Tehachapi Skywatch: Tehachapi forms local astronomy club
Tehachapi Skywatch: Tehachapi forms local astronomy club
By: Dale Hawkins, Tehachapi News Columnist
Topics:
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 448 times
0 responses 0 comments I have for some time advocated the formation of a local astronomy club in Tehachapi. This has become a reality. Brandon Wood took the initiative to create a Yahoo Group site at http://tech.groups.yahoo.co... and named our group the Greater Tehachapi Astronomy Club. Nice job, Brandon! The site will provide a forum for communication and planning. Whether you are an experienced astronomer or have a new found interest in our universe, everyone of all ages is invited. Anyone interested in joining can go to the site and sign up. I will also provide updates and announcements of gatherings in this column, as well as post this column on the website.
Our primary purpose is to share our love of astronomy with each other and with the community. We will organize star parties, provide speakers for community groups, and actively support the creation of a community observatory, planetarium, and science center.
The charter members of the club are all busy people. We have therefore reached a consensus via e-mail that we would like, at least for the time being, to avoid the formal complications of electing leaders, paying dues, incorporating, buying insurance, attending business meetings, etcetera, which would only detract from our time available to enjoy astronomy. We believe we can exist informally, gathering only to enjoy the sky and each other's company.
TENTATIVELY, our first gathering will be at the Tehachapi High School on Friday evening, Oct. 19, for a telescope clinic to show people how to use telescopes. We'll start gathering at 6:30 p.m. If you have a scope and aren't yet comfortable with it, we'll be there to help. If you don't have a telescope, here's your chance to stop by and enjoy one. Please check this column next week or the club website to make sure the event is on as planned.
Manned Space Watch
Discovery is preparing for launch on Oct. 23 to deliver and attach “Node 2” to Space Station Alpha, which will allow the attachment of more modules in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority has released its design concept for the first facility purposefully built for commercial space travel. New Mexicans are digging deep for the nearly quarter-billion dollars needed to build the terminal, runways, and other facilities and infrastructure. Despite the tragic setback at Scaled Composites last summer, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Spaceline is still hoping for a 2009 launch, while the spaceport is scheduled for completion in 2010.
Orbital Commerce Project is working with XCOR at the Mojave Spaceport to train the commercial astronauts that will fly the ships in New Mexico.
I may yet be able earn my astronaut wings!
Space Probe Watch
Inaugurating the Planetary Society-sponsored International Lunar Decade, Japan's Selene lunar probe is on its way to the moon. Selene will launch two auxiliary satellites. The three probes will provide detailed data on the moon's gravitational and magnetic fields that cannot be accomplished by a single probe. China is expected to follow with its own lunar mission in a matter of weeks, though there is talk of launch delays of up to several months. And Google has put up a $20 million prize for the first private group to land a probe on the moon and post a video from the lunar surface on the Internet. It really is about time.
Night Sky Watch
With a new moon on Wednesday, our evenings will be dark with clear skies in the long-range forecast.
Jupiter is still bright in the southern sky, with Mars rising at around midnight.
Venus is still stunning in the early morning eastern sky. Though receding from us, its phase is waxing (getting more full), which keeps it bright.
Orion is now high enough in the eastern morning sky to enjoy with binoculars and telescopes before the winter cold sets in.
The Draconid Meteor Shower peaks on Tuesday morning, the ninth.
Sunrise/Sunset (PDT)
6:56 AM/6:25 PM
| Send to a Friend | Report a Violation |