MnAstro Forums

Hi everyone, The first outdoor MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session of 2024 is scheduled for Saturday April 27th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton. It will start at 7:00pm (sunset is at 8:14pm that night). This event is weather dependent . If it is cloudy on Saturday night,...

Start time for the 4/27 BSIG will be 7pm.

We'll see you there!

Suresh

Hi Boese,

My suggestion would be for you to bring it to the next BSIG observing session, which is currently scheduled for Sat. April 27th at Metcalf Field near Afton. We'll have several MAS volunteers on hand there, and someone should be able to help you get it working.

Suresh

Hello everyone,

Please see the attached link to Ahmed Reda's presentation "The Golden Age of Medieval Islamic Astronomy - Part 2" on the MAS YouTube page:

https://youtu.be/9JqTtAJhsEk?si=PsCdrWCaj-nAuGqX

Suresh

Hi all, Here is a link to a video presentation by Joe Rao entitled " Everything You Need To Know About the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse ". It is being presented by the Rockland Astronomy Club of New York, which also runs NEAF every April. http://rocklandastronomy.com/img/video/RAC2024_Eclipse_...

Hi everyone, The final virtual B-SIG presentation of the 2023-24 Winter season will be on Saturday March 23rd , starting at 1:00pm . Ahmed Reda will be presenting "The Golden Age of Medieval Islamic Astronomy - Part 2". Synopsis : "A year ago, we discussed “The Golden Age of Medieval ...

Hi Jeff,

You can use the Drift Method to further refine your tracking. See this link. Instead of a nighttime star, you can use the Sun as your target.

https://www.explorescientific.com/pages ... ift-method

Suresh

Hi all, Check out this amazing simulation of the upcoming total solar eclipse path. What I found most interesting was the speed of the shadow and its width. For example, in Texas it will be moving at more than 1,700 mph and will be around 120 miles wide. It gets faster but narrower as it moves furth...

Hi all, Check out this amazing simulation of the solar eclipse path. What I found most interesting was the speed of the shadow and its width. For example, in Texas it will be moving at more than 1,700 mph and will be around 120 miles wide. It gets faster but narrower as it moves further north. I hop...

Go figure. I missed it!

Suresh

Hi all, A friend at the Minnesota Geological Society forwarded me a notice of an upcoming presentation by the Rochester (NY) Academy of Science Mineral Section lecture entitled " The Search for Antarctic Meteorites: A Scientific Travelogue ". I thought I'd forward the invite, in case any o...

Hi all, A special thanks to Dave Falkner for his outstanding BSIG presentation today for Discovering the Moon: Missions to the Moon and What We Have Discovered. We had 25 attendees on the Zoom call this afternoon. Unfortunately, there was a glitch in the Zoom setup, and this presentation was not rec...

Hi Mike, For all Baader products, go straight to Alpine Astro, their distributor in the US. For most products, MAS members get an 8% discount and free shipping. I don't remember the minimum purchase that qualifies to get the discount, but remind Bob Luffel over at Alpine, and he'll let you know the ...

Hi everyone, The next virtual B-SIG presentation of the 2023-24 Winter season will be on Saturday February 24th , starting at 1:00pm . Dave Falkner will be presenting "Discovering the Moon: Missions to the Moon and What We Have Discovered". Synopsis : "The talk will begin with a brief...

Hi all, Here is the link to the recording of Mike Shaw's presentation on Saturday afternoon re: photographing the Total Solar Eclipse, coming up on April 8th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCyp7jytbUs We had 57 attendees on the call, and it really was very comprehensive. People asked great questio...

Hi Mike,

Yes, this presentation will be recorded, and will be uploaded to the MAS YouTube channel within a few days after Saturday's presentation.

Suresh

Hi everyone, The next virtual B-SIG presentation of the 2023-24 Winter season will be on Saturday January 20th , starting at 1:00pm . Mike Shaw will be presenting "How to Plan, Experience & Photograph the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024". Synopsis : "Mike will give real-time ...

Thanks guys. I hope to see everyone out on the observing field in 2024...

Happy New Year!!

Suresh

Hi all, Please see the attached link to a 2-minute video montage of some of my favorite Astro images captured during 2023. The video is 2:09 long. Be sure to have the sound on when playing. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7kr913fl6v77dnwluka09/Suresh-s-2023-Astro-Pics.mp4?rlkey=6jh3iw4yx8c1q11q6m63le...

Hi Scott, Welcome to the MAS!! What you are asking is exactly what we do during our outdoor BSIG observing sessions at Metcalf Field, near Afton. These run monthly from ~ April thru October. We typically have 30-40 telescopes of various types and sizes set up across the field, including 8" SCTs...

Hi all, We had 25 people attend yesterday's amazing BSIG presentation by Bob King. A good turnout! For those who missed it, or want to watch it again, here is a link to the recording on the MAS You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jft_MJHGYTQ The next BSIG presentation will be on Sat. J...

Thanks for sharing. It looks like right after the 34:30 mark there was a significant dip in brightness for about 3 seconds. Maybe 75% at most. But certainly not all of Betelgeuse's light was blocked. And then a rapid rebrightening. This matches other observations I have read from Spain and Portugal....

Hi all, The bright orange star Betelgeuse in Orion will be occulted on the evening of Monday Dec. 11th by the small asteroid 319 Leona. The occultation path is very narrow, and passes thru southern Europe and South Florida. Unfortunately, it does not pass thru Minnesota. Leona is only about 40-50 mi...

Hi everyone, The first virtual B-SIG presentation of the 2023-24 Winter season will be on Saturday December 16th , starting at 1:00pm . Bob King will be presenting "Evenings at the Cosmic Smorgasbord". Synopsis: "How far is the closest black hole? What's a bipolar nebula? What color a...

Hi all, I checked with Goodsell Observatory today. It looks like weather conditions may be favorable on Thursday evening, so the event is a go!! However, they moved up the start time by 30 minutes. The open house now starts at 7:00pm and will run till 9:00pm. It will start right after a talk on Dako...