Astronomy Day 2009

I think that Astronomy Day in Montgomery was very successful, despite mostly cloudy skies most of the evening. The crowd may have been a little smaller than usual, but the folks that came seemed truly interested in astronomy. Folks began coming in around 4pm. Most of our guys had their equipment set up by that time. Though it was hazy, it was possible to get glimpses of the moon. Several people brought their personal telescopes and wanted to know how to use them. Several more wanted to know how to choose a telescope. The three NASA speakers showed up and had very good presentations. I think Rick was very pleased at the way the evening went.

Here are the names and e-mail addresses of the people who wanted on our mailing list.

Rebecca Croley
Rebekah Medlen
Debra Kinman
William Naron
Charlie Dubin
Mills Thornton
Brenda Thornton
Michael Pastorett

Michael was the winner of the free membership. He is 14 years old, but impressed everyone with his enthusiasm about astronomy. He jumped out of his seat when I announced his name at the end of the program. He definitely wants to attend the meetings.

Rhon Jenkins, president AAS

The Auburn Astronomical Society in partnership with the W. A. Gayle Planetarium, celebrated National Astronomy Day at the planetarium in Oak Park in Montgomery, on Saturday, May 2. Thanks to the following volunteers to help with Astronomy Day this year.

Ray Kunert , Takahashi Sky 90 refractor
Mike Holley, Celestron CPC11, SCT; EXT-70
Gail Smitherman, 127mm Maksutov
Jim Garner, 8” Meade SCT
Stephanie Doss, photographer
Rhon Jenkins, Being Rhon Jenkins
Jim McLaughlin, 8-inch Meade SCT
Frank Ward,12-inch Dobsonian
Elliot Errera, AAS 8-inch Dobsonian

Thanks as well, to the many visitors who brought their personal telescopes. Finally, as always, special thanks to Rick Evans for providing the wonderful facility, doing all of the promotion, and securing the speakers from Marshall Spaceflight Center.

This year’s agenda:

3:00PM: AAS members and friends began setting up telescopes.

4:00PM: Early visitors were able to view the eight-day-old Moon, and the Sun in the light of hydrogen-alpha with the AAS PST solar scope, and members’ scopes filtered white-light images.

5:00PM: Telescope Clinic will was open for guests to bring their sick, disassembled, or otherwise malfunctioning telescopes for repair.

6:00 PM: Marshall Space Flight presentations: “The Universe: Yours to Discover, From the Solar System to the Biggest Explosions in the Universe: the Stellar Cycle of Life"

Mitzi Adams, NASA/MSFC
Dr. Barbara Cohen, NASA/MSFC
Dr. Alexander van der Horst, NASA/MSFC/ORAU

7:00 PM: Rick presented a "Tour of the Night Sky" in the planetarium, giving an overview of what the guests will see when they see when they step outside.

7:27PM: Sunset

8:00 PM: The guests came out to view Saturn, its rings and its moons; the mountains and craters of the eight-day-old Moon. The Moon will be one day past first quarter, making the “Straight Wall” and lunar highlands an impressive view.

Thanks to Stephanie Doss for all of the photos and captions!

Setting Up

Gail is up and ready to go