“Annual 'Star B-Q' astronomy event well attended - Bluff Country News” plus 1 more |
| Annual 'Star B-Q' astronomy event well attended - Bluff Country News Posted: 21 Sep 2010 11:22 AM PDT The third annual Star B-Q was a resounding success. The Rochester Astronomy Club (RAC) had originally scheduled the event on Aug. 12 and 13 for the Perseid Meteor Shower," reports local astronomer Dean Johnson, "but the fickle weather of southeast Minnesota did not allow that to happen." "Our backup plan was to hold it on Sept. 9 and 10, but inclement weather foiled Friday but left us with a clear sky for Saturday night. Normally the Star B-Q is a two-night event," Johnson explained. "The way it is set up is that amateur astronomers that bring telescopes to the event partake in the BBQ part of it. They have to bring their own beverage and steak or whatever to grill and I provide the baked potatoes, beans, garlic bread and fruit," he added. "Other than that, there is no charge to the attendees. I absolutely love being part of the RAC. All of the club members are fun, talented and brainy. That's a hard combination to beat. So this is my one weekend to spoil them," Johnson explained. "We absolutely did not know until Saturday that the event could go off, so it was very much a last minute affair." There were 19 astronomers from the RAC and two from the La Crosse Area Astronomical Society that attended the event. The first astronomical coup of the evening was brought off by Roger Southwick of the RAC. He spotted Venus 4 degrees west of the cresent Moon in broad daylight at 6:30 in the evening. By positioning the Moon and Venus between two branches of the boxelder tree on the west end of the field, several others were able to duplicate his feat, Johnson remarked. At 8:15 in the evening, the International Space Station passed almost directly overhead of the Star B-Q. It was visible for about two minutes reaching a peak brightness of magnitude -2.9 (almost as bright as Venus). It passed into the Earth's horizon shadow at 45 degrees in the eastern sky, but was visible in binoculars down to 15 degrees above the horizon. The two sets of solar panels are visible in 15X70 binoculars. "We enjoyed meteors all night long. Most were faint, but there were four that were brighter than magnitude 0. (As bright as Jupiter)," Johnson pointed out. "They electrified the crowd at 8:47 p.m., 10:23 p.m. 11:19 p.m. and 1:33 a.m. Most of the meteors were from the Delta Aurigid stream that peaked on Sept. 9." "The last one was seen by most of the group, because we fired up the grill at 1:30 a.m. to enjoy a 'midnight snack' consisting of baked potatoes, beans and garlic bread, and were all grouped around the picnic table when it went through," Johnson said. "It was a brilliant green color and left a trail that didn't disappear for a full 15 seconds." The skies were absolutely clear all night long with Jupiter putting on a good showing, and the Milky Way stood directly overhead for most of the night. The group got to view lots of objects through many different scopes, but RAC President Randy Hemann got most of the attention with his 30 in. diameter EVO telescope from OMI optics, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That fine telescope cost a "mere" $30,000. "The scope is so powerful that we were able to observe two of the planet Uranus' five main moons, an astronomical first for me," Johnson noted. Imager John Preston set up a camera on a tripod and set it so that it took one picture every 30 seconds. Those frames covered the Star B-Q from 8:30 in the evening until 2:30 in the morning until his batteries wore down. "John stacked them in his computer and made a time lapse video lasting 90 seconds that he showed the RAC at its meeting on Sept. 14," Johnson noted. "It showed the Moon and Venus setting, the Milky Way drifting through the sky and had Jupiter enter the clip during the last 15 seconds. Along with plenty of red flashlights going on and off on the ground and green laser pointers shooting up in the sky, it was very cool." The observing lasted until between 4 and 4:30 in the morning when the dew started getting heavy and people were just plain tired out, Johnson said. "At 6:30 in the morning, Randy and I got up and made the last survivor's breakfast consisting of eggs, potatoes, toast and cantaloupe, served with apricot juice," Johnson continued. He summed it up, "It was a glorious night for astronomy!" Editor's note: if you enjoyed reading about this event and would like to see the stars for yourself, don't miss the special "Star Party" that will be held on Saturday, Oct. 2 during UffDa Fest. It will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Stratford Lee Farm, south of Spring Grove, weather permitting, of course! This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 17 Sep 2010 01:14 PM PDT America's favorite angsty teen, Taylor Momsen, is at it again, you guys. The video for the song "Make Me Wanna Die," with her band, The Pretty Reckless, has been released. And it's all kinds of very year 2000 rebellious, rockin'...um, fun? The whole thing is based on the tried-and-true Momsen principal of stripping while walking through downtown to the graveyard. At night. For good measure, not only is a meteor shower thrown in, but so are a short-circuiting transformer, silhouetted band members and, of course, fiery embers. It's the whole package! Thanks, Taylor. It's been a long week and we needed a laugh. Oh, and two words for the guitar player: Nailed it! ________ Photos: Taylor Momsen: Fashion Spotlight This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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