Club Meeting Announcement for January 2017

The next meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club will be held on Friday, January 13th at 7 pm in the Community Room of the Student Union Building at Cochise College, 901 North Colombo Avenue, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635.

The speaker will be Dr. Nalin Samarasinha, a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson.

Dr. Samarasinha received his PhD from University of Maryland where his studies focused on cometary science. A portion of his PhD work involved studying the rotational state of comet 1P/Halley — first “tumbling” comet or asteroid. Over the last three decades, he has investigated the dynamical and physical processes occurring in the comae and nuclei of many comets and he has over 50 peer-reviewed publications. Asteroid 12871 is named for him in recognition of his contributions to cometary science.

His talk will be about the global campaign to monitor comae of three comets which will come close to Earth in 2017 and 2018 where amateur astronomers can make significant contributions.

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December 2016 Nightfall Newsletter is now available

December 2016 Nightfall Newsletter

TheDecember 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.

November 2016 Nightfall Newsletter is now available

The November 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.

Club Meeting Announcement for November 2016

The next meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club will be held on Friday, November 18th at 7 pm in the Community Room of the Student Union Building at Cochise College, 901 North Colombo Avenue, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635.

reddy The speaker will be Dr. Vishnu Reddy, an assistant professor at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Dr. Reddy’s research focuses on understanding the behavior of solar system objects using a range of Earth and space-based assets. His work on asteroids and near-Earth objects is directed towards their impact hazard and asteroid-meteorite links. He uses the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, as well as other advanced instrumentation.

Vishnu’s talk will cover the threat to Earth from Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

October 2016 Nightfall Newsletter is now available

The October 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.

Astronomy Day at Kartchner Caverns State Park – October 1, 2016

The next Kartchner Caverns State Park astronomy program will be Saturday, October 1, 2016. The guest speaker will be Mr. Ken Zoll, the Executive Director of the Verde Valley Archeological Center. His talk will be given in the Discovery Center auditorium at 5:30 pm. Mr. Zoll will cover the results of his research in Archeo-Astronomy in Arizona. He has studied archeological sites across the region, and during his program, he will show links between pictographs and astronomical events.

Starting in the early afternoon, the Huachuca Astronomy Club of Southeastern Arizona (HAC) will have solar telescopes set up for observing the sun. If the skies are clear, we will see close-ups of sunspots and prominences through specially filtered astronomical telescopes. After sunset about 7 pm and weather permitting, everyone will have another chance to look through the HAC telescopes. Don’t miss the close-up views of the ringed planet Saturn, the red planet Mars, the Hercules star cluster (M13), and many other wonders of the night sky. Sunset will be at about 6:05 pm, and bring your jackets.

This event is open to the public. There is a $7.00 per-car entry fee (up to 4 adults). There is no additional fee for parking. The telescopes will be setup in the bus parking area.

For additional information about visiting Kartchner Caverns, visit: http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/

Solar Observing at Kartchner Caverns:

Here’s a recent photo of Saturn by HAC President, David Roemer:

2016 photo of the Hercules Globular Star Cluster, by HAC President David Roemer. This star cluster has over 100,000 stars and is 26,000 light years away:

Club Meeting Announcement for October 2016

The next meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club will be held on Friday, October 21st, at 7 pm in the Student Union community room of Cochise College.

megan-kiminki The speaker will be Megan Kiminki. Megan is a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona. Megan received a B.S. in Astronomy and Biology from the University of Wyoming in 2010, and an M.S. in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in 2012. Her research interests include star formation, massive stars, stellar kinematics, optical spectroscopy, and the development of user-friendly data analysis tools.

Megan’s talk will be entitled “Eta Carinae, the Supernova Impostor: A Tale of Three Cosmic Eruptions”.

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September 2016 Nightfall Newsletter is now available

The September 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.

NASA OSIRIS-REx Launch Viewing Party – September 8, 2016 at 2:30 PM

The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission to capture and return a sample of the surface of the asteroid Bennu is scheduled to launch on September 8, 2016 at 4:05 PM from the Kennedy Space Center. The Huachuca Astronomy Club, with the support of The NASA Museum Alliance and the University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Laboratory (LPL), is planning to host a launch viewing party at the Patterson Observatory on the campus of the University of Arizona Sierra Vista at 1140 N. Colombo Ave Sierra Vista, AZ 85635.

The Observatory will open at 2:30 PM on the 8th for the launch viewing. While plans are still being finalized, HAC is planning to show the launch from a live stream with other live and recorded presentations about the mission and the history of the LPL.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about OSIRIS-REx you can visit the mission’s home page.

At sunset, following the launch viewing party, the Huachuca Astronomy Club will host their monthly public night sky viewing event at the Patterson Observatory. This star party is subject to cancellation due to inclement weather, but is also free to the public.

Club Meeting Announcement for September 2016

The next meeting of the Huachuca Astronomy Club will be held on Friday, September 16th, at 7 pm in the Student Union community room of Cochise College.

The speaker will be HAC member Ted Forte. Ted is HAC’s liaison with NASA and is a NASA Solar System Ambassador. He will provide an update on the OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu.