RAC

John Sinclair from the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) gave an excellent talk on NC meteorites for our May meeting. John is the curator of the meteorite collection at PARI (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) in Rosman NC near Brevard. The PARI site was originally a NASA tracking station during the 1960s and 70s and later became a DOD satcom site. Today, PARI is a non-profit institute supporting radio and optical astronomy research and education. We learned that there are 29 sites in…

Each April, as part of the North Carolina Science Festival, dozens of State Wide Star Parties are held.  This year was no different.  The Raleigh Astronomy Club supported 4 different star parties this year: Howell Woods, Four Oaks – April 18 New School Montessori Center, Holly Springs – April 21 Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve Park, Raleigh – April 24 Prairie Ridge EcoStation, Raleigh – April 24

Speaker: Phyllis Lang For our April meeting, long time RAC member Phyllis Lang gave an excellent talk on Binocular Astronomy. Phyllis described the different types of binoculars available for astronomy use, how to get the most out of them and what objects look best in binoculars. Many people assume that the best astronomy observing is done with the biggest telescopes. But many objects – the moon, large open clusters and large nebula look as good or better through binoculars. Binoculars offer a wider field of…

Is there any intelligent light out there? Not if we’re talking about the way we light our cities. Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night, gave an outstanding talk at our March meeting on light pollution and what we miss when we lose a dark night sky. About 100 people attended this joint meeting of RAC, the Audubon Society and the NC Herpetological Society to learn more about the impact of light pollution on the environment and our well being.

Winter can be the best time of the year for Astronomy if you do not mind bundling up. The air is at its driest and clearest of the year and the stars just seem brighter. Or it can snow a lot, be overcast and totally shut the hobby down. That was our club experience in February with most of our events, including the indoor meeting, lost to bad weather. But you can never keep a good man down. The RAC snowman was…

The clouds couldn’t beat human curiousity for the October RACOBS.   The night started with more than 50% cloud cover but slowly improved.  By 9pm, plenty of objects were available for observing.  Among the approximately 20 attendees were members old and new, guests who have never peered through a telescope and a local Cub Scout Troop.  Attendance started to dwindle by 11p and the observing session came to a close soon after.  Thanks to all club members who graciously provided…