General Interest – Page 6 – Raleigh Astronomy Club

Meeting Highlight October 2017 – 60th Anniversary of Sputnik

Our October 27, 2017 Indoor meeting highlight featured our guest speaker, Dr. Russell Philbrick, was a senior at Cary High School and convinced the owners of WPTF radio station to use their antenna to track the satellite. He gave an excellent talk about the history of not only his career but of the history of the Operation Moonwatch. He told the story of how he organized the Cary High School’s moonwatch club and how he got that call at 3:00…

October Imaging Meeting: Staunton River Imaging Showcase

General Interest

Last week, a good number of our imagers turned their cameras to a very dark sky in southern Virginia and took some great images. There will be a lot of deep space photos to see at this meeting and guests are always welcome. We will be meeting in the hallway behind the Raleigh Brickhouse Sports Bar and Grille at 7pm.

Skywatching at Dix

General Interest

The Raleigh Astronomy Club, along with CHAOS, Morehead Planetarium, and Raleigh Parks and Rec will be out at Dorothea Dix park for skywatching! Come out for a great night enjoying the night sky. Tickets are FREE!! When: October 28, 2017, 7:30-10:30pm Where: Dorothea Dix Park Big Field, 101 Blair Drive, Raleigh, NC 27603 Over 1000 guests are expected. More Details and Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/explore-dorothea-dix-park-skywatching-tickets-37250223421 Details: This is an informal session, so you can arrive and leave any time during the two hours of the program. However,…

September Imaging Meeting: The Technique of Dithering

General Interest

What is “dithering” anyway? Two nuances that determine good quality images are eliminating camera noise and taming bad sky conditions. “Dithering” is a clever way of toning down these problems before analyzing the images, saving the headaches of removing some noise and bad sky conditions while taking your pictures. To find out more, come out to our usual location at the Raleigh Brickhouse Restaurant this Thursday at 7pm. Imagers are also encouraged to bring their final eclipse photos and any…

August RAC Imaging Meeting

General Interest

Join us for this month’s RAC Imaging Meeting at its usual venue in the hallway of the Raleigh Brickhouse AT 7pm. For this meeting, we will be discussing eclipse imaging plans and tips for the next week’s event.

July Imaging Meeting

General Interest

Join us for this month’s RAC Imaging Meeting at its usual venue in the hallway of the Raleigh Brickhouse AT 7pm. We will not be presenting a topic this time, but will be having some of the imagers showing their usual, recent work. We will also briefly discuss the benefits of having our most active imagers as keyholders.

Solar Observing at Marbles Kids Museum

General Interest

We had an awesome time doing Solar Observations for the public at Marbles kids museum! Roughly about 100 people looked through our scopes to view the Sun and see the giant sunspot on the Sun’s western limb. Thanks to Matt L. (for organizing), Jacks L., Mike K. & Doug L., and Phyllis L. for answering questions and operating telescopes at today’s event. Additional thanks goes to Hardin from Marbles Kids Museum for arranging parking, carts, and cold water during the…

June Imaging Meeting

General Interest

Join us at the Raleigh Brick House Restaurant this Thursday at 7pm for our monthly imaging meeting. This month we have no particular topic planned but as always, a screen and projector will be present for anyone wanting to show their latest work or new image-processing techniques. For any new members of the Raleigh Astronomy Club, who are just getting started in astro-imaging, thinking about astro-imaging or just want to see some nice images of space taken by our club…

May 18 Imaging Meeting: Recent Images

General Interest, Meetings

April 20 Imaging Meeting: Solarography

General Interest, Meetings

Join us for this month’s RAC Imaging Meeting where club member Steve Chirstensen will be talking about his success in solarography which allows dramatic pictures of the suns path over the course of weeks. Afterwards, John Sadler will give us a rundown of what he has learned in the freeware programs of Kstars and EKOS. The meeting will be at its usual venue in the hallway of the Raleigh Brickhouse.

Statewide Star Party

General Interest

It’s that time again – time for the statewide star party. The statewide star party, part of the NC Science Festival, offers skywatching events across North Carolina, primarily on the nights of April 21 and April 22. The Raleigh Astronomy Club will be present at a number of events around the Raleigh/Durham area! These family events are free and kid friendly! April 21 Prairie Ridge Ecostation 1671 Gold Star Dr, Raleigh, NC 27607 8:30pm-11:00pm Rain Date: April 22, 2017 RAC…

General Interest

Location: The Raleigh Brickhouse Restaurant Royal Hall Date: March 16, 2017 Time: 7:00-9:30pm Please join us for the topic of how Sequence Generator Pro can assist in automating your imaging sessions. Michael Fulbright and David Keller will give us a quick rundown of the programs capabilities.

March 10 Indoor Meeting: Eclipses and Transits

General Interest

Location: NCSU Crafts Center (directions) Date: March 10, 2017 Time: 7:30-9:30pm Please join us Friday night at the NC State Crafts Center for a presentation by Chris Cole about “Eclipses and Transits.” After the presentation, we will discuss additional RAC business, then adjourn for “dinner” at a local establishment.

Recap: Astronomy Days

General Interest

Astronomy Days Recap The Raleigh Astronomy Club, in conjunction with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and many other groups, put together another very successful weekend for Astronomy Days 2017 where the theme was “The Sun and The Stars”. Nearly 15,000 visitors attended the events. It’s always great to see our community so engaged in astronomy, space, and science. A big thank you to everyone who volunteered to make the event what it is! One of the most popular exhibits…

Resources Mentioned in Astronomy with Binoculars

General Interest, Uncategorized

Several resources were mentioned in the the presentation “Astronomy with Binoculars”. Links and information about these resources follow. Reading Books Touring the Universe Through Binoculars by Phil Harrington (Print & Kindle) Binocular Highlights by Gary Seronik (Print & Kindle) Binocular Astronomy by Stephen Tonkin (Print & Kindle) Magazines – all available at newsstands Astronomy (USA) Quarterly binocular observing articles. astronomy.com Sky & Telescope (USA) Monthly binocular observing articles. skyandtelescope.com Sky At Night (UK) Monthly binocular observing articles. skyatnightmagazine.com Online Resources Blog…