Recent ASNH Activities
by Donna Pursley and Jim Mazur
Ansonia Nature Center Event, August 7
ASNH does an astronomy night at the Ansonia Nature Center a few times a year. This event was to coincide with the Perseid meteor shower. There were about 40 people there waiting for it to get dark to see the meteors. It was very cloudy with clear sky holes. The two of us with scopes were able to show the families the brighter objects in the sky such as double stars and Saturn. The main draw was Al Washburn and ASNH’s collection of meteorites. He had a huge crowd surrounding him. We only saw a few meteors but some were going to look for them later that night at their homes.
Boulder Knoll Community Farm Outreach Event, August 14
On this clear and pleasant Friday evening, about 40 or 50 people came to the Boulder Knoll Farm in Cheshire for Perseid meteor watching and telescope observing. The evening began with a presentation on meteors and meteorites by Bob Carruthers. Quite a few ASNH members brought their telescopes and binoculars, as did a few of the visitors. As the sky started to darken, most telescopes were aimed at Saturn and its moons, which put on a good show. When darkness fell, many summer deep-sky objects were viewed through the telescopes, including double stars such as Albireo and Mizar, the Hercules cluster, the Wild Duck Cluster, the Ring Nebula, and the galaxy pair M81 and M82 in Ursa Major.
The attendees ranged from families with young children to older adults, and besides looking through the telescopes, many of them set up blankets and lawn chairs to gaze upward and look for meteors. Quite a few meteors were seen during the course of the evening. Finally, just around 10 pm as the event was winding down, the International Space Station appeared in the western sky and passed overhead, exactly on schedule. A few of us were able to view the ISS through a telescope with a wide-field eyepiece, and we got a fleeting look at the rectangular shape of the space station’s solar panel array.
Stellafane 2015
by Donna Pursley
The Springfield Telescope Makers Stellafane convention was held on August 13th -16th.
Thursday night was almost perfect. The skies were dark and there wasn’t much dew. I was able to find 53 Messier objects including M76 which is mag 11.5 in my 6” scope.
Friday and Saturday brought clouds and thunder. Friday cleared up a bit after 11pm and some people viewed through the holes. Saturday night it rained while the program was held in the Flanders Pavillion. Afterward the sky was clearing but it was very foggy and damp.
I didn’t see very many ASNH members there this year. I saw Andy Paniros, Pat Maturo and Chris Predom along with his daughter.
Sidewalk Astronomers of New Haven
This is a group astronomy enthusiasts who promote interest and excitement about astronomy by periodically setting up their telescopes in downtown New Haven. They offer views of the Moon and planets to anyone and everyone who happens to pass by. ASNH members Donna Pursley and Mike Zarick recently participated in one of these events. Donna writes:
“On Saturday, August 29th Mike and I decided to bring my scope to where the Sidewalk Astronomers set up in downtown New Haven. The Sidewalk Astronomers follow in Dobson’s footsteps and bring astronomy to the people in crowded areas.
“There were 4 scopes set up. We were able to see Saturn for a while until it set behind a building. Then we focused on the moon. There must have been at least 200 people stop and look through the scopes.
“People are funny. Some people said ‘no thank you’ and continued on while others stayed for a while and enjoyed what they were seeing through the scopes.
“It was a fun night and much different than other public viewing events that we normally do.”
On Sunday, September 12, the Sidewalk Astronomers participated in International Solar SUN-DAY by setting up two solar scopes at the corner of York and Broadway in New Haven. ASNH member Leo Taylor brought one of our club’s Personal Solar Telescopes and participated in the event. Although there were occasional clouds, much of the time the Sun was visible, and about 150 people stopped to view the solar surface, sunspots, and prominences along the rim of the Sun.
