The Huachuca Astronomy Club will hold their June meeting in the Library Commons Area, Cochise College Sierra Vista campus on June 17, 2016 at 7 PM.  Our speaker will be Stephanie Sallum, a fourth year astronomy graduate student at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. The meeting is FREE and open to the public.

Steph is interested in how high contrast imaging can contribute to our understanding of planet formation. Her thesis work has been using the novel imaging technique of non-redundant masking to search for and image accreting planets in transition disk clearings. Before coming to the Steward Observatory, she did undergraduate work at MIT in the Planetary Astronomy Lab studying Pluto’s atmosphere. When she is not doing astronomy she is usually out rock climbing.

Her talk will be entitled “Imaging Protoplanets: Observing Transition Disks Using Non-Redundant Masking”
Continue reading→

The May 2016 edition of the Huachuca Astronomy Club newsletter, Nightfall, is now available for download. Submissions for next month’s issue can be sent to , our Nightfall editor.

The next meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club will be held on Friday, May 20, at 7 pm in the Student Union community room of Cochise College.

Due to unforseen circumstances the scheduled speakers are unable to attend the meeting.  Instead club member, and NASA Solar System Ambassador, Ted Forte will talk about upcoming NASA missions.

On May 9th, 2016 the planet Mercury will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun.  Because of the inclined orbits of Mercury and Earth, this event does not happen very often.  The transit is in progress at sunrise (about 5:30 AM) and is over at 11:42AM MST.

The Patterson Observatory will be open at 7AM to allow members of the Huachuca Astronomy Club and visitors to view the transit safely through specially designed solar telescopes.

The event is weather dependent, but is free and open to the public.

The Patterson Observatory is located on the University of Arizona South campus, 1140 N. Colombo Ave., Sierra Vista, AZ. Signs will be placed at the intersection of Charleston Rd and Colombo Ave., and along the route, to direct visitors to the observatory.

The Huachuca Astronomy Club will have telescopes set up for solar viewing at the Sierra Vista Farmers’ Market in Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday April 21st from 10 AM to 2 PM.

There will be several telescopes capability of showing our closest star like you have never seen it before.  There will also be club members on hand to answer questions about the universe, NASA space missions, and to show some space rocks on loan from the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona.

The April 2016 edition of the Huachuca Astronomy Club newsletter, Nightfall, is now available for download. Submissions for next month’s issue can be sent to , our Nightfall editor.

The Huachuca Astronomy Club (HAC) and Coronado National Memorial will co‐host a Star Party from 7 to 9 pm on Friday, April 8, 2016. This special evening event, celebrating our beautiful dark night skies in southeastern Arizona, will begin around dusk at Montezuma Pass at Coronado National Memorial. The knowledgeable members of HAC will set up telescopes in the parking lot at Montezuma Pass for the public to view the night sky, including Jupiter and its moons, far‐away galaxies,  and distant nebulae where stars are born. A park ranger will give constellation tours throughout the night, exploring popular constellations and tracing the human histories and imaginations that have been written in the stars.

Montezuma Pass is located three miles west of the Coronado National Memorial Visitor Center on East Montezuma Canyon Road/Forest Road 61. The last two miles are unpaved. The graded forest road is narrow in sections as it switchbacks up the canyon to the summit parking lot. Restrooms are available at Montezuma Pass, but no other amenities. Parking is limited so carpooling is recommended.

Visitors are encouraged to dress in layers, as nights at the pass can be cool. Please minimize flashlight use to preserve night vision. If available, visitors should use a red night vision flashlight or consider covering a standard flashlight with red cellophane or brake light tape.

Come enjoy the clear, high‐desert skies with the Huachuca Astronomy Club and park rangers at Coronado National Memorial!

For additional information please contact Christopher Bentley at 520‐366‐5515 x2310 or visit our listing of ranger‐led programs on the official park website: http://www.nps.gov/coro/planyourvisit/calendar.htm

The Huachuca Astronomy Club will hold their April meeting in the Cochise College Library (Library Commons) on the Sierra Vista Campus on Friday, April 15th, 2016 at 7PM. The meeting is FREE and open to the public.

Our speaker will be Sarah Morrison, a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona.  Her talk is titled “Outer Planets: The New Frontier of Exoplanets

Abstract:

Within the last 10 years, we now have much more context for our Solar System with the discovery and characterization of thousands of exoplanet systems. To date, however, most of these systems provide insight mainly for the inner planets since they sample planets that orbit close to their host stars. I will discuss cutting-edge efforts to start looking for outer exoplanets using direct imaging campaigns, as well as through indirect evidence in debris disks and current transit/radial velocity surveys and what these findings mean for our understanding of our own Solar System.

Biography:

Sarah Morrison is a PhD candidate in Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory studying the evolution of planetary systems using orbital dynamics. She received her B.A. in Astronomy from Cornell University calibrating cameras on the Mars Exploration Rovers and exploring the moons of Saturn with the Cassini mission. She currently enjoys observing the often clear Southwestern skies while pondering perplexing planetary puzzles.

This is the perfect opportunity for you to go through your cameras and lenses, binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes, astro equipment, hardware, cases, widgets and doodads. Check your closets, garage, and observatory and find those once precious items that are now just taking up space, and make them available to others (who may want or need them). It’s also a great chance to find some interesting stuff, learn a lot, and mingle with other, likeminded enthusiasts.

Bring your odds and ends, and bring cash!

WHO: Huachuca Astronomy Club of Southeastern Arizona, members and community

WHAT: 2016 Astronomical & Optical Swap Meet and Sale

WHERE: Patterson Observatory, University of Arizona South Campus, 1140 Colombo Ave, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635

WHEN: Saturday, April 2, 2016. Setup starts at 11AM. Sales are from 1PM to 4PM.

WHY: To allow members and others in the amateur Arizona astronomy community a venue for buying and selling optical and astro gear, while also supporting the Huachuca Astronomy Club. Other interested parties might be photographers or naturalists who use such equipment.

HOW: Dig through all your photographic, optical and astro gear, decide what you want to move out, bring it to the Meet; or, come and see what’s available, bring cash or items to barter.
Here are more details and important points:

• Advance registration is advised but not required. But, arrive early for a better table position!
• Bring a small table, chair, and protective cloth to be positioned around the room and patio.
• HAC member volunteers will be present to facilitate paperwork and handle donations.
• Suggested, voluntary donation to HAC is 10% of total amount sold, or a flat donation. Donations are voluntary and are tax deductible. Receipts will be available.
• We will have a Sellers Registration/Sales Form for sellers to complete to track items sold and dollars.
• Consignment: We will have a consignment table in case you only have one or two items to sell. The table will be staffed by HAC member volunteers and you (the seller). Items should be marked with the seller’s name and a price. The seller should be available later that day for either picking up or reconciling.
• Don’t bring guns, illegal stuff, or stuff that cannot be reasonably considered optical or astronomy related. Please use your best judgment!

The March 2016 edition of the Huachuca Astronomy Club newsletter, Nightfall, is now available for download. Submissions for next month’s issue can be sent to , our Nightfall editor.