General Interest – Raleigh Astronomy Club

RAC Outreach Committee Report – September 2024

Recent events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Dean, Susan, Mark, Benjamin, Jesus, and Steve B Attendees: ~40 Recap: Steve B – Despite some technical difficulties, about 40 participants got to view the Moon, Antares, and a few other southern sky objects through a telescope and binoculars at the Willard last night, and we distributed out several handouts on astronomy. This was a smaller crowd than typical which is a little surprising given the comparatively…

RAC Outreach Committee Report – August 2024

General Interest, Public Outreach

Recent events: August 2 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast Upcoming events: August 14 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Postponed from August 7 due to weather; previous volunteer registrations voided. Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 0/3 floaters: 0/3 August 17 – Artspace Summer Celebration (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: solar telescopes: 1/2 floaters: 1/2 RAC table: 0/2 August 25 – East Regional Library (Knightdale) Coordinator: Doug L Doug will…

RAC Outreach Committee Report – July 2024

General Interest, Public Outreach

Recent events: June 7 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Coordinator: Ana V June 19 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Tony, Chris, Jesus, Dave, Dean, Susan, and Steve B Attendees: ~80 Recap: Steve B – We had a good event at The Willard Rooftop summer solstice party tonight. They arranged for some influencers to be photographed looking through our volunteer’s telescopes before dark. The near-full moon was out and the haziness made…

RAC Outreach Committee Report – June 2024

General Interest, Public Outreach

Updated 2024-06-24 Recent events: May 3 – First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres (Creedmoor) Canceled due to weather forecast May 11 – Artspace Galactic Family Day (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: Annelies, Tony, Jacqueline Attendees: 111 Recap: Annelies – We had a great day at Art Space today! Expert Tony joined me with his solar telescope. I brought my M1 Polaris with solar filter. Member Jacqueline was able to help as a floater and a new friend by…

RAC Outreach Committee Report – May 2024

General Interest, Public Outreach

Updated 2024-05-23 Recent events: Apr. 24 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers: 3 telescopes (Matt, Chris, Bill), 1 floater (Steve) Attendees: 30-40 Recap: After a rainy afternoon, the clouds cleared an hour or so before sunset. We were able to see Jupiter and Uranus briefly after sunset. Orion nebula, globular, and open clusters were also viewed, along with a beautiful near-full moon rising over downtown Raleigh. No luck observing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the light haze near the…

RAC Outreach Committee Report – April 2024

General Interest, Public Outreach

Recent events: Mar. 23 – Food Lion Galaxy Nights at Tappahannock, VA Mar. 24 – Eclipse 2024 Primer (virtual) Apr. 5 – SWSP/First Fridays with TLC at Three Bear Acres Apr. 13 – Food Lion Galaxy Nights at Sumter, SC Upcoming events: Apr. 24 – The Willard Rooftop (Raleigh) Coordinator: Steve B Volunteers registered: telescopes: 2/3 floaters: 0/3 Apr. 25 – Githens Middle School STEAM Night (Durham) Coordinator: Matt L Volunteers registered: ? Apr. 27 – Astronomy on Tap Star…

August 28, 2022: Skywatching at the Art Museum

General Interest

Date: August 28, 2022 Time: 8:30 – 10:30 pm Location: NC Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC Volunteers: Bethany Bennett, Steven Blake, Dana Bostic, Mike Keefe, Barton Meeks, Matt Lochansky, Tony Verdone, Chris Wittum Event Attendees: 80-100 Overview: The event was coordinated through the NC Museum of Art, as part of their Summer series in the museum park. We were located by the “Tilted Gyre” – the set of 3 giant ring sculptures. We arrived at 7pm – earlier than usual…

Meeting Minutes April 22 2022

Club Reports, General Interest

RAC Indoor Meeting Minutes April 22 2022 Co-chairperson Anastasia Vail hosted the meeting using the Zoom platform. 26 participants Presentation: “Mobile Machines on Mars!” by Ken Brandt. Lecture summary: We will hear the latest updates about robots currently exploring Mars as well as an overview of the Martian “big picture!” Speaker: Ken Brandt is director of the Robeson Planetarium and Science Center, a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and was recently appointed to the board of directors of the North Carolina…

Can RAC Help with My Telescope?

General Interest, Newcomers to Astronomy, RAC

Can RAC Help with My Telescope? Short Answer, Yes! First, a shameless plug for the club: If you’ve got your first telescope and need some help, you are a perfect candidate to become a club member. With membership you get access to our club email list and can find a mentor to help get you started in the hobby. Additionally, you gain membership into the Astronomical League, which through their observing challenges helps progress you in the hobby and keeps…

Donate a Telescope to RAC

General Interest, RAC

How to Donate a Telescope to RAC If you have an old telescope laying around that you want to get rid of, but do not want to throw out, RAC may be able to accept it. RAC owned telescopes are used as part of a pool of loaner telescopes for our members. This gives our members the opportunity to try telescopes before investing in one. What Kinds of Telescopes does RAC Accept? Telescopes must be in working order. Other than…

Where to Stargaze Around Raleigh and Beyond

General Interest, Newcomers to Astronomy

Local Places (and beyond) to Skywatch at Night RAC’s home area includes Raleigh, Apex, Cary, Garner, Holly Springs, Fayetteville and surrounding communities. Looking for a good observing site can be challenging. The Raleigh area is beautiful during the day – lots of trees, great public parks, and convenient shopping centers. However, at night parks close and light pollution obscures the night sky. What do you want to Observe To find an appropriate spot to skywatch, what you plan to observe…

Visual Astronomy Buyer Guide – Introduction

Visual Astronomy

How will you use your telescope? Visually, Camera Assisted, or for Astrophotography

Telescope Buyer Guide

More Info: Visual Astronomy EAA Astronomy Astrophotography Introduction: This guide is intended for beginners looking to buy a telescope. We recognize there are a lot of choices out there and we focus on what works best for our club members considering the Raleigh, NC area. When preparing to buy a telescope, one of the first considerations is how you plan to use it. Each section below will take you to specific information about that style of observational astronomy. With big…

Recommended Dobsonian Telescopes

Visual Astronomy

RAC receives a lot of questions about buying a telescope. The answer always depends on your goals in astronomy, but for many a dobsonian style telescope is the most cost effective option to own an amateur class telescope. Dobsonians are relatively inexpensive because their optical tube is the least complex and it is mounted on a very simple base. This makes them very rugged telescopes and very easy to set up and operate. And since Aperture is king when it…

Telescope Accessories

Visual Astronomy

No telescope comes with all the accessories you need out of the box. Consider this list of accessories that many amateur astronomers buy over time. The exact accessory may depend on the telescope you buy. What not to Buy Generally you’ll get a 10mm and a 25mm plossl eyepiece that fits a 1.25″ focuser. Stick with those. They’re all you’re going to need for a while. Avoid buying color filters as they are virtually useless. Also avoid buying any 1.5x,…