The Meteor Journal of the Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association VOLUME XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 ********************************************************************************************* President Ed Magowan (850) 458-0577 Vice-President: Tom Riederer (920)540-8337 Secretary Richard Walker (850) 477-7136 Treasurer Jim Larduskey (850) 434-3638 Librarian: Jacque Falzone (850) 261-9745 Education Chair Dewey Barker (850) 458-1591 NWFAA Contact: Dennis Hausch (850)428-9467 Deep Sky Committee: Dave Haluposki (850) 678-4052 PSC Student Chapter officers for 2014-15: President: Dave Cochran (850) 293-2021 Vice President: Adam Licko (850) 313-9347 Secretary-Treasurer: Amy Stewart (410) 629-9588 Editor and ALCOR: Dr. J. Wayne Wooten, Physical Sciences Department, Room 1751, Pensacola State College Pensacola, FL 32504-8998 Phone (850) 484-1152 (voicemail) (E-mail) wwooten @ pensacolastate.edu Please mail all dues to EAAA Treasurer, 4660 Shannon Circle, Pensacola, FL 32504 Scenic Heights Stargaze on January 29, 2015 We had a crowd of over 100 of our Scenic Heights event. Many thanks to EAAA student members Suzanne Rogers and Jason Goings, and members Tom Sajwaj, Tom Riederer, Richard Walker, Trey and Regina Hall, and Wayne Wooten. We got a nice view of brilliant Venus in the SW after sunset, comparing the brilliance of its cloud shrouded disk with the dull rocky gibbous moon overhead. On the Moon, Copernicus was a great photo op, and dozens of great lunar shots were taken with cell phones by parents and even students with the new ioptron adapter and my Quantum 6. I adapted it with a Celestron f/6.3 telecompressor to use it at f/10 (easily capture whole moon) and also at top focus at f/17. The fabled optical excellence of this Questar spin off were evident, but the motor drive needs some work, alas. Suzanna Rogers used the laser pointer to show the families the brighter stars and constellations while Richard Walker and I set up the photo sessions. Regina Hall was our clerk, signing off the kids participation in this stargaze, one of several stations set up by the school for that fine family night. Finally, we did manage to get Jupiter and its moons rising in the NE as the session wound down, and some iphones even captured the belts and zones on the planet, as well as the moons. We wrapped up about 8 PM after a lot of fun by all. --Wayne Wooten Navy Point Stargaze on January 29, 2015 We had a great time at the Navy Point Elementary star gaze. Boy are those young kids a handful. I can see why all the help you can get is needed. I have been playing around with my auto guider and Friday night I was able to get an hour or so of shooting once the moon had set. I attached the photo of the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 from that nights shoot. In that shot you can also get a glimpse of the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 5474. This was a total of 30 min exposure (12 2.5 min exposures). Overall the mount and scope are performing excellent and we are very happy. I also attached a photo of M81 and M82 that I re-edited to get better details to come out. --Chris Gomez Munson Gaze on February 14 th Gina and I joined Ed and Lyen with a couple of others out at Munson last Saturday night for a great shooting session. Our target IC-2177. The head of the Seagull Nebula lies on the upper right. This nebula region is pretty large to get the whole seagull figure in the field of view of our scope. NGC-2335, an open star cluster is visible on the middle left. With the great weather this weekend and after getting a hang of autoguiding, we were also able to get an updated shot on Friday night of M-51 and NGC-5195 (Our scope's first light target). --Chris Gomez
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 2 Sherwood Elementary Gaze on February 27, 2015 Tucked away just around the corner from where I live in Myrtle Grove is this little gem of a School. Jamie Muldoon, a PE teacher, was my host and guide on where to set up etc. My home made 8" Dobsonian Telescope and 20 x 80 Binoculars were on their Parallel Mount outside the Library ready to go at dusk. Inside, I had set up a display of my early astronomical photos, club related newspaper articles, and the story of how I built my telescope. The clubs "Starshooting Disk" was running on my laptop. At about 6 PM some very eager Sherwood students and their parents were treated to great views of the gibbous moon, Jupiter and four of it's moons, and a glimpse of the planet Venus. OO's and oh wow's were in abundance and a future 4 year old astronaut was was amazed and delighted. A great time was had by all. Over all, I would estimate 50 to 75 people came out to check out the view through lightly scattered clouds. Ya gotta love these school gazes. I packed up at about 7:30 and checked out with Jamie who thanked us and said we might be invited back to a school Science night in the near future. Harold Breyde Navarre Beach Stargaze Report We have been sharing our observations and experiences in astronomy with our coworkers and many of them have been asking for us to put a stargaze together for the folks at the dental squadron on Hurlburt Field AFB. When we share our photographs with them we could instantaneously see their eyes open wide and a look of disbelief and excitement at the same time. We frequently get comments along the lines of That s out there? No way? That s amazing! And so, with a small break in this lovely overcast weather we have been having, we were able host a stargaze on Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at Navarre Beach. We had 10 people come out and join us starting around 6:00 pm and we opened our stargaze with views of Venus trough the scope and naked eye; our photo of the group is on the next page. There were a few clouds in passing throughout the night but folks were able to enjoy views of Jupiter with its bands and visible moons, many of our moons craters and the contrasting difference between them and the lunar maria, and a couple of star clusters still fairly visible in the moonlight (The Pleiades and the double star cluster on Perseus). All in all it was a success. People really enjoyed themselves and were amazed at what they saw. We promised them we would do another gaze when the moon was not out to enjoy views of some of the deep sky objects not very visible that night. Everyone thanked us for hosting the gaze and a couple of them may even come out and join us at our next meeting on Friday to learn more about the club. We were glad to be able to host the event and share the beautiful views of the night sky that we all enjoy. Chris and Gina Gomez
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 3 Pleasant Grove Science Night on March 5, 2015 For a cold, windy, and cloudy evening, the March 5th Pleasant Grove Elementary gaze turned out well. We set up the C-8 in between two buildings to help protect from the wind. Due to the clouds, we only had brief views of Jupiter. We were able to see great views of the full moon. There were almost 200 parents and children at the Science night and all enjoyed the glimpses of Jupiter and views of the moon. I gave them copies of the star chart and our Summer gaze schedule. This is the third time I have attended the Pleasant Grove Elementary Science night. It is always well attended and the folks enjoy looking through the telescope. --John Arnold EAAA Meeting minutes for December 12, 2014 TONIGHT'S PROGRAM: CHRISTMAS PARTY ( Great food!). NEXT PROGRAM: January 9, 2015: Rosetta and Philae update by Dr. Wooten OPEN MEETING: Ed Magowan opened the meeting at 7:00pm. There were several students and/or guests at the meeting. Awards - Wayne Wooten presented the Warren Jarvis Award for the winning photograph from the Escambia County Fair to student member Sean Torres; his moon photo was featured in our December 2014 Gallery.
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 4 Amateur Astronomer Education Program and Levels (Dewey Barker) Chris and Gina Gomez earned the Level I award together. Jon Ellard earned an award for serving two years as EAAA president. Treasurer Report (Jim Larduskey) Checking $989.72 Savings 5,196.91 Cash 485.55 Total 6,672.18 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 report this month. There is a lot of dark sky related work starting, so we may want to consider an update over the next few months.) OLD BUSINESS Past Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at: http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Star Gaze reports appear in the Meteor. Local Dark Skies Locations: If you use established or find new dark skies please let the club know so we can compile a list with GPS coordinates, aiding other members to find them. NEW BUSINESS Future Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at: http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Clicking on any posted star gaze should bring up additional information about that event (Point of contact, begin time, location including GPS coordinates) ANNOUNCEMENTS 1 - I talked to a reference librarian about the EAAA telescope loaner program (library paperwork, patron paperwork). I'm going to have to go to the main library because nobody seems at all interested in the program on a systemwide and standardized basis. Now would be a good time as the holidays are over. ADJOURNMENT: Ed Magowan adjourned the meeting at 7:15pm. Richard Walker, Sec.
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 5 EAAA Meeting Minutes for January 9, 2015 TONIGHT'S PROGRAM: - Dr. Wooten gave an update on the Rosetta project as well as a probable location for the Philae probe location. - Johnny Godowski gave a presentation that suggests that many of the collisions that we see in space might not be primarily kinetic, but may in fact be some variant using a type of energy conversion: electrical like lightning with two pulses or what sounded like nuclear with intense release of energy/light. NEXT PROGRAM: February 6, 2015, with Tom Sawjaw discussing the Gemini in mythology. OPEN MEETING: Ed Magowan opened the meeting at 7:00pm. Introduce Students and Guests There were about 11 students and guests at the meeting. REPORTS Awards - Dr Wooten presented the level II education award to Chris and Gina Gomez, one month after earning the level I education award. Amateur Astronomer Education Program and Levels - Dewey Barker covered the education program for the students in attendance. Treasurer Report - Jim Larduskey reported that he paid for the wall calendars and will be paying for the Ottewell calendars soon. He also reported that 2015 dues are now due. SUMMARY Checking $220. 48 Savings 5,197.62 Cash 559.05 Total $5,977.15 Shirts and Hats - Dave Halupowski discussed the hats (about $15) and all sizes of shirts (about $15) he has for sale. He stated he is also able to have personal items embroidered for a reasonable fee (about $12). OLD BUSINESS Past Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at: http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Star Gaze reports appear in the Meteor. NEW BUSINESS Future Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at: http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Clicking on any posted star gaze should bring up additional information about that event (Point of contact, begin time, location including GPS coordinates)
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 6 ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Dr. Wooten will be taking a loaner scope and manual to the Pensacola State College Library. 2. He brought several Warren Jarvis items to the meeting. They are available for sale at a substantial discount. 3. Dewey requested that anyone who can help with either of the January 29, 2015 Science Nights, please let him, and the school Point Of Contact, know as soon as possible. a. Scenic Heights Elementary Science Night 3801 Cherry Laurel Drive, Pensacola, FL, 32504 GPS: 30.489052, -87.177605 POC: Tracey Hotopp, 850-384-1387 EAAA: Dewey Barker, 850-450-7767 (after 6pm) b. Navy Point Elementary Science Night 1321 Patton Dr, Pensacola, FL 32507 GPS: 30.390251, -87.290376 POC: Sara Parmer, 850-453-7415 ext.255 EAAA: Dewey Barker, 850-450-7767 (after 6pm) ADJOURNMENT: Ed Magowan adjourned the meeting at 8:30pm --Richard Walker, Sec. EAAA Meeting Minutes for February 6, 2015 TONIGHT'S PROGRAM: 7:00pm - Tom Sajway gave an interesting program on Gemini that integrated mythology, science and history. - Rick Johnson showed his video clip of an asteroid's motion. - Chris Gomez showed several of his pictures of celestial objects. NEXT PROGRAM: March 6, 2015 - Wayne Wooten - The Dawn spacecraft's approach to the dwarf planet Ceres in March 2015. OPEN MEETING: 8:00pm Introduce Students and Guests There were 2 students and 2 guests who introduced themselves at the meeting, some as new members. REPORTS Awards (Wayne Wooten) - no awards were presented this month. Amateur Astronomer Education Program and Levels (Dewey Barker) Dewey gave the high points of the EAAA education program for the benefit of our guests.
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 7 Treasurer Report (Jim Larduskey) Checking $549.46 Savings 5,197.62 Cash 233.55 Total $5,980.63 Jim reimbursed Dave Halupowski $200 for the purchasing of shirts. Dues is now due for 2015. Several calendars still need to be picked up and purchased. International Dark Skies Report Dave Halupowski mentioned a new truck stop that is using a vastly improved lighting system where the lighting is all aimed down. Any light polution is a large improvement over other systems that shine light into the sky. Last Month's Minutes Please let secretary know of any needed corrections. OLD BUSINESS Past Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Star Gaze reports appear in the Meteor. Local Dark Skies Locations: 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. NEW BUSINESS Future Star Gazes - maintained on EAAA calendar at http://www.gulfweb.net/rlwalker/astronomy/index.html Clicking on any posted star gaze should bring up additional information about that event (Point of contact, begin time, location including GPS coordinates) Dewey Barker also sends out lists of gazes occurring in the near future. ANNOUNCEMENTS - Wayne Wooten has a remaining 10x25 Tasco monocular with Baader filter for $10 and 10x25 Tasco binoculars with Baader for $15. If you would like either or both please contact him at 850-484-1152. He will be preparing more of the binoc sets in various colors for future meetings. - February 21, 2015 will have the moon, Mars and Venus in close proximity for a good photographic opportunity. - The Mid-South Star Gaze will be held from April 15-18, 2015, at the French Camp Academy Rainwater Observatory & Planetarium. Details can be found at http://www.rainwaterobservatory.org/rainwater/index.cfm/information/upcoming-events/midsouth-star-gaze/ ADJOURNMENT: 8:45pm --Richard Walker, Secretary
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 8 Recycling a C-8 mount for astrophotography In 2003, I built a plywood box tube refractor with an old surplus lens. Having nothing else to mount it on, I took the fork arms off my C8 drive base and made a couple of oak fork arms to hold the refractor. It was just a temporary arrangement, I soon put the original fork arms and C8 back on the drive base. A photo of the wooden refractor setup is here: http://www.pbase.com/emagowan/image/16585310 Some time later (2009) I shortened those same wooden fork arms and used them to make a camera platform. The spur gear drive was good enough for use with wide angle to medium telephoto lenses on a camera. The setup used a long wooden shaft with a counterweight on one end and the camera attached to the other. I also added a finder scope for polar alignment, a Celestron 6x30LER (long eye relief) finder I had floating around. Although it worked, it was...awkward. Some photos of that mount are at: http://www.pbase.com/emagowan/modified_c8_mount At about the same time, I de-forked the C8 and put a dovetail on it. I've had my C8 since 1979 and while it is very portable and I've always liked the optics, the spur gear driven clock drive just wasn't cutting it for prime focus photography, it works much better on a CG5. A couple of years ago I replaced the head on one of my photo tripods with a ball head. Immediately I realized this would be the ideal item to use on the modified C8 mount. The finder scope needed an objective cap, I sawed off the bottom of an Accu-Chek glucose test strip container, tossed the bottom and jammed the top half of the container into the objective 'dew shield'. Fits perfectly and the cap pops open but stays attached to the container so it can't be lost...like the original objective cap. Polar alignment (actually Polaris alignment) is done in typical fork mount manner. I don't bother offsetting to the actual celestial pole, at these focal lengths and relatively short exposures it doesn't matter, but could easily be done if using a longer telephoto lens. The knobs to attach the wedge and drive base to the Celestron Field Tripod are stored on the camera mount itself. Photos of this improved camera mount, and some photos take with it, are at: Improved C8 mount camera platform by Ed Magowan
The Meteor Volume XL Numbers 1-2 January-February 2015 Page 9 Calendar of Events March 6 EAAA meets at 7 PM, room 1775 for business meeting; Dawn arrives at Ceres March 8 Spring forward to CDT at 2 AM Sunday March 10 West Pensacola Elementary Gaze, 5 7:30 PM, kkaye@escambia.k12.fl.us March 12 Last quarter moon passes 2.4 degrees north of Saturn in claws of Scorpius now March 14 First Big Lagoon Gaze of season, check in gate before sunset! March 19 Waning crescent moon passes five degrees north of Mercury March 20 New moon, total solar eclipse in north polar regions, Vernal Equinox at 5:45 PM March 22 Waxing crescent moon passes 2.8 degrees south of Venus in SW twilight March 27 First Quarter Moon, First Pavilion Gaze of the season starts at sunset March 28 Pavilion Gaze, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion March 30 Waxing gibbous moon passes 5.4 degrees south of Jupiter in eastern sky April 3 EAAA meets at 7 PM in room 1775; program TBA April 4 Full Moon, total lunar eclipse; umbral partial begins at 5:15 AM locally Totality begins at 6:32 AM, but moon sets and sun rises at 6:38 AM April 5 Easter Sunday, set by the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox April 8 Waning gibbous moon passes 2 degrees north of Saturn in late evening sky April 10 Roy Hyatt Environmental Center Gaze, 6-8:30 PM, moconnor@escambia.k12.fl.us April 11 Big Lagoon Gaze; check in gate before sunset April 12 Last quarter moon April 17 First Ft. Pickens gaze of season, sunset at Battery Worth April 18 New Moon April 21 Waxing crescent moon passes 6.6 degrees south of Venus April 24 Beulah Elementary Gaze, 6 9 PM, SSchubert@escambia.k12.fl.us April 25 Pavilion Gaze, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion May 8 EAAA meets at 7 PM, room 1775, program TBA May 9 Big Lagoon Gaze May 15 Ft. Pickens Gaze, sunset at Battery Worth May 22-23 Pavilion Gazes, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion June 5 EAAA meets at 7 PM, room 1775, program TBA June 6 Big Lagoon Gaze June 12 Fort Pickens Gaze, sunset at Battery Worth June 19-20 Pavilion Gaze, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion July 3 EAAA meets at 7 PM, room 1775, program TBA July 11 Big Lagoon Gaze July 17 Fort Pickens Gaze, sunset at Battery Worth July 24-25 Pavilion Gazes, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion August 8 Big lagoon Gaze August 14 Fort Pickens Gaze, sunset at Battery Worth August 21-22 Pavilion Gaze, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion Sept. 5 Big Lagoon Gaze Sept. 11 Fort Pickens Gaze, sunset at Battery Worth Sept. 18-19 Pavilion Gazes, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion Oct. 2 EAAA meets at 7 PM, room 1775 Oct. 3 Dr. Clay Sherrod s talk, 7 PM, WSRE Oct. 9 Final Fort Pickens gaze of season, sunset at Battery Worth Oct. 10 Final Big Lagoon Gaze Oct. 16-17 Pavilion Gazes, sunset 11 PM, Pensacola Beach Gulfside Pavilion
Minor mergers have massive consequences for black holes By Dr. Ethan Siegel When you think of our sun, the nearest star to our world, you think of an isolated entity, with more than four light years separating it from its next nearest neighbor. But it wasn't always so: billions of years ago, when our sun was first created, it very likely formed in concert with thousands of other stars, when a giant molecular cloud containing perhaps a million times the mass of our solar system collapsed. While the vast majority of stars that the universe forms some ninety-five percent are the mass of our sun or smaller, a rare but significant fraction are ultra-massive, containing tens or even hundreds of times the mass our star contains. When these stars run out of fuel in their cores, they explode in a fantastic Type II supernova, where the star's core collapses. In the most massive cases, this forms a black hole. Over time, many generations of stars and hence, many black holes form, with the majority eventually migrating towards the centers of their host galaxies and merging together. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, houses a supermassive black hole that weighs in at about four million solar masses, while our big sister, Andromeda, has one nearly twenty times as massive. But even relatively isolated galaxies didn't simply form from the monolithic collapse of an isolated clump of matter, but by hierarchical mergers of smaller galaxies over tremendous timescales. If galaxies with large amounts of stars all have black holes at their centers, then we should be able to see some fraction of Milky Way-sized galaxies with not just one, but multiple supermassive black holes at their center! It was only in the early 2000s that NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was able to find the first binary supermassive black hole in a galaxy, and that was in an ultra-luminous galaxy with a double core. Many other examples were discovered since, but for a decade they were all in ultra-massive, active galaxies. That all changed in 2011, with the discovery of two active, massive black holes at the center of the regular spiral galaxy NGC 3393, a galaxy that must have undergone only minor mergers no less than a billion years ago, where the black hole pair is separated by only 490 light years! It's only in the cores of active, X-ray emitting galaxies that we can detect binary black holes like this. Examples like NGC 3393 and IC 4970 are not only confirming our picture of galaxy growth and formation, but are teaching us that supermassive relics from ancient, minor mergers might persist as standalone entities for longer than we ever thought! Check out some cool images and artist reconstructions of black holes from Chandra: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/category/blackholes.html Kids can learn all about Black Holes from this cool animation at NASA s Space Place: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/black-holes.
Images credit: NGC 3393 in the optical (L) by M. Malkan (UCLA), HST, NASA (L); NGC 3393 in the X-ray and optical (R), composite by NASA / CXC / SAO / G. Fabbiano et al. (X-ray) and NASA/STScI (optical).
The heavyweight champion of the Cosmos By Dr. Ethan Siegel As crazy as it once seemed, we once assumed that the Earth was the largest thing in all the universe. 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras was ridiculed for suggesting that the Sun might be even larger than the Peloponnesus peninsula, about 16% of modern-day Greece. Today, we know that planets are dwarfed by stars, which themselves are bound together by the billions or even trillions into galaxies. But gravitationally bound structures extend far beyond galaxies, which themselves can bind together into massive clusters across the cosmos. While dark energy may be driving most galaxy clusters apart from one another, preventing our local group from falling into the Virgo Cluster, for example, on occasion, huge galaxy clusters can merge, forming the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe. Take the "El Gordo" galaxy cluster, catalogued as ACT-CL J0102-4915. It s the largest known galaxy cluster in the distant universe. A galaxy like the Milky Way might contain a few hundred billion stars and up to just over a trillion (10 12 ) solar masses worth of matter, the El Gordo cluster has an estimated mass of 3 10 15 solar masses, or 3,000 times as much as our own galaxy! The way we've figured this out is fascinating. By seeing how the shapes of background galaxies are distorted into more elliptical-than-average shapes along a particular set of axes, we can reconstruct how much mass is present in the cluster: a phenomenon known as weak gravitational lensing. That reconstruction is shown in blue, but doesn't match up with where the X-rays are, which are shown in pink! This is because, when galaxy clusters collide, the neutral gas inside heats up to emit X-rays, but the individual galaxies (mostly) and dark matter (completely) pass through one another, resulting in a displacement of the cluster's mass from its center. This has been observed before in objects like the Bullet Cluster, but El Gordo is much younger and farther away. At 10 billion light-years distant, the light reaching us now was emitted more than 7 billion years ago, when the universe was less than half its present age. It's a good thing, too, because about 6 billion years ago, the universe began accelerating, meaning that El Gordo just might be the largest cosmic heavyweight of all. There's still more universe left to explore, but for right now, this is the heavyweight champion of the distant universe! Learn more about El Gordo here: http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/april/nasa-hubble-team-finds-monster-elgordo-galaxy-cluster-bigger-than-thought/ El Gordo is certainly huge, but what about really tiny galaxies? Kids can learn about satellite galaxies at NASA s Space Place http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/satellite-galaxies/.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, J. Jee (UC Davis), J. Hughes (Rutgers U.), F. Menanteau (Rutgers U. and UIUC), C. Sifon (Leiden Observatory), R. Mandelbum (Carnegie Mellon U.), L. Barrientos (Universidad Catolica de Chile), and K. Ng (UC Davis). X-rays are shown in pink from Chandra; the overall matter density is shown in blue, from lensing derived from the Hubble space telescope. 10 billion light-years distant, El Gordo is the most massive galaxy cluster ever found.
Join us for a Fun Night Under the Stars! The Escambia Amateur Astronomers Association Will Hold Free Public Star Gazes on these dates: Big Lagoon State Park Star Gazes for 2015 are scheduled for Saturdays; March 14, April 11, May 9, June 6, July 11, August 8, September 5, October 10 The gaze is free, but normal park entry fees will still apply. Participants must enter park before sunset, the gate is locked at that time. Fort Pickens Star Gazes at Battery Worth for 2015 are scheduled for Fridays; April 17, May 15, June 12, July 17, August 14, September 11, October 9 The gaze is free, but normal park entry fees of $8.00 will still apply. Gulfside Performance Pavilion Star Gazes for 2015 are scheduled for both; March 27 & 28, April 24 & 25, May 22 & 23, June 19 & 20, July 24 & 25, August 21 & 22, September 18 & 19, Oct 16 & 17 Free parking is available in the Casino Beach parking lot, near the Beach Ball Water Tower. Members Telescopes and Binoculars will be set up for views of: the Moon, Planets and other Celestial Objects. Clear skies permitting, Members will begin setting up their Telescopes for these events just before sunset. The Astronomy Club meets on the first Friday of each month at 7:00 PM, building 17, room 1775 at Pensacola State College. For more information about the Astronomy Club, or for scheduling a star gaze for a school, scouting, or other social event at your location; Contact Dewey Barker after 4:00 PM at (850) 450-7767 for any questions. Please be sure to visit our website at www.eaaa.net or go to: http://rlwalker.gulfweb.net/astronomy/index.html to view our calendar of events and club members Astro - Photos