrink and swell, which cause them to darken and brighten.

A Supernova Precursor?

The red supergiant is destined to end its life in a supernova blast. Some astronomers think the sudden dimming may be a pre-supernova event. The star is relatively nearby, about 725 light-years away, which means the dimming would have happened around the year 1300. But its light is just reaching Earth now.

"No one knows what a star does right before it goes supernova, because it's never been observed," Dupree explained. "Astronomers have sampled stars maybe a year ahead of them going supernova, but not within days or weeks before it happened. But the chance of the star going supernova anytime soon is pretty small."

Dupree will get another chance to observe the star with Hubble in late August or early September. Right now, Betelgeuse is in the daytime sky, too close to the Sun for Hubble observations. But NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) has taken images of the monster star from its location in space. Those observations show that Betelgeuse dimmed again from mid-May to mid-July, although not as dramatically as earlier in the year.

Dupree hopes to use STEREO for more follow-up observations to monitor Betelgeuse's brightness. Her plan is to observe Betelgeuse again next year with STEREO when the star has expanded outward again in its cycle to see if it unleashes another petulant outburst.

Claire Andreoli
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Donna Weaver / Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
410-338-4493 / 410-338-4514
dweaver@stsci.edu / villard@stsci.edu

Andrea Dupree
CfA | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, Mass.
617-495-7489
dupree@cfa.harvard.edu

How to See Comet Neowise

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 21:25:12 GMT

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise

Comet Neowise

Sun, 12 Jul 2020 17:19:50 GMT

I got to see the current bright comet (Neowise) this morning. The attached file documents how it appeared.

Comet Neowise.pdf

Observation Basics

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 18:15:14 GMT

AboutScopes.pdf

Citizen Science

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 19:45:57 GMT

For those interested in Citizen Science, I did a presentation for the club a couple of years ago. In case you missed it, here is the link to the slideshow, with some excellent projects that you can participate in:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GnJoOpdFVsHqFgstecpSU3lsryweQhlX/view?usp=sharing

Capture the Dark Photography Contest-IDA

Sun, 28 Jun 2020 23:26:11 GMT

Check out the contest winners of the International Dark Sky Associations "Capture the Dark Photography" Contest.

https://www.darksky.org/winning-submissions-for-capture-the-dark-photography-contest/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=91bddbba-af2b-4676-9bf0-7aedb4b0ff0f

Light Pollution Research Shows Humans and Wildlife Can Coexist

Thu, 28 May 2020 16:49:49 GMT

https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution-research-shows-humans-and-wildlife-can-coexist/

Nancy Roman

Sun, 24 May 2020 14:44:35 GMT

Nancy Roman Made Hubble Happen, And Its Successor Is Named For Her - Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2020/05/22/nancy-roman-made-hubble-happen-and-its-successor-is-named-for-her/

Bare Dark Sky Observatory Edition 5

Sat, 23 May 2020 17:49:12 GMT

Star Gazing Guide

May 22-28, 2020

Bare Dark Sky Observatory

Greetings Fellow StarGazers!

It’s hard to believe we’re closing in on summer. The nights are getting warmer, which makes for even more motivation to get outside under a star-filled night sky. The Bare Dark Sky Observatory is still six weeks away from re-opening, but our initial July 10 & 11 community evening events are filling up fast. While we usually allow a capacity of up to 25 people per event, we have opted to cap them at 20 for the time being. At that number we believe that we can safely adhere to the social distancing guidelines. Click HERE for access to BDSO tickets through Eventbrite.

What’s Up

Most seasoned amateur astronomers will tell you that May is kinda one of those transitional months. The planets aren’t coming into view until the wee hours, and the most fun deep sky objects require a telescope. However, a pair of binoculars and a comfortable lawn chair can definitely make for some memorable star and constellation hopping. Side note: Finding objects by “jumping off” nearby stars is called star hopping, and is a great way to learn the night sky without a computerized telescope. We suggest you keep your favorite night sky app or sky map close at hand. The good news is it looks like we’re in for a special treat …

Comet Swan Update

In last week’s Star Gazing Guide we mentioned the arrival of Comet Swan (pictured below) as it continues to make its visible journey into the northern hemisphere. Hopefully, several of you will make an effort to check it out. Our first best opportunity to see Comet Swan may be an hour after sundown beginning Monday, May 25 as it cruises through the Perseus constellation towards Auriga in the northwest sky. On May 27 Swan will reach its perihelion (closest point to our Sun – 40 million miles) and will supposedly reach its optimal brightness. If you miss seeing it in the early evenings, try catching it about an hour before sunrise in the north-northeast sky. Hopefully, you will see a nice green fireball with a long blue-green coma or tail of gas and dust. We would love to hear about any sightings and see any photos that you can share. As a heads up, comets are very unpredictable and Swan may deliver a surprise or two. In other words, it could brighten beyond expectations or quickly fizzle out on us. While telescopes and binoculars should provide easy viewing of Comet Swan, we’re hopeful for some rare magnitude 4 or 5 naked eye vistas. The last naked eye comet sighting in our area was Hale-Bopp back in 1997.

STAR CLUSTERS

One major class of deep sky objects is star clusters. Star clusters are basically groups of stars that come in two distinct types: openclusters and globularclusters.

Open Clusters are loose groups of several thousand stars or less. Many can be easily seen with the naked eye, like Pleiades (M45), and the Beehive (M44) (pictured below) in the constellation Cancer. Some are so easily seen that our BDSO guests will notice them before we even point them out. Those with telescopes usually find that viewing open star clusters with lower power eyepieces is preferable to higher power eyepieces because the wider field of view helps us see the most stars. Furthermore, binoculars help us more easily see the entire star cluster.

The stars in an open cluster are similar in age since they form out of the same stellar nursery within giant molecular clouds. So far, over a thousand open clusters have been discovered. One open star cluster (which is actually a constellation) you might want to check out with your binoculars is Coma Berenices, located next to Leo the Lion. The story behind Berenices is worth looking up since she was an actual Egyptian queen whose beautiful blond hair was sacrificially cut off to make good on a promise when her husband returned victorious from a war against Syria. Folklore has it that it was Berenices’s locks of hair that Zeus supposedly decided to display in the night sky for all time.

Globular Clusters are immense groups of stars tightly bound by gravitational attraction. Besides Saturn, Jupiter, Moon craters, and the Milky Way, viewing globular clusters is also a major crowd-pleaser at BDSO. Although several theories exist, the origin of globular clusters still remains a mystery. Many globular clusters can be spotted through binoculars, though very few with the naked eye. Since these clusters contain from ten thousand up to several million stars, without the magnification of a telescope most resemble blurry fuzz balls.

Our favorite, which is pictured below, the Hercules Great Globular (M13), is considered by many to be the most spectacular globular cluster visible in the northern hemisphere. It is only second in popularity to Omega Centauri, the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way which is only visible from the southern hemisphere. If you can find the Hercules constellation, either with a sky map app or otherwise, then M13 is pretty easy to locate. It sits about one-third of the way between two bright stars in the easily recognizable “keystone” trapezoid-shaped asterism, often referred to as Hercules’s head. Currently, M13 is in the top side of the keystone, but because everything moves over the course of the year it can be helpful to remember that M13 is always on the westernmost side.

As we close this edition, we leave you with this thought: Every star you gaze at in the night sky has incredible stories, mysteries, and histories to tell. As your eyes dance from one star’s point of light that left in 50 B.C. while Cleopatra sailed a moonlit Nile, to another star that winked at you from the 15^th century as Leonardo da Vinci was painting The Last Supper … remember to seize the moment with awe and wonder.

The renowned writer, Alan Moore, has suggested, “All we ever see of stars are their old photographs.” You think about that …

Keep Looking UP!

Jeremy & Steve

BDSO Staff

website: mayland.edu/observatory

email: observatory@mayland.edu

Free online Course

Tue, 19 May 2020 23:02:36 GMT

EdX offers many free online courses.

https://www.edx.org/

Astrophysics: Exploring Exoplanets

Explore the mysteries of exoplanets - planets around other stars – in this introductory astrophysics course.

Super-Earths and Life

Learn about the Earth, life, and how we can search for life elsewhere in the universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHJp44qvwE&feature=youtu.be

Bare Dark Sky Observatory

Tue, 19 May 2020 22:42:16 GMT

Star Gazing Guide

May 15-21, 2020

Bare Dark Sky Observatory

Pictured: Heart Nebula. Photo Credit: Jeremy Bare

Greetings Fellow StarGazers!

If you want to enjoy the last views of our winter and spring night sky objects, you had better get outside early these next few evenings. With sunset around 8:30 pm, and civil twilight ending around 9:15, you can still catch Venus bright in the western sky before she says good-bye until next year. Also, Orion, Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Taurus, and all the winter hexagon constellations are going down quickly until late autumn. That’s okay because we still have the Big & Little Dippers, Leo, Virgo, Bootes, Lyra, and several others to observe and enjoy.

Once upon a time, the comings and goings of our constellations were how farmers knew what crops to plant and when. While we no longer need to depend on those signs, we know that the arrival of certain constellations and planets earlier in the eastern night sky means summer and warmer weather are on the way. We have included the Evening Sky Map link below so you can check out what night sky objects are most easily viewed with the naked eye, binoculars, and telescope for May.

EVENING SKY MAP LINK

COMET SWAN

One highlight over the next few weeks will be Comet Swan as it graces our night sky. While Comet Atlas broke apart and didn’t quite live up to expectations, we’re fairly certain Swan is going to deliver an incredible show. Currently, Swan can be seen with the naked eye at around magnitude 5 rapidly moving into the pre-dawn eastern sky (through Pisces) of our southern latitudes (Florida). Reminder: magnitude refers to brightness. The lower the number, the brighter the object. Our naked eye sees magnitude 6 objects and under.

By May 21, Swan should hit a peak brightness of magnitude 2.8 and will become visible in our North Carolina pre-dawn sky. Through the rest of May until June 10 we should easily see (magnitude 5) Swan in the early evening northern sky as it moves toward Capella through Auriga. (See map below). Keep in mind that as Comet Swan moves towards our Sun, the solar wind will cause its tail to become brighter and longer and always pointing away from the Sun. Swan’s cape should present us with spectacular viewing, especially in binoculars and telescopes.

WHAT ARE NEBULAE?

First time viewers of a nebula through a telescope are often disappointed because they expect to see the incredibly colored nebulae that photography delivers. Instead, we generally see shades of white because our eyes are not as sensitive to color as cameras are. Nevertheless most astronomers will agree that nebulae are some of the coolest objects you can look at through a telescope. Nebula in Latin means “cloud” or “fog” and true to name it does often look rather like a “space cloud.” Unlike the clouds on Earth which are made of water vapor, nebulae are clouds of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other gases. Originally astronomers also referred to galaxies as nebulae before they realized the difference. The Andromeda Galaxy was once even called the Andromeda Nebula. Below are basic explanations of different types of nebulae.

Diffuse Nebula – These nebulae have no well defined boundaries. Some of them are “stellar nurseries” where the gas and dust of the nebula begins to clump together until it collapses under its own gravity and ignites forming a star. One of most photographed is the Orion Nebula (M42), which at magnitude 4 can be seen with the naked eye.

Planetary Nebula – These nebulae are formed when stars shed their outer layer leaving behind the core as a white dwarf star. The shed outer layer becomes a shell of gas around the star and radiation from the star causes a glow that allows us to see it. They form in many different shapes and some show significant amounts of color when viewed in a telescope. A BDSO favorite is the bluish colored Ring Nebula (M57) located in Lyra at about magnitude 9.

Supernova Remnant– When a particularly large star uses up the hydrogen fuel at its core, it reaches the end of its life and begins to collapse in on itself. The star’s gas can be heated by the collapse and rebound in a massive stellar explosion called a supernova. The scattered material from this explosion can form a particular type of nebula called a supernova remnant. At magnitude 8.4, the Crab Nebula (M1) was the first nebula to be recognized as a supernova remnant. In fact, the supernova that created it was recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054. As often as we hear about the possibility of witnessing a supernova, such sightings are quite rare indeed.

The way that we see nebula is another way to classify nebula:

Emission – We see these nebulae because the gas inside it is excited by radiation causing it to glow and emit its own light; kind of like a neon sign.

Reflection – These nebulae have stars inside that are illuminating the surrounding gas and dust which get reflected, allowing us to see them.

Dark – We can’t actually see these nebulae directly. But we can tell they are there because they block our view of something behind it. The biggest dark nebulae are quite prominent and can be seen with your naked eye as when you look at the Milky Way on a clear night. The huge darker patches are where dark nebulae are blocking our view of some of the stars. The two main ones are called the Great Rift and the Coalsack Nebula.

As we close this edition, we want to thank those of you who have sent us words of encouragement and affirmation. We especially love hearing your stories of stargazing with family and friends. Definitely let us know if there is a particular astronomy subject you would like us to cover. We’ll do our best!

Quite often we are asked, “Do you think there is intelligent life out there?” We like Arthur C. Clark’s answer: “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying!”

Keep Looking UP!

Jeremy & Steve

BDSO Staff

website: mayland.edu/observatory

email: observatory@mayland.edu

Livestream Star Party Tonight! Hosted by NASA and the Whipple Observatory

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 18:18:14 GMT

Please note: This event is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Roper Mountain Astronomers.

Join us for a livestream star party featuring astronomers and observatories from around the nation. You'll get to see what the night sky looks like nationwide from the comfort of your very own living room.

Access the livestream: cfa.harvard.edu/flwo/youtube

Hosts for this event:

Amy C. Oliver,
Nerdy Astronomer,
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Location: Arizona

Daniel Cervantes,
Feynman Observatory,
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Location: Indiana

Shannon Morgan,
Mark Slade Remote Observatory, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Location, Virginia

John R. Carter, Sr.
Amateur astronomer since 1986
President, Prescott Astronomy Club
Location: Arizona

Brian Cummins,
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Location: Virginia

Michael Keefe,
The AstroNerd,
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Location: North Carolina

.

Date: Friday, 4/24/2020

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=112413

https://www.facebook.com/events/264213598072073/

Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 13:22:44 GMT

Got more stay at home time than you know what to do with? Do you want to experience the joy of learning and gaining knowledge in science and astronomy? Well I have a suggestion for you! Take an on-line course. I did and it was a great learning experience.

The course was free from Coursera.com and titled " Astronomy: Exploring Time and Space". It consists of a series of videos lectures from Professor Chris Impey at the University of Arizona, and included companion on-line readings and presentation slides. The description says it takes 59 hours to complete, however it took me a little longer. Also, included in the course are tests in each chapter, essay assignments graded by fellow students, and regular bi-weekly live Question and Answer sessions with Professor Impey. Did I mention that it is all free?

If you are looking for a course on how to use a telescope, then this is not the course for you. However, if you want take a look into Scientific Methods, Our Solar System, The Life Cycle of Stars, Tools of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Theory of Relativity, Exoplanets and more, then I highly recommend this course.

My only negative is that some of the accompanying video segments (not the lectures) were geared to a different generation of students, so I just skipped them.

The good news is that if this course does not sound like a good match for you there are over 1400 other classes on Coursera.com that are free. I found the regular routine of the class structure and the stimulation of learning new ideas were just the thing for me - and I think you will too.

Randy Cockrill

Our First Poll!

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 21:06:24 GMT

Our first Wild Apricot poll, titled "RMA and Moving Foward With Covid-19" is live and the link has been sent to all current members. Please take a few moments to respond to the poll to help your Board of Directors plan for the coming months. Thank you!

Club Monthly Meeting April 23 at 7:30pm will be Teleconferenced!

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 19:57:27 GMT

Our club meeting will be conducted via teleconference. An email will be sent to all club members in the near future on how to participate.

The Planets Series-National Geographic Presentation

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 16:49:14 GMT

Something to watch while you are being safe in your home.

Copy the link below and paste it into your browsers search

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/planets/episodes/

Earth From Space-National Geographics Presentation

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 16:46:54 GMT

Something to watch while you are being safe in your home.

Copy the link below and paste it into your browsers search

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/earth-from-space/

Virtual Star Party?

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 23:30:00 GMT

Since we have some nice weather this evening, I was planning on setting up a little star party for my family. If you're interested in "joining" me, please go on over to the discussion forums tonight and letting us know what you're up to, maybe even share some pics. Venus is in a great position, FYI, and a very thin waxing crescent Moon. Have a great night!

Virtual Messier Marathon

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 01:19:36 GMT

A friend in Albuquerque reminded me this week that while we have not been able to gather together and enjoy our night sky lately, there's always opportunities that present themselves.

Below is his recommendation for make the most of these quiet evenings at home. Let's see how many people want to take advantage of the break in the weather!

Virtual Messier Marathon.jpg

Citizen scientists are needed to help document the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 00:36:10 GMT

Interested?

Check out the link.

https://www.anecdata.org/

Star Party Report - 2/22/20

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 21:00:18 GMT

A great crowd of stargazers arrived at the Dark Sky Site for our February Star Party on Saturday. Although the temps were projected to be in the 30's, we had at least 15 people in attendance for much of the evening, including a couple children and other guests. We had two club telescopes in operation, and 5 or 6 more brought by members. This was the first star party for my new CPC telescope, so it was great to work out the remaining bugs with my new setup.

Arriving just before sunset, we found the weather to be a rather pleasant sunny 55 degrees while our equipment was brought out. And thanks to all of the attendees who brought snacks, there was a terrific assortment of treats and nutritious items. We started off with dazzling views of Venus, which is moving towards its maximum Eastern elongation in March. After the sun set, we were treated to a clear sky and good visibility. Just a few thin clouds moved in and out over the course of the evening. Quite a relief after all of the cloudy skies and rain we've had in the Upstate this winter. Our guests and kids were treated to views from multiple scopes as we toured our favorite winter objects like the Orion Nebula, Pleiades Cluster, and the Eskimo Nebula. As the night went on, a few more folks stayed inside to keep warm. The rest soldiered on, but eventually decided to call it a night by 11:00 PM. I worked on some photography of Venus and M42, and those images are below.

We hope that the weather remains clear for the next Star Party in March, and that you will join us!

TONIGHT'S MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 18:53:26 GMT

Tonight's scheduled RMA member meeting has been canceled due to inclement weather. The presentation on Lunar Photography will be rescheduled for a future date.

Loaner Scope Section

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 19:38:20 GMT

We have added a new page for loaner telescopes, which are available for checkout by RMA members. This page can be found under the "Members" menu while logged in. We will be adding additional information and telescopes to this list in the near future. If you don't have a telescope to use, we encourage you to consider checking one of these out so that you can begin exploring the night sky.

Member Directory is Live!

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 21:11:35 GMT

I'm pleased to announce that the member directory is live! This new benefit will allow us to keep in touch with one another, while protecting our privacy from public website visitors.

We have only included essential information, such as name, phone, and email. To access the directory, log into the site, then DIRECTORY from the MEMBERS menu at the top. If you wish to change the amount of information shown for your account, please click your name at the very top of the screen to access your profile. Click Privacy, then Edit Profile. Here, you can enable and disable certain items. If you wish to be excluded from the member directory select "No access" for all items, then remove the check mark for "Show my profile to others". Click Save when done.

If you have any questions about this or any other new feature of the site, please email me or see me at the next club event!

Upcoming Greenville Country Library Events

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 16:16:31 GMT

Two upcoming events have been added to our Events section: "Project Artemis-Forward to the Moon" and "Seeds in Space." Both presentations are being given by NASA Solar System Ambassador and past RMA President David Leaphart. Please join him for these fascinating subjects. Registration with the libraries is required for these events, and those details can be found on our Events list or on the Greenville County Library System website. Please note that these are independent events and not affiliated with the Roper Mountain Astronomers club.

Celestron Calendar of Celestial Events

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 19:32:38 GMT

Celestron has released a useful guide to celestial events in 2020. Hope you enjoy!

2020_Celestial_Events_8-5x11_web.pdf

We're live!

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:57:43 GMT

The new RMA website is live! As of today, the https://rmastro.com domain is taking visitors to our new Wild Apricot site. Online payments have been activated through Affinipay, allowing members to make payments directly on the site.

The Roper Mountain Astronomers made the decision to move our existing website and member management tools to Wild Apricot, which specializes in online membership management for organizations like ours. It was a clear choice to provide a modern website and membership experience. In addition to the new web design, RMA will now see new benefits, including:

Members Only section.
Member Surveys
Event Calendar and Online Registration
Member directory
Site photo gallery and member photo galleries
Mobile apps for members and Admins
Online Store, News, Forums, and Classifieds
Online membership application and payments
Automated membership management
Family (Bundle) memberships with multiple logins

Online registrations are now being accepted, and we are asking all new and existing members to register on the site for 2020. We'll be sending out more information soon, so watch your inboxes.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 01:13:39 GMT

What a fantastic year our club has had! For starters, I'd like to thank Russel Fern for serving as our last president. Russel led the club to seek an updated web site. If you are reading this you are on the new web site. Thank you Russel! The club also was able to reassess its use of costly storage. In July, the club vacated its storage unit. Frank Crowder, Vic Crowley, and Tim Sullivan also passed the baton of leadership and stepped down from serving on the board. All three of these gentlemen served many terms, in various positions over the years. The club is here due to their service over the years. Thank you Tim, Frank and Vic. We had a great line up of speakers throughout the year. We covered many topics; from astrobiology, to women's contribution to astronomy, astronomy's contribution to ancient civilizations calendars, and lets throw in some dark matter as well!

We have a great lineup of guest speakers in 2020. Author, Jonathan Ward will be back to discuss preparing for a Messier Marathon. Dr Judy Beck, who spoke several years ago, will also be back to speak. Look for us to change up our Star Parties a little bit this coming year. More on that surprise in the near future. Randy Cockrill has volunteered to lead our club member learning effort. We are looking for both mentors and mentees If you want someone to mentor you or guide you to improve your astronomy skill and knowledge, or if you are willing to share your expertise, let Randy know. The board is always looking for fresh ideas to improve the club and make your hobby more enjoyable. Let us know your thoughts and ideas. I'm looking forward to an exciting 2020.

Bill Michaud

President

Star Party Report - 11/02/19

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 03:58:52 GMT

Braving colder than normal temperatures, members of the Roper Mountain Astronomers met at the Dark Sky Site on Saturday, November 2nd. The Star Party dates were canceled during the month of October due to cloudy weather, so members were excited for clear skies. Gates were opened at 5:30 PM and attendees began arriving soon after. Approximately 13 club members and guests were present by 9:00 PM, 3 of them children. It was great seeing the young faces! Club President Bill Michaud operated the club's 14 in scope, in addition to the 4 member telescopes, so there were plenty of viewing opportunities to enjoy.

A waxing crescent moon was visible for most of the evening, as well as Jupiter and Saturn. A long list of targets also included Hercules Cluster (M13), Ring Nebula (M57), Dumbell Nebula (M27), Double Double (Epsilon1-2 Lyrae), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Double Cluster (NGC 884/869), Owl Cluster (NGC 457), and Pleiades Cluster (M45). John Coutts and I took the opportunity to capture images. John used a CCD astronomical camera and I connected my iPhone to a NeXYZ telescope adapter. (pictures below).

At the time of sunset, the temperature was a comfortable 60 degrees, but a strong breeze and dropping temperatures quickly drove the temps into the upper 40's. The heated building provided a terrific place to warm up while waiting for the Moon to set. By 10:00, the wind and Moon had all but disappeared and revealed a truly fantastic view of the Milky Way, quite possibly the best view attendees had experienced in recent memory. Thanks to Allen Hill and Dennis Wilde for assisting with the opening and closing of the site.

Don't let cooler temperatures stop you from attending the next RMA Star Party. If you would like advice on staying comfortable on a cool night, ask any of our experienced members and they would be happy to guide you toward the right clothing and equipment. Some of the best views we experience can happen during the colder months! For more information on attending a Star Party, see the Events section of the website. The dates are published in the monthly Spectrum, and directions will be visible to Members after logging into the site. Here's to clear skies!

M13, Josh Palmer. Taken 11/2/2019 with iPhone 11 Pro and Celestron C9.25:

Moon, Josh Palmer. Taken 11/2/19 with iPhone 11 Pro and Celestron C9.25:

Website Upgrade

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 19:12:57 GMT

The Board of Directors of the Roper Mountain Astronomers has made the unanimous decision to move our existing website and member management tools to Wild Apricot. Wild Apricot specializes in online membership management for organizations like the RMA and was a clear choice to provide a modern website and membership experience. In addition to the new web design, RMA will now see new benefits, including:

Members Only section.
Member Surveys
Event Calendar and Online Registration
Member directory
Site photo gallery and member photo galleries
Mobile apps for members and Admins
Online Store, Blogs, Forums, and Classifieds.
Automated membership application and dues payments.
Recurring Membership Payments
Automatic Proration of Annual Dues for new members
Family memberships with multiple logins.

Please bear with us as we transition our existing content and add the new features to the site. More announcements will be made to members in the near future.

November Member Meeting

Wed, 30 Oct 2019 19:00:00 GMT

The November RMA meeting will be held at Roper Mountain Science Center's Wilkins Conference Center on Thursday, November 21st @ 7:30PM. The guest speaker will be Mark Leising and he will be presenting on "Dark Matter and Dark Energy". Light refreshments will be served. This meeting is open to the public. See you there!

RSVP to the meeting here.

Roper Mountain Astronomers News

News Updates

DarkSky.org Capture the Dark Photo Contest

Messier Marathon!

Board Elections

Seeking a Board Position

Board Elections

An Amazing Star Party (Day and Night)

New Telescope Installed at the Observatory!

Visit to the Adler Planetarium

International Dark Sky Association

New Board Members Elected

Astrophotography Software For Linux

AstroPhotographer of the Year 2022 – winning images

Jupiter to Reach Opposition, Closest Approach to Earth in 70 Years!

Confirmation of Largest Comet

We Have Email!

January Star Party

Volunteer with RMA

Classifieds

Sample Astrophotography Data Available!

Christmas Comet visible in early morning sky

Eclipse Tomorrow! (Friday)

November Star Party Update

RMA in the news!

Club News-Board Elections

RMA SkySync Raffle Winner!

September Star Party Update

Perseids Meteor Shower Viewing

Club News

Enter IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest

Enter IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest

Entry Period:

The contest submission window opens on June 21, 2021, at 12 pm PDT, and closes on July 23, 2021, at 12 pm PDT. To participate in the contest, please carefully review the submission instructions located here and use the submission links below.

Categories:

One winner will be selected for each category. Limit one entry per category per person.

Judging:

Sponsors:We want to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the 2021 Capture the Dark Photography Contest for their generous support.

Contest Details:

Photo Entry Rules:

Make a Submission:

Help Spread the Word:

Contact:Questions about IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest? Please reach out to Lauren Scorzafava (lauren@darksky.org). Note, submissions will not be accepted by email.

June Picnic at Musgrove Mill Memorial Park

New website pages!

Hooray! We can have star parties at the HWY 11 Observatory again.

Blood Moon 2021

Pluto, Our Distant Cousin

Messier Marathon Week

Watch the Mars landing today!

Update From Webmaster: Renewal Notifications

Northern Hemisphere Astrophotography Competition

Happy New Year From The Webmaster!

Saturn and Jupiter Conjunction!

November 29–30, 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

European Space Observatory

Astrobiology Webcasts at Nasa

November 24, 2020 10AM PST

Witness a Super-Rare Planetary Alignment Not Seen in 800 Years

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

Rocky Kolb, "Schrödinger's Alarming Phenomenon"

Galileo and the Science Deniers-Mario Livio

Virtual Physics & Astronomy Colloquia Announcement (Fall 2020) U of SC

Club Christmas Party

Dramatic Timelapse From Hubble Shows a Star Literally Exploding in Nothingness

Upcoming ISS Passes

New Meteorite Site Page!

International Observe the Moon Night-Saturday September 26

Discover possible impact craters from home-Citizen Science Project

Club News

Ask your Astronomy and Astrophysics question during one of these sessions

Hubble Snaps Close Up of Meathook Galaxy

See your favorite winter constellations in August

Hot 'blob' points to a neutron star lurking in Supernova 1987A

Hot 'blob' points to a neutron star lurking in Supernova 1987A

The corpse of SN 1987A

Hubble Finds That Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst

Hubble Finds That Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Is Due to a Traumatic Outburst

Tracing a Traumatic Outburst

A Supernova Precursor?

Sponsors:
We want to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the 2021 Capture the Dark Photography Contest for their generous support.

Contact:
Questions about IDA’s ‘Capture the Dark’ Photography Contest? Please reach out to Lauren Scorzafava (lauren@darksky.org). Note, submissions will not be accepted by email.