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

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

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

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. 

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.

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 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 

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

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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

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

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.