The Meteor Journal of the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association

Transcription

1 The Meteor Journal of the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association VOLUME XL Numbers November-December 2015 ********************************************************************************************* President Ed Magowan (850) Vice-President: Tom Riederer (920) Secretary Richard Walker (850) Treasurer Jim Larduskey (850) Librarian: Jacque Falzone (850) Education Chair: Dewey Barker (850) NWFAA Contact: Dennis Hausch (850) Deep Sky Committee: Dave Haluposki (850) UWF Astronomy Club Contact: Jon Ellard (251) Mobile AS Contact: Rod Mollise (251) PSC Student Chapter officers for : President: Dave Cochran (850) Vice President: Sara Herrington Secretary: AllyKat Francis Treasurer: Susanna Rogers Editor and ALCOR: Dr. J. Wayne Wooten, Physical Sciences Department, Room 1751, Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL Phone (850) (voic ) ( ) pensacolastate.edu Please mail all dues to EAAA Treasurer, 4660 Shannon Circle, Pensacola, FL ********************************************************************************************************* Pavilion Gazes for Fall Astronomy Day September 18-19, 2015 Thor Garber and I arrived Friday about 6:30 PM, and already had a good group of EAAA members there. Many thanks to Ed Magowan, Dewey Barker, Ron Fairbanks, AllyKat Francis, Jacque Falzone, Tom Reiderer, Lyen McAbee, John Arnold, and Rick Johnston for assisting with the about 200 folks who dropped by on a fine evening for crescent moon observing Friday evening. I set up the Eon 72 and ioptron smartphone adapter on the old Quantum mount (finally got the motor drive working!) and helped dozens of smartphone users capture a crescent moon in great detail, even with earthshine on some models! We had a brief constellation tour about 9 PM, and then AllyKat Francis and I took the Canon SX 150 and tripod to the darker beach to get some deep sky shots, usually 15 exposures at ISO 400. It was amazing to see the Milky Way that well at the Pavilion, even with the four day old moon! By 9:40 Thor and I headed back to Pensacola to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts for Merry and Rebecca, but sure some members were still out enjoying the night long afterwards. Wayne Wooten A busy night on Saturday. I arrived around 6:30 pm to find Dewey Barker already set up in our usual spot. I found out that I had left my battery pack at home still charging, so I was in a state of panic for a while. Luckily John Ellard and his twin brother showed up for this event and loaned me his battery pack. Thank you again John! You saved my night. Tom Riederer and Dave Cochran arrived a little later to provide much needed help. There were people everywhere around us, probably at least a thousand. For over 2 hours we had lines deep at our scopes waiting to see the moon and Saturn. It was hard to figure out how many, but Dewey and I thought at least or more. Only a few feet away, Dewey and his 5" refractor would disappear in the swarm around him waiting to take photos of the moon on their cell phones. We were entertained during this time from the band "The Molly Ringwalds". Great covers of "rock" tunes from my generation. At times our scopes would vibrate from the heavy bass notes coming from the stage. Things finally started settling down after 10:00pm. The four of us were pretty exhausted. Tom and Dave left sometime a little later. Dewey and I were consumed in "astronomical" conversation with a few stragglers until late. He and I finally packed up and left around 12:45am. For me, this was probably the most fun, and work, that I have ever had at a public stargaze. --Lyen McAbee

2 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 2 Blood Moon Clouded out Locally. Many thanks to Dewey Barker, Tom Riederer, Thor Garber, Sheryl and Mark Williams, and Jim Larduskey for assisting with the Lunar eclipse watch at the planetarium Sunday evening. Had a few breaks in clouds before the umbral phase began, but too many clouds and rain for any photos. As promised, milk and cookies were served to about 40 folks who did come out, but bad weather heading our way sent us home about 9 PM. Wayne Wooten Last Fort Pickens gaze of 2015 As Thor Garber and I drove out Friday afternoon, skies looked promising. We hoped to spot the green flash, and did note a photographer in Gulf Breeze with his camera on tripod obviously set up for sunset over water. Still got some good sunset shots, and set up a bunch of RFTs (rich field telescopes) for scanning the Milky Way later in evening. They included the 8 Meade OPT, with f/6.6 telecompressor, 2 62mm wide angle eyepiece, on the Unitron Alt- Azimuth mount with tripod by Jerome Klingaman. I remounted the 5 f/5.6 B&L refractor with Vixen base for better portability, and equipped it with a 1.25 adapter and star diagonal. We also had the 4.25 f/8 Meade Newtonian with 2 focuser and 32mm Plossl eyepiece. Others with scopes included Dewey Barker and his 12 Lightbridge, Tom Reiderer with a similar rig, Ed Magown and his 4 refractor, Rick Johnson and his 10 Orion Newtonian, Jon Arnold and his C- 8, Malone Calvert and his 8 Meade Newtonian, and new member Mark Rossmore with his Vixen Polarie camera mount. We were assisted by UWF ranger intern Elizabeth Grounds. Alas, after some good views of Saturn, M-22, M-27, and the Milky Way, about 8:30 the clouds thickened. My hopes of showing my students the Andromeda galaxy were dashed, and while we could still see some stars and constellations through broken clouds, transparency was going south fast. We did have about 50 guests and campers come out, but by 9:30 PM we could not see anything up stairs, so packed up and headed back to home. Wayne Wooten Big Lagoon Gaze on October 10, 2015 I arrived at Big Lagoon around 6:00 PM and I was soon followed by Stephen Huber, Lyen McAbee, Ed Magowan, Ray Hayes, Jason Goings, and Don Meyer. We had a small group of 6-8 people waiting with us for the Sun to set and everyone got real nervous as some large clouds started rolling in, we were getting a sense of Deja Vu from our Ft Pickens gaze the night before. We had a group of girl scouts arrive from the camp site, I estimate that there were 10 to 15, but the way they were bouncing around, it was hard to keep track. Thankfully, once the Sun disappeared below the horizon, the clouds thinned out and we got some nice views of Saturn, the Ring Nebula, M-6 and M-7, M-22, M-15, M-31, M-33 as well as several NGC objects. Seeing seemed pretty good as there was some twinkling on the horizon but the skies were steady overhead, transparency wasn't as good, the skies looked a bit hazy form some high thin clouds to me. I used my laser pointer to do some constellation tours for the girls. Overall I think we had 40 to 50 people come out for this event and most of them disappeared by 9:00 PM or so. Lyen and Ray were packed up and gone by 10:30-11:00 PM, Don and I were on site until 12:30-1:00 AM, Ed and Stephen were still working on photography projects, when Don and I left. Dewey Barker

3 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 3 Star Gaze for Montessori School Due to multiple cancellations, there were only a handful of campers out at Montessori School of Pensacola on Saturday October 10. I was on site with his 12" dob. The site was also not ideal being hemmed in by trees and buildings. Nevertheless, after star maps were handed out, all present got to look at Saturn and Titan before it disappeared below the rooftops. As it darkened, we did some constellation locating, with particular attention to Sagittarius, Pegasus and Andromeda. Shortly after dark, clouds rolled in and we had to call it an evening. The school was appreciative of what we did and will be asking us back. --Tom Riederer Pea Ridge Gaze Report on October 22, 2015 Dewey Barker and I drove over to Pea Ridge Elementary School about 5 PM on Thursday evening, October 22 nd for their school science night. We were afraid haze would prevent any lunar observing, but as we set up in twilight, the haze cleared a lot, and dozens of families looked at the moon at great detail with Dewey s 12 dob. I used the Eon 72 and ioptron smartphone adapters to photograph the waxing gibbous moon. The rainbow of Sinus Iridium was especially well lit and beautiful in many of their photos. We passed out star charts and got several folks interested in joining the club, as well as presenting the school a new Galileoscope for use in their astronomy curriculum. We packed up about 7:30 PM after a most rewarding evening of looking up. --Wayne Wooten Longleaf Elementary Gaze on October 22 nd Tom Sajwaj, John Arnold, Rick Johnson, and I set up at Longleaf elementary school on Thursday evening, Oct 22. Tom brought his binoculars on the trapezoid mount, John his 8 inch SCT, Rick his 10 inch Newt and I my 4 inch achromat. The slight overcast toward the waxing gibbous moon cleared enough to provide some excellent views. Saturn, low in the west, was a treat as always and remained visible in the telescopes far longer than to the eye, finally disappearing into thick clouds. In addition to the science night folks there was also soccer practice, a lot of the little whippersnappers rushed over during and after practice. One young mother was so excited she became our biggest cheerleader, yelling to others to come over and see the sights and calling other parents on her phone. I think Rick recruited her to come out the the beach and Big Lagoon gazes next season. When we thought we were about done, another wave of children and parents came by, that happened two or three times. Actually that worked well, we would have been swamped if they'd all come by at once. We were even joined by a few late season mosquitos. For an evening that didn't hold much promise due to clouds, it turned out to be terrific. --Ed Magowan PS: Ed, who was the leader teacher for this gaze? Need to get a galileoscope to them with the next batch in the next few weeks. Geminid Meteor Shower watch at Fort Pickens Group Camping The student chapter is inviting EAAA members, as well as PSC students in our science clubs, to camp out with us on Monday evening, December 14 th, for the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. We can check in from 2 PM on, but you must register by with Dr. Wooten. You do not have to spend the whole night; the moon sets at 8:15 PM for dark skies.

4 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 4 Holley Navarre Gaze on October 27, 2015 Rick Johnston with his telescope and me with my giant binoculars were at the Holley Navarre Intermediate School star gaze this evening, Tuesday, the 27th. There were 200+ students and parents there, and Linda Matthews, the sponsoring teacher, gave all 80 star handouts, while Rick passed out about 150 of his photograph of the Moon. Unfortunately, his Moon photo was the best view of it we had all evening.the clouds were thick, with only a few short breaks. When we finally got a good break, about 8 students got a look at the Andromeda Galaxy. Another 3 got a quick look at the Perseus constellation. The Summer Triangle also made a brief appearance. By the time the Moon rose, the clouds had returned in force. Shortly after we packed up, there was a brief shower.the students were enthusiastic, but Mother Nature didn t cooperate. --Thomas Sajwaj I wanted to give a great big THANK YOU to the astronomers, Tom Sajwaj & Rick Johnston, who came to our event at Holley Navarre Intermediate School. They were so dedicated and supportive even though the weather wasn t very cooperative. We had about 135 students as well as siblings & parents who were accompanying them. So we probably had around 250+ who visited the astronomers station. Rick brought pictures for each student of the moon he had taken (about 150) and we handed out the star charts that you sent, although I underestimated the number. I had two ipads outside with the Star Chart app downloaded to give the students a view of what would be visible. Even with the cloudy skies, it was a very successful evening thanks to your dedicated club members. Thanks again to the group for supporting us that evening! We truly appreciate you all. --Linda Matthews PS: Linda, student Pablo Campos has assembled your galileoscope, and we will try to get it to you soon. Scenic Heights Elementary Gaze on October 29, 2015 Thanks for great help from Trey and Regina Hall, Tom Sajwaj, Jeff Hughes, Rickard Walker, and new member Orlando DeJesus for this great public gaze. We had perhaps 200+ students and parents taking photos and videos of the Sun, and then viewing the rings of Saturn in SW twilight. The view of the setting sun in H alpha by Cameron Allison can be found at this link: _ mp4 --Wayne Wooten Galileoscopes for Local Classrooms Three Galileoscopes are now in local science classrooms, with more in preparation. Suzanne DeLay checks out hers on Wednesday, October 21st on the large sunspot group in the center of the Sun. Shelton Mobley of Woodham MS received his earlier, and Dewey Barker presented one to the Principal of Pea Ridge Elementary School at last night s gaze. Let teachers know about this outreach program. Many thanks to Terri Von Bargen for the donation of funds for six of these kits! We voted on November 7 th to use SGA club funds for six more for the students to build and deliver to local teachers in the last month of this term at PSC; if you want to help put together a kit, let me know. If you decide to buy the kit you built, they are $30, and will include a 1.5 Draco Baader filter for eclipse and sunspot viewing. Wayne Wooten

5 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 5 Going Rooftop Solar with Gulf Power Locally Merry has wanted us to go solar for years. Back in 1980 we installed a passive solar water heater on the roof, but it soon began to leak, and the company which installed it had gone out of business, and no local company to fix it, alas. It came down off the roof after Ivan, and had to be junked. When Doug and Marilyn Wheeler showed us their solar heating on their home in Crestview, we started thinking again about green energy. When Gulf Power s Lonnie Noach and Shaun Gunter gave a presentation on Solar Electric for Pensacola State students and faculty on October 21 st, we found local solar power is really starting to look practical and economical. For our home, the initial installation with new Tesla batteries for home backup looks like about $15,000, with a payback time of about 10 years. If you are interested in such a home installation, call Shaun at Student chapter treasurer Susanna Rogers and I presented them with solar monoculars for viewing the large sunspot and the eclipse in two years, and showed them how to photograph the sun with their smartphones. Wayne Wooten Libby s Story of the Houston Planetarium I recently moved to Houston, TX. I learned that my new home had one of the best planetariums in the country. I had never been to one, so I decided to take my day off to go explore and see what it was about. I have to say that Burke Baker lived up to all the hype!! It was a huge science museum and the planetarium was just apart of it. You could spend a whole day here learning about the different parts of space. If you are ever in Houston for any reason it is a must see while you are here! Since I had never been to one before, getting to experience such a good planetarium for my first time was something that I will always remember. We purchased tickets and headed to learn about the dark side of the moon. They have different shows each week and this one sounded cool to me. We entered the room, which was shaped like a doam. The rom was huge and the seats circled the room. We watched above to learn more about the dark side of the moon. The picture was incredible and the sound affects were amazing. We could see stars all around us even by our feet, and it was so beautiful! It really looked like we were there and for a minute you forgot that you were in a chair sitting on Earth!! It truly gave you the sensation that you were in space. I got giddy like a little kid when I was in there because I found it to be so fascinating. The video was only about 20 minutes long but provided us with lots of facts and information. We learned that the dark side has always gotten plenty of light from its perspective. The short clip also informed us that we got our first look at the moon from the Soviet Unions spacecraft called LUNA 3. We learned that research shows the dark side of the earth side moon is actually from ancient magma flooding. Although we heard lots of facts and information about the moon, getting to see it in a way that I couldn t have except for this planetarium is what I find most interesting and helped me the most. I knew what space and the moon looked like in pictures and in my head, and even from the space rides at Disney world, but seeing it like this made me have a new respect for it and is something that I wish hadn t taken me 20 years to do! I suggest anyone who hasn t been to a planetarium before to go on a day off or a rainy day because it was worth it! It was a good change from the typical movies and thought the pricing was really good. This planetarium has different shows on different days so I plan on going back. One of the shows coming up is about black holes and I think that one will also be really cool. Libby Story, RODP Student

6 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 6 The Martian (Movie) vs what Mars really is like In the movie The Martian, Mars looks a lot like what it actually looks like in real life, with a few dramatic enhancements for Hollywood. The movie looks like it was probably filmed in the desert somewhere, possibly Arizona or Australia. The planet is reddish and sandy with impressive rock formations and impact craters. While the craters are accurate, rock formations on Mars in real life are not quite as big and imposing. There are little pebbles peppered throughout the sand in some areas in the movie and this looks consistent with pictures of real life Mars. In the movie, the crew experiences a violent dust storm. While there really are dust storms on Mars, Mar s atmosphere is too thin for a storm that strong with winds that fast. This leads me to another point; Mars s has about 30% of the gravity of Earth. Because of this, I don't think Mark Watney would just be able to just walk normally like he does in the movie. In the film, we also see tornadoes and lightening on Mars, both of which have been observed there in real life. --Oceane Zigler, PSC Astronomy Student EAAA Participation in next February s Pensacon Have been communicating with Pensacon during day today and it sounds like they are interested in a presentation probably Saturday morning 02/20, then if weather is clear, they would like some scopes set up for night sky viewing Saturday night. Steve Wise said he will be talking with Dr. Robert Hoffmann at IHMC about some panels and will see if they may accommodate a place for night sky scope set up. I see that 02/20 is a day before full moon and Jupiter will be rising in East by 8P. Sunday is Family Day at Pensacon and they are very, very interested in some solar scope set up in parking lot of Bay Center or Crowne Plaza during the day for kids and parents. Could I come to club meeting Nov 6 and talk with club about the event, as it would asking members to volunteer doing the scope set up both Saturday night and Sunday? --Billy Jackson, Planetarium Director EAAA Meeting Minutes for October 2, 2015 TONIGHT'S PROGRAM: 7:00pm 8:00pm - North to Alaska by Myron David. Myron presented a wonderful slide show of his travels to Alaska, about 50 miles north of Fairbanks) and the northern lights (Aurora Borealis). He also gave hints on how not to freeze while you are up there. - Chris and Gina Gomez gave a presentation of their recent astrophotography. PS: If you missed the fine video Chris and Gina presented on their deep sky photography, here is the link: Lunar eclipse A few slides were shown of the recent (and past) lunar eclipses. NEXT PROGRAM:- Australia (down under) program by Malone Calvert OPEN MEETING: 8:00pm by Ed Magowan, withseveral students and guests attended the meeting. REPORTS Awards (Wayne Wooten) No awards were given at the meetings. Amateur Astronomer Education Program and Levels (Dewey Barker) Dewey covered the education program, along with available resources, during the meeting for the guests and students.

7 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 7 Treasurer Report (Jim Larduskey) Checking $ Savings 5, Cash Total $6, Jim circulated the 2016 calendar list and mentioned it might be about $8.00 less expensive to obtain the Otwell calendars from the Astronomical League. Shirts and Hats (Dave Halupowski) Dave has hats (about $15) and all sizes of shirts (about $15) for sale. He is also able to arrange to have personal items embroidered for a reasonable fee (about $12). International Dark Skies Report no dark skies report this month. Past Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at: Star Gaze reports appear in the Meteor. The calendar is being brought up-to-date, adding several new gazes. If you use established or find new dark skies please let the club know about them so we can compile a list with GPS coordinates, aiding other members to find them. The Munson area is being checked out for possible dark sky use in the fall. NEW BUSINESS A motion was made to obtain 1000 solar filters (about $330) while preparing for the coming solar eclipse activity. The motion was seconded and passed. A motion was made to obtain 6 Galileo scopes (about $180 plus postage) for safe solar eclipse viewing. The motion was seconded and passed. A matching donation by member Terri Von Bargen allowed us to order 12 instead, and students are putting these together for teachers. ANNOUNCEMENTS - Dr. Clay gave his annual talk on Saturday, Oct 3, preceded by the 4:00pm Dutch treat dinner at Golden Corral. It was a fascinating talk, with discussion, on unidentified flying objects. Many interested local citizens participated in the discussions. - The last of the summer gazes will be in October. - Friday, Oct 9, Fort Pickens - Saturday, Oct 10, Big Lagoon State Park - Friday, Oct 16, Pavilion - Saturday, Oct 17, Pavilion - A good grouping of Venus, Mars and Jupiter will occur on Sept and October in the pre-dawn sky. October 23 will have an especially close cluster of planets. ADJOURNMENT: 8:30 by Ed Magowan --Richard Walker, Sec.

8 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 8 Minutes to EAAA Meeting November 6, The regular EAAA meeting for November 6, 2015 was preceded by the PSC Student Chapter of EAAA business meeting. Student chapter president Dave Cochran called the meeting to order at 6:40 PM. The first order of business was to authorize the purchase of 6 galileoscope kits for $180, and six 1.5 Baader solar filters for them from Draco OProductions for about $30. We voted to join with the Geology, Physics, Biology, and Phi Theta Kappa at Pensacola State for a student Geminid Meteor Watch on the last day of the term, December 14 th, at the group camping area at Fort Pickens. The reservation for this with NPS costs $ We also have our Christmas club party coming up on December 4 th ; we allocated $ for the cost of drinks, plates, etc. for both the party and the campout. Looking ahead, we discussed a possible trip to the Wetmumpka Meteor Crater in February. We will contact Marilee Tankersley at (334) ; her is mtankersley@ elmore.rr.com. We also looked forward to Fort Pickens sky interpretation next spring. The new contact at NPS is Sandra Tennyson, head ranger. Meeting was adjourned at 6:55 PM, before the talk on Aussie Skies. --AlliKat Francis, Student Chapter Secretary The November program was the next item on the agenda. Malone Calvert gave an interesting talk on his experience in Australia in September of this year. The title of his talk was Aussie Skies. Malone and his family flew into Sidney Australia after a long 17 hour flight from Dallas, Texas. After spending some time in Sydney and Port Douglas where family members visited the Great Barrier Reef they went to Ayers Rock where they experienced an astronomy program about the southern Aussie Skies. Malone took astrophotos of many southern sky features including the Southern Cross, Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and other astronomical items. The daytime skies at Ayres Rock permitted seeing Venus without optic aids. Ed Magowan, EAAA president opened the business meeting at 8:00 p.m. The meeting guests introduced themselves. We welcomed new members Orlando DeJesus, Richard Mannarino, and Angela Franklin. Dr. Wooten recognized Mark Rossmore for achieving Level I Amateur Astronomer. Dewey Barker explained the Amateur Astronomer award program and encouraged members to keep a record of their astronomy observations, participation in EAAA events, and completion of the different level requirements. Jim Larduskey, EAAA treasurer reported there was $ in savings, $ in the checking account, and $ cash on hand. Jim gave a brief report on the previous months expenditures. Jim indicated the order for the Astronomy Calendars and the Ottwell hand book would be placed the week of November 9 th. Rick Johnson was recognized for winning the EAAA Astrophotography award at the Pensacola Interstate Fair in October. The winning photograph was a grouping of the planets of our solar system. Rick had the tree photographs that he entered in the fair at the meeting for viewing.

9 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 9 The election for the EAAA officers for 2016 was held. The results are as follows: Ed Magowan- President, Tom Reiderer- Vice President, Jim Larduskey- Treasurer, and Richard Walker- Secretary. Dewy Barker was reappointed Special Events Coordinator. The past month star gaze report was reviewed. The following star gazes are scheduled; Beulah Elementary School, Avalon Middle School, and Molino Park Elementary School. The dates and times of the gazes are to be listed. The EAAA Christmas Party is scheduled for December 4 th. Bring your goodies and have fun. The Elder Hostel will have a program on the latest astronomy discoveries at 2:00 p.m. November 13 th in the EAAA meeting room. Everyone is invited. The January EAAA program will be in the PSC Planetarium and Billy Jackson will talk about the improvements to the facility and show a new program. Billy Jackson has been contacted by the Pensacon event that will be on February 19, 20, and 21 st, 2016 to provide astronomy related programs. Pensacon would like a 45 minute panel discussion on Saturday morning February 20 th. They would like to have family astronomy viewing at night and solar viewing on Sunday morning the 21 st. The venue is to be at the IMHC facilities and the Civic Auditorium. Billy asked if EAAA members would volunteer to help with the event. The Pensacon event has participants from the state of Florida and has from many other parts of the country. Dewey Barker was asked to help coordinate the EAAA participation in the event. Dr. Wooten reminded members the EAAA has 3 Hydrogen Alpha solar loaner telescopes and he encouraged members to use the equipment. There was a brief discussion about the August 23 rd, 2017 solar eclipse and a possible area to view the event. PSC astronomy students Michael and Shaun Garner have a family farm very close to the center line and point of longest eclipse in Kentucky, only a few hours drive away, and have invited the club to consider it for a club observing site. Many of us were certainly interested in the potential, and perhaps members present do plan to drive to totality for this event. Chris Gomez gave a brief overview of and astronomy photograph enhancing program as an alternate to Photoshop. The program is PIXINSIGHT and may be of interest to members who are into fine tuning their astrophotos. There is a trial period of use prior to purchase of the program. --Bert Black, Acting Secretary

10 The Meteor Volume XL Numbers November-December 2015 Page 10 Calendar of Events Nov. 13 Waxing crescent passes 3 degrees north of Saturn, low in twilight Nov. 17 Setting crescent moon does not interfere with peak of Leonid Meteor Shower Nov. 19 First quarter moon Nov. 25 Full Moon, the Frosty or Beaver Moon, Happy Thanksgiving Dec. 3 Last Quarter Moon Dec. 4 EAAA annual Christmas party, 7 PM in room 1775 Waning crescent moon passes 2 degrees south of Jupiter, both rise about 1 AM Dec. 6 Moon passes just south of Mars in dawn sky, occultation for S. Africa Dec. 7 Moon passes 1.1 degrees north of Venus in dawn, great photo opportunity Dec. 11 New Moon Dec. 14 Peak for Geminids, campout at Fort Pickens Group Camping Area Dec. 18 First Quarter moon Dec. 21 Winter solstice, winter begins at 10:48 PM CST Dec. 25 The Long Night Full Moon shines on our Christmas celebrations Dec. 29 Mercury at GEE, 20 degrees east of setting sun in evening twilight Jan. 1 Happy New Year; for 2016, our meetings will be the fourth Friday Jan. 3 Peak for the intense but brief Quadrantid meteor shower Jan. 6 Fine morning grouping of Moon, Venus, and Saturn in dawn Jan. 9 New Moon, Venus passes very close to Saturn Jan. 15 EAAA meets at 7 PM, planetarium program, Returning to the Moon Jan. 16 First Quarter Moon Jan. 23 Full Moon, the Moon of the Breaking Branches in Indian Lore Jan. 25 In dawn sky, all five planets visible in 112 degree arc from Jupiter to Mercury Feb.? Possible Field Trip to Wetumpka Meteor Crater, TBA