Happy Spring, Astronomy Clubs!

It's Earth Month 2013 and NASA is celebrating our global connections. Find out how to connect with NASA scientists though Night Sky Network telecons and international astronomy clubs through a new IAU initiative. Plus, get your club and community involved in preserving dark skies for all. Let's get connected!

• Saving the Dark – GLOBE at Night and a light pollution PSA
• Saving the Date – May 21s t for High Energy Telecon
• Reminder: Log your first quarter events by Sunday
• IAU Astro Clubs Portal
• Update on NASA and Sequestration

 
Saving the Dark – GLOBE at Night and a light pollution PSA
New from the International Dark Sky Association: A short public service announcement on Light Pollution.
Losing the Dark introduces and illustrates some of the issues regarding light pollution, and suggests three simple actions people can take to help mitigate it. Available as a FREE Download! Find out more here:
http://www.darksky.org/component/content/article/252

This year's final Globe at Night campaign begins this month. Get in on the fun and be a part of this worldwide citizen science project April 29-May 8:
http://www.globeatnight.org
 
Save the Date – May 21st for High Energy Telecon
NSN members, join us on Tuesday, May 21 st at 6pm PT/9pm ET for
Blazing Galaxies, Exploding Stars and Monstrous Black Holes: High energy visions of the Universe with Dr. Lynn Cominsky.
Hear about the latest updates from high-energy missions like Fermi, Swift, and XMM-Newton.
More information here:
http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=521
Left, High energy image of the W44 supernova remnant
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, NRAO/AUI, JPL-Caltech, ROSAT

Log your first quarter events by Sunday
Be sure to log your 2013 events by this Sunday, April 7th to qualify for your next ToolKit and to enter to win a Super Solar Box of Goodies. Five boxes are packed full of hundreds of solar glasses, UV beads, and many, many handouts for your visitors and demos for your club, waiting to go out to five lucky clubs. Winne rs will be drawn from all NSN events held this quarter. Each 2013 event that used NSN resources and is logged by April 7th will give you another chance at winning. Just 2 logged NSN events this quarter, and you’ll qualify to receive another ToolKit that your club doesn’t already have.
If you are new to logging events, click here for a brief tutorial.
 
International Astronomical Union Launches Astro Clubs Portal  
The IAU Astro Clubs Portal will be much more than a list of clubs: it will be a global network to bring established and newly formed associations (particularly those in developing countries) together. This is the start of an ambitious project, which we hope will grow into a valuable web community. This is a complementary network to NSN, with the aim of building global links between astronomy clubs.  The IAU encourages clubs around the world to join this new initiative as it gets off the ground:
http://www.universedowntoearth.org/clubsportal/
 
Update on NASA and Sequestration
Many of you have expressed concern about the effects of the budget sequestration on NASA and the Night Sky Network. We have not yet heard how this might effect most NASA programs, but can assure you that the NASA Night Sky Network website is stable and will remain active. We have every confidence that your efforts will continue to be supported, but we have very little information presently and will be sure to keep you updated in the member’s article as we learn more. Login to stay up to date or keep up with NASA here:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/sequestration-NASA-education-guidance.html

Wishing you clear skies!

Vivian White
Night Sky Network
nightskyinfo@astrosociety.org

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NOTE: The NASA Night Sky Network is a nationwide community of over 425 amateur astronomy clubs.  You are signed up for email notifications from the Night Sky Network as a member of your local astronomy club. To change your preferences for receiving Newsletters and other notifications, log into the Network and select "My Profile."


The NASA Night Sky Network is managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
The ASP is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that advances science literacy through astronomy. Your contribution is tax-deductible as provided by law.
 

April meteor shower set to light up the night sky

By Richard Talcott — Published: April 16, 2013

Lyrid meteors must battle a bright gibbous Moon at their peak, but viewers should still see a number of shooting stars. // Astronomy: Jay Smith One of the five top meteor events of 2013 peaks the night of April 21/22. Although the Lyrid shower doesn’t get as much recognition as some summer and autumn showers do, it often puts on a nice display. In a great year, observers can expect to see up to 20 “shooting stars” per hour — an average of one every three minutes — at the peak. Unfortunately, conditions won’t be ideal this year. According to Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich, “An 85-percent-lit Moon will share the sky with this meteor shower until close to dawn. The bright moonlight will drown out some faint meteors and render the bright ones a little less impressive.” Still, observers will have a narrow window with dark skies. At mid-northern latitudes, the Moon sets around 4 a.m. local daylight time and morning twilight doesn’t begin until a half-hour later. Skygazers can open that window wider by finding a spot where a building, tree, or low hill blocks the Moon from view and darkens the sky. Also try to observe from a rural location, where the lights of the city won’t add to our satellite’s glow. Lyrid meteors begin as tiny specks of dust that hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, vaporizing from friction with the air and leaving behind streaks of light. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Lyra the Harp, near the bright star Vega, which rises in late evening and passes nearly overhead shortly before dawn. With the Moon hanging low in the west before 4 a.m., your best bet for seeing meteors is to scan the eastern sky. Once the Moon sets, look about two-thirds of the way from the horizon to the zenith (the point directly overhead) in any direction. Don’t get tunnel vision. If you let your eyes wander, peripheral vision can pick up meteors you otherwise might not see. Another no-no — don’t stare directly at the radiant. Although you can trace all of a shower’s meteors back to Lyra, any meteor you see there will be just a point of light. All other things being equal, the farther away from the radiant a meteor streaks, the longer its trail will be. April mornings can be chilly and you won’t be active, so bring along warm clothes and a blanket. Have some hot coffee, tea, or soup to ward off the chill. And plan to recline in a lawn chair or lie down on an air mattress — sitting up straight or standing for long periods will wear you down.   Fast facts: The dust particles that create Lyrid meteors strike Earth’s atmosphere at 109,600 mph (176,400 km/h). Although this sounds fast, it actually is slower than the speeds of many other annual showers. The Leonids of November top the charts, hitting our atmosphere at 158,800 mph (255,600 km/h). The Lyrid dust particles were born in an obscure comet known as C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). This object orbits the Sun once every 415 years, the longest period of any meteor-producing comet. Although most shower meteors meet their demise in Earth’s atmosphere at altitudes between 50 and 70 miles (85 and 115 kilometers), a few bigger particles survive to within 12 miles (20km) of the surface. These typically produce “fireballs” that glow as bright as or brighter than Venus.

New Quarterly ASTROLOG has been published. Check it out: http://www.cfas.org/filemgmt_data/files/Astrolog%20Volume%2038%20Quarter%201.pdf

Many of our National parks are great astronomy observing sites.  Read on to see which ones are the best

Free Online State-of-the-Art Astronomy Course from Dr. Chris Impey


This course with Professor Impey and a team of instructors from Seward Observatory starts March 25th! 

Access the free online course and outline here:
https://www.udemy.com/astronomy-state-of-the-art/

NASA's Space Place a NASA public education and outreach program, recognizes the Central Florida Astronomical Society for its valuable contributions to its community in the areas of science, technology education and inspiration.

5 February 2013 — ESA/Hubble Photo Release heic1302

A spiral galaxy with a secret

Fourth Quarter Astrolog is now downloaded.  To read click on this link: http://www.cfas.org/filemgmt_data/files/Astrolog%20Volume%2037%20Quarter%204.pdf .

 Top Astronomical Events for 2013

This webpage is a well put calendar for a year long of Astronomical Events for you to observe. Complete with images and diagrams.