[telescoperos] Fwd: News from Sidewalk Astronomers
- From: "elias mella" <mellelias@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: telescoperos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:09:08 -0300
Telescoperos Ricardo González
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Donna Smith <sidewalkastronomynight@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 23-nov-2008 21:10
Subject: News from Sidewalk Astronomers
To: mellelias@xxxxxxxxx
November 2008
Sidewalk Astronomers NewsletterElections, IYA, and More
In This Issue
New SA Logo
Karma Gazing! Pass it on!
Death Valley 2008
Sidewalk Astronomers Elections
International Year of Astronomy
Update on John Dobson
International Exchange
Baltimore Sidewalk Astronomer
New Sidewalk Astronomers' Logo
Thanks to Gerard Pardeilhan, we have a new, updated logo for the
Sidewalk Astronomers. We ask everyone to place it on thier websites
and in any club literature produced. The logo is available with
Sidewalk Astronomers written across the bottom and we have it in
different resolutions for web and print. Please change the old one for
this newer version.
Karma Gazing!
One of our members recently sent an email with a link for an
experiment, Karma Kitchen. Basically, you pay for the next person's
meal and we thought we should try Karma Gazing. It just seemed like
such a natural fit, we are passing on something valuable for free, or
as Pancho said "we don't do it for free, we do it as a gift!"
So maybe we can encourage others to pass on that gift, or at least one
of thier own. Everyone, please go to
http://www.helpothers.org/ and download the Smile Cards and hand them
out when doing public events. Ideally, the cards are to be given or
left anonymously, but we are kind of in the dark and it isn't that we
know the public at the eyepeice.
Let's just try. With so much going on this year it could be that we
inspire thousands of people to commit random acts of kindness. Can't
hurt and it might help a little!
Donate to help the Sidewalk Astronomers!
Suggested donations/dues
are:
Individuals $15
Clubs $30
Students $10
We appreciate donations in any amount.
"What's Up" at JPL
Another of the great resources of JPL is the monthly "What's Up" video
podcast done by Jane Houston Jones. Besides giving you information
about what and where to look in sky, she adds information about
current missions which will be interesting to the public as they
observe through your scope.
The podcasts can be downloaded as well as the transcripts at
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy or visit the Old Town
Sidewalk Astronomers website at www.otastro.org.
While you're at it, join the Saturn Observing
program and/or become a Solar System
Ambassador.
Yearly Death Valley Trip
Once again we are inviting everyone to join us on our yearly Death
Valley trip. We arrive in Death Valley on Dec 26 and leave on Dec 30.
John gives a talk at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center on Dec 27.
This is not an all-night observing kind of star party event. We do
daytime solar observing, telescope building or repair and evening
viewing for the public at the visitor center. When the public goes
leaves, so do we and since they are hiking all day, they leave pretty
early (by 10PM or so).
But it is a nice trip. Every year, people from all over the world tell
us the reason they come to Death Valley at that time is because they
know we will be there.
If you are interested, send an email to
sidewalkastronomers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and I'll send you information about
lodging, activities, camping etc. Most things fill up very quickly and
it might be difficult already to get hotel rooms or campsites, but we
can offer alternatives.
3rd ISAN Button
We need artwork for the 3rd ISAN button.
Originally, we thought to try to incorporate the 100 Hours of
Astronomy Project logo since ISAN will take place during that time,
but since we've decided that it would be difficult if not impossible
to get all of that artowrk on one small button.
If you are artistic, please send your designs to us. You can see the
designs for the previous two buttons on the shopping page of our
website.
Designs should include some representation of the telescope, astronomy
and international aspects of ISAN.
Welcome Burbank Sidewalk Astronomers!
Bob Alborzian and Tom White have been doing events in the Burbank
area for some time and thier group has grown enough that they now have
thier own website.
www.burbanksidewalkastronomers.com
Most months you can find the Burbank Sidewalk Astronomers on the
bikepath at least once and during the fall and winter they do several
events at the Burbank and Los Angeles Public Libraries.
Quick Links
Register Now
About Us
Updates to Website
Please take a look at the website if you haven't visited lately.
Several more of John Dobson's articles have been added; some of them
are new and some are older ones we recently found (thanks, Pam).
Also we've made changes to many of the pages, the updating is
constant. Please check to make sure that your contact information is
correct if posted on the site. Also, we always can use articles.
If you have sent something that you don't see posted, please send it
again. Our apologies, sometimes the amount of email is so great things
get overlooked.
If you have photos, you can upload them yourself by going to our photo
album link which is on the gallery page. Please don't send us your
photos, we just don't have time to post them ourselves.
Join the Night Sky Network
Another great program from JPL and the ASP is The Night Sky Network.
They have lots of resources for amateur astronomy clubs. Ken Frank
works on this project and he is extremely excited at the interest and
growth of the NSN.
Visit the website to get more information at
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/
or contact Ken Frank at kennethfrank@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sidewalk Astronomers
Dear Elías,
It is a very busy time and we have a lot of information to cover in
this newsletter. I also need to apologize, I have been using the
newletter to update everyone on our "formal" activities (ISAN, IYA)
and I completely forgot about including some really good observing
reports and articles that members have sent. I am correcting that
oversite in this newsletter.
With all the activites that we have happening, it would be great if
someone would like to help with the newsletters. This is a really easy
program to use, so please let me know if you are interested.
Sidewalk Astronomers Board of Directors Elections
It is time again to submit nominees for officers/board members for the
Sidewalk Astronomers. It would be nice if we had more international
representation on our board.
These are the current holders and nominations that we have so far. If
you wish to nominate yourself or someone else or would like more
information about the duties of these officers, please send an email
to sidewalkastronomers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx . Nominations are open until Nov
30, 2008. A final list of nominees will be sent in the December
newsletter for voting. One note, nominees for President and
Secretary/Treasurer must be in the Los Angeles area because that is
where our office, bank, and mailing address are located and we don't
have the resources to move the office.
President: Bill Scott
Vice President: George Willis
Secretary /Treasurer: Katy Haughland
Managing Director - Donna Smith
Board Member: John Dobson
Board Member: Denis Svechkarev/Kharkov, Ukraine
Board Member: Kenneth Frank/San Francisco, Ca, USA
Board Member: Herman Heyn/Baltimore, Md, USA
Board Member: Jeffry Newsome, Driggs, Id, USA
Board Member: Jeffrey Jacobs/Rye, NY, USA
Board Member: Hector Vasquez, Los Angeles, Ca, USA
International Year of Astronomy (IYA)
By now you are all probably aware of the IYA and are making plans to
participate. There are numerous projects to which the Sidewalk
Astronomers can be beneficial. Below are descriptions of some of these
projects and the links to their individual websites. Please check our
website frequently for updates and Sidewalk participation in IYA.
Because of the number of projects, we won't be having any registration
forms on the Sidewalk Astronomers website, you will need to register
for projects on the project website but, we do ask that you 1) note
your Sidewalk Astronomers affiliation when you register (ex.
astronomy club name/ Sidewalk Astronomers) and 2) post your observing
reports and results on our website as well. We are setting up several
message boards for that purpose. As you can tell, 2009 will be a busy
year and many of these projects overlap, hopefully you will be able to
keep all the projects and acronyms sorted out. Please let us know what
you are doing!
We have Sidewalk Astronomers Regional Organizers for these events.
Antarctica - Donna Smith dsmith1055@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
North America - Katy Haugland katy.haugland@xxxxxxxxx
Central America - Hugo Sanchez humasabe@xxxxxxx
South America - Marcelo Souza marcelo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
South Western Asia - Azhy Hasan azhychato@xxxxxxxxx
Southern Asia - Manoj Pai iya2009@xxxxxx
Eastern Asia - open
Europe - Denis Svechkarev denis.svechkarev@xxxxxxxxx
Australia/Oceania - Paul Moss paul.moss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Africa - open
We also have National Organizers for several countries but need more.
If you are interested in heading the efforts in your country, please
contact your Regional Organizer.
100 Hours of AStronomy (100HA) IYA Cornerstone Project
April 2-5, 2009. This project will depend heavily on amateur
astronomers, we need to get out and do as many public programs as
possible during this time. Depending on local customs and conditions,
it would be great if everyone would do public library programs on
Thursday, April 2; school programs on Friday, April 3; International
Sidewalk Astronomy Night (ISAN) on Saturday April 4th, and afternoon
solar observing on Sunday, April 5th. Sidewalk Astronomy is major
component of the 100HA, WE NEED YOU!! Please check the website,
www.100hoursofastronomy.org and sign up for that email list and start
registering your events. (note: an updated website is in testing mode
and should be up and running in the next few days.).
PLEASE be sure to register for this event because we won't be having a
separate registration for ISAN and we expect this to be the best ISAN
so far.
Dark Skies Awareness (DSA) IYA Cornerstone Project
"Dark Skies are a Universal Resource" is one of seven primary US
themes being developed for the International Year of Astronomy in
2009. Dark Skies Awareness has also been selected as one of the dozen
major international "cornerstone" projects for the larger IYA effort.
There are several activities and projects included in this theme.
Astronomy Nights in the (National) Parks ; Dark Skies Discovery Sites
; GLOBE at Night ; Earth Hour ; The Great Switch Out ; Great World
Wide Star Count
(http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/starcount/) and we hope
that you register for these activities and help to educate the public
about the importance of dark skies. We would also be interested to
hear ideas about how the Sidewalk Astronomers can be more active in
this area, so let us know what you are currently doing or what you
would like to do. One idea was to show the public photos of a dark sky
when holding public events in light polluted areas. For more
information: http://astronomy2009.us/darkskies/ and
http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalprojects/cornerstones/darkskiesawareness/
Universe Awareness (UNAWE) IYA Cornerstone Project
UNAWE is an international outreach activity that uses the beauty and
grandeur of the universe to inspire very young disadvantaged children.
Goals are to: broaden children's minds, awaken their curiosity in
science, and stimulate global citizenship and tolerance. There are
several national programs, but this should and could be done in every
country. We should all pledge to do progams in underpriviledged areas
at least a few times in the coming year. http://www.unawe.org/joomla/
Galileoscope IYA Cornerstone Project
The Galileoscope project is an official cornerstone project and is
perhaps the most visible project of the International Year of
Astronomy. It will have children in the US and worldwide build
Galileoscopes in school, museum, nature and science center, national
park, and library settings. Another key venue is the distribution of
the telescopes to over 50 amateur astronomy clubs in the US with a
track record in doing extensive educational outreach to their
community. In each of these venues, the Galileoscope is embedded in a
much larger educational context after extensive peer review of the
educational design and educational benefits of the project. Thus the
broader and longer-term educational role of the Galileoscopes in
astronomy and physical science education is assured.
The Galileoscope is not identical to Galileo's telescope - It is
better. He had a single front or objective lens that generated
spurious colors-our children will have a two lens doublet gathering
light in an achromatic, color-accurate arrangement. Galileo had a
single negative lens eyepiece that provided a very narrow
field-of-view. Our three-lens eyepiece design gives a much wider and
flatter field-of-view.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalprojects/cornerstones/galileoscope/
400 Years of the Telescope IYA Special Project
Slated for worldwide release in January 2009, the film 400 Years of
the Telescope weaves a far-flung tapestry of astronomy, technology,
and humanity, exploring how Galileo Galilei's's first telescopic
observations of the heavens forever changed man's views the
universe-and his place in it. The film zips across dozens of time
zones and six centuries, from the days of Copernicus to recent
findings from the Hubble Telescope. There is a companion planetarium
program, Two Small Pieces of Glass, educational webcasts and other
components designed to spin off the film and planetarium program.
Worldwide distribution is part of the plan; the film will be
translated into the languages of 40+ participating countries. Whenever
this film is shown in theaters, there should be Sidewalk Astronomers
outside allowing the public to look through a telescope. Please check
the website www.400years.org to stay informed about the viewing
schedule.
The World at Night (TWAN) IYA Special Project
The World at Night (TWAN) will create and exhibit a collection of
stunning photographs and time-lapse videos of the world's most
beautiful and historic sites against a night-time backdrop of stars,
planets and celestial events. These images will present the night sky
to the public in an accessible and understandable manner. The sky
rises above all the landmarks and symbols of different nations and
regions creating a bridge to understanding and friendship. When
borders vanish, political and cultural differences become irrelevant.
The universal nature of astronomy provides the means to connect people
worldwide through this common interest.
http://www.twanight.org/newTWAN/index.asp
Gailiean Satellites IYA Special Project
We propose here to participate to the observation of the mutual
phenomena of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, joining the
international network of observers. This network started working more
than 20 years ago gathering scientific data of high interest allowing
to know more about the Galilean satellites of Jupiter: Io and its
volcanoes, Europa and its ice crust, Ganymede and Callisto. These
observations are very rare since they are possible only at the time of
the equinox on Jupiter, i.e. only every six years. The next
opportunity will take place in 2009. Don't miss this opportunity the
more so as these observations are possible even with a small
telescope.
http://www.imcce.fr/hosted_sites/ama09/phemu09_en.html
Portal to the Universe Cornerstone Project
The Portal to the Universe (PTTU) seeks to provide a global, one-stop
portal for online astronomy content, serving as an index, aggregator
and a social networking site for astronomy content providers,
laypeople, press, educators, decision-makers and scientists. PTTU will
feature news, image, event and video aggregation; a comprehensive
directory of observatories, facilities, astronomical societies,
amateur astronomy societies, space artists, and science communication
universities. Everyone should register for this project.
http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalprojects/cornerstones/portaltotheuniverse/
Update on John Dobson
John fell and injured his foot a few weeks ago but it is healing
nicely. Unfortunately, becasue of his foot he was unable to travel to
San Francisco and is still in Los Angeles. He has stated that he is
ready to resume his former schedule and is looking forward to speaking
to clubs and attending star parties. If you are interested in having
JD speak to your organization or attend your star party, please
contact us at sidewalkastronomers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx . John also wishes to
thank everyone again for all the letters, cards, emails, and calls
that he received while he was recouperating from his stroke.
John had a nice 93rd birthday celebration at the P.A.T.S. conference
in Pasadena in September. He was especially please that he was
introduced and got to spend time with his great friend David Levy.
The above photo was taken when John visited his friend Earl Junghaus
in Menlo Park. Earl is the artist who did the drawning for John's
telescope plans and the wooden cover book. Photo taken by Earl's wife,
Baker.
Sidewalk Astronomers International Exchange
This is one of the programs that we have been so eager to implement.
In the past, it has mostly been John (and sometimes me) traveling to
visit other countries and we wanted the chance to host some
international amateurs here in the US. In August, we finally had the
opportunity when we were host to Denis Svechkarev and Anton Viseburg
from Kharkov, Ukraine. We had visited Kharkov in 2002 and met Denis
again in the Crimea in 2006 and were happy to finally have him as a
guest here.
We were to meet our guests in Tucson, at Kitt Peak but were surprised
by them early when we all ended up at the same motel. The guys at Kitt
Peak were fantastic, giving us a great tour and lunch and we were
hosted later that evening by David and Wendee Levy. It was a perfect
way to start our adventure.
Arriving back in Los Angeles, we arranged dinner with Sidewalk
Astronomers President Bill Scott and several of John's friends at the
Vedanta Society in Hollywood, special tours of JPL, Mt. Wilson,
Palomar, and Griffith. HUGE thanks to Mike Simmons, Scott Kardel, Don
Nicholson, Jane and Morris Jones, and Tony Cook. Without the assitance
and support of these guys, the trip would not have been a success and
they provided some of the greatest memories for these visitors.
One of the times we enjoyed the most was attending an evening showing
of a film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. They screen old films on
the side of one of the buildings in an undeveloped area of the
cemetary (we weren't sitting of graves!) Since we had a telescope, we
took it out and did some sidewalk or graveside astronomy.
After seeing the sights in the LA area, we headed up to San Franciso
and besides the usual attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge, tours
of Lick Observatory, Chabot Science Center and meetings with some of
the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers were on the agenda. Special
thanks again to Ken Frank and the staff of Lick and Chabot for going
out of thier way to make this trip a success.
There are so many people to thank, I have to apologize for leaving
many of them out of this short article. Denis has written a more
extensive account and as soon as he has it translated, it will be
posted on the website.
Herman Heyn - Baltimore Sidewalk Astronomer
At an age when most people are retiring, Herman Heyn, 77, discovered
his calling.
"I had many different jobs, never had a career in one, though," Heyn
said. "I worked in sales, as a lab technician, at Pratt Library two
years through a 'Great Society' program of Lyndon Johnson's that
trained local people to work in public venues.
"The longest job I ever had was 12 years as an office manager and
truck driver for a small construction company."
But if you go to Baltimore's Inner Harbor on a clear night this fall,
you'll likely find the spry, gray-bearded "street corner astronomer"
pointing out Jupiter's moons, Mars, or the rings around Saturn to
wide-eyed children, tourists, and, once, to an MIT planetary
scientist.
Heyn gave fact sheets about the planets to interested observers and
copies of a New York Times story about astronomer Carolyn Porco to
awe-struck young girls like Marwa. He maintained a steady banter about
the position of the planets, listening and engaging customers in
lively dialogue.
"It took me a while, but I realized I like being onstage," Heyn said.
Heyn takes his science, not just his act, seriously. He's tentatively
been credited with identifying a previously unnamed asterism -- a
pattern created by bright stars and a subset of a larger
constellation. Heyn's asterism, "Herman's Cross," is a large four-star
configuration in the constellation Sagittarius. So far, it's
recognized by two websites, including the site of astronomy software
company Bisque.
Early in his "new" career, in 1994, in the aftermath of the
much-anticipated collision of the Shoemaker-Levy Comet into Jupiter,
Heyn learned serendipitously that MIT planetary scientist Heidi
Hammel, leading the Hubble Space Telescope Team's work nearby the
Johns Hopkins' Homewood campus, had snuck a peek through his "street
corner" telescope.
"It doesn't matter how many thousands of times since that I've looked
at Jupiter, Mars, Saturn's rings, the mountains on the moon or the Big
Dipper," Heyn said. "They always look beautiful to me."
Originally published by By Ron Cassie
Frederick News-Post
Membership and Renewals
We haven't asked for membership or renewal dues in quite a long time.
If you wish to vote in the elections, your dues must be current.
This is a state law and required to keep our current nonprofit status.
The Sidewalk Astronomers never refuse membership because of
nonpayment. Any purchase on our website is a "gift" for your donation.
We have several new programs we wish to implement, such as observing
recognition, further exchange visits, possible telescope donations,
etc. We need funds for these projects, please donate today.
Donna Smith
Sidewalk Astronomers
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