season’s greetings, no matter what planet you’re...
TRANSCRIPT
Season’s greetings, no matter what planet you’re on!
ESA/Hubble & NASA Artist’s Impression.
122015
page 4-5: science news page 6: next month calendar page 7: NoCoAstro info page 8: northern colorado resources
What you’ll find in this newsletter.
Last newsletter of 2015!
position
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Newsletter
Website
name
Amanda Bell
Robert Arn
Dave Karp
Greg Halac
Amanda Bell
Robert Arn
pres@ vp@ sec@ treas@ objview@
web-edit@
2015 officers
To contact officers, use @NoCoAstro.org
pg 3
Tally
O’D
onn
ell Jelly
fish Nebu
la / IC 4
43
time & date
location
Thursday, January 7th at 6:15pm
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
408 Mason Court, Fort Collins 80524
First astro-talk of the new year!
Hubble Reveals Diversity of Exoplanet Atmosphere: Astronomers have studied the atmospheres
of ten hot, Jupiter-sized exoplanets in detail. But why do some of these worlds seem to have less water than expected? *
ALMA Reveals Planetary Construction Sites: Astronomers have found the clearest indications
yet that planets with masses several times that of Jupiter have recently formed in the discs of gas and dust around four young stars! *
VLT Revisits a Curious Cosmic Collision: New images from ESO’s Very Large Telescope reveal
details of a spectacular 360 million year old cosmic collision. *
XXL Hunt For Galaxy Clusters: An international team of astronomers use ESO telescopes to hunt
for the largest gravitationally-bound structures in the universe: galaxy clusters. *
Ireland to Explore Possibility of Joining ESO: Prime Minister of Ireland, Edna Kenny, has
launched Innovation 2020, a five-year strategy for research and development, science and technology. *
Science news. (go ahead: click the photos)
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First Explanations for Observed Boundary Within Earth's Mantle Proposed:: "Earth is
unique, so learning what is going on deep inside its mantle is very important." *
Over Half of the Giant Kepler Planets May Not be Planets After All: According to a study
focused on gas giants identified, the total number may include more false-positives than previously thought. *
The Science of Family Guy with Seth MacFarlane on StarTalk Radio: Are you wondering
what we can learn about time travel or the multiverse from Stewie and Brian on Family Guy? Neil
deGrasse Tyson finds out! *
How to View the Best Comet of 2015, Comet Catalina: This huge mass of rock and ice is in the
midst of a one million year journey toward the sun from the Oort Cloud. Read more about its journey and
why you should catch it now (hint: because you won't get another chance!) *
Electron Lifetime is at Least 66,000 Yottayears: The best estimate yet for the lifetime of an
electron is an amazing five-quintillion times the current age of the universe, or 66,000 yottayears. *
…more science news.
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Do you know an event that should be added to an upcoming calendar?
Help keep everyone informed: send it to ObjView at NoCoAstro.org
pg 6
January 2015 A look at what’s happening in the world of astronomy.
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
31 2Globe at Night
Earth perihelion
Luna 1 (1959)
9
Globe at Night
16
23
Greeley Library Solar Viewing & NASA
Event FREE
1
8
Globe at Night
7
Globe at Night
NoCoAstro Meeting at FoCo MoD
6
Globe at Night
5
Globe at Night
4 Globe at Night
Quadrantid shower peak
Spirit landed on Mars
3
Globe at Night
10
Globe at Night
11
Globe at Night
12 13 14 15
Fossil Creek Skygazing 7:30pm
17 18 19 20 21 22
24First craft to
observe Uranus
Opportunity landed on Mars
25
Space Station Freedom
26 27
Apollo tragedy, 1967
28
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster,
1986
29
ISS agreement
30
Fossil Creek Skygazing 7pm
You are the
Northern Colorado
Astronomical
Society
(NoCoAstro).
Established in 1995 as a non-profit organization we are here to promote interest in the science and hobby of astronomy. We meet the first Thursday of each month to discuss our interests and experience in the universal world of astronomy.
Monthly talks are free and open to the public. Bring a friend!
Come to dinner!
Join your fellow NoCoAstro members after the meeting for dinner & drinks with this month’s speaker. RSVP to an officer if you’d like to join us. Dutch treat.
Member Photo Albums :
You'll want to see all of the amazing photos taken by our members.
NoCoAstro Email :
Anyone can join the email lists but subscription requests are monitored. Only approved subscribers are allowed to post.
NoCoAstro Admin Info:
Find group bylaws and constitution.
Borrow equipment here :
Club items may be borrowed at no cost by NoCoAstro members! Find out more here.
Request a Private Event :
How to request an astronomy event for your nonprofit group or club.
Regional Star Parties :
A gathering of amateur astronomers to observe the sky.
Become a Member: Learn about benefits of membership!
Astronomy Gear how-to Guides:
Learn about telescopes and astrophotography.
pg 7
Boulder Astronomy & Space Society
(BASS): meetings are hosted by the UC
campus at the Fiske Planetarium. Open to students and the public.
* Denver Astronomical Society
(DAS): promoting understanding of
astronomical phenomenon at the U of Denver's historic Chamberlin Observatory.
*
Estes Park Memorial Observatory
(EPMO): has many goals, including
encouraging enthusiasm for physics and math in kids of K-12th grade.
*
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
(FOCO MOD): The MoD isn’t just where
we hold our meetings. Check out their calendar for current events or to find out more.
* FRCC Stargazer Observatory
(FRCC): thanks to a unique partnership with Village Homes, FRCC operates an astronomy lab at Observatory Village in SE Fort Collins.
* FRCC Sunlight Peak Observatory
(FRCC): operated on the FRCC Larimer
campus directly behind the Harmony Library. Open houses held 1st Friday of each month.
* Little Thompson Observatory (LTO):
no-charge public access to the universe available during regularly-scheduled public star nights or schedule your own private observatory event (for free!)
* Longmont Astronomical Society
(LAS): promotes amateur astronomy
through monthly meetings, star parties and public observing sessions. Meetings are open to the public.
* Sommers-Bausch Observatory
(SBO): Operated by the Department of
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at CU Boulder. See the spring semester Friday night viewing schedule.
* * *
local Museums, Astronomy Clubs, Observatories and Planetariums.
pg 8
201512
@TheSunToday NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
Want to see your astrophotos in the newsletter? Send them to: objView at nocoastro.org
see you next year
f o r m o r e a m a z i n g n e w s , s k y g a z i n g a n d a s t r o - t a l k s