MnAstro Forums

Hi all, For many years, Guy Ottewell produced his famously detailed and informative Astrocalendar. I've collected them since the 1980s. He stopped producing a printed version in 2016, though I believe he created a digital copy in some years since. He is now publishing a printed version of his 2024 A...

Hello everyone, We are looking for presenters for our BSIG Fall/Winter schedule. Topics are chosen by the presenter. We just ask that it be relatable to our beginner-level members. The presentations can go up to 90 minutes in length, with some time after for Q&A. These presentations are recorded...

20230908_193610.jpg 20230908_201027.jpg Some pictures from last night's BSIG session at Metcalf Field. Despite the late switch from Friday night from Saturday due to the weather forecast, we still had around 40 attendees, and most brought their own telescopes... The sky was actually mostly clear fo...

Hi all, Hi everyone, Based on the latest weather forecasts, this Friday night September 8th is the better night this weekend for the next MAS Beginner Observing session at Metcalf Field. Saturday night is cloudy with a 60% chance of rain. So let's meet up at Metcalf Field at 7:00pm tomorrow night. I...

20230826_193646.jpg We had approximately 40 people at our BSIG event last night at Metcalf Field. Despite forecasts that it would be clear by around 10pm, we only experienced a few brief segments of mainly clear skies, with high clouds dominating about 80% of the time. Still, people were having a g...

Hello all,

The weather forecasts all look good for Saturday night. The BSIG event at Metcalf Field is a GO!!

We'll start up at 7:00pm. Come join us!

Suresh

Hi everyone, The next MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session will be on Saturday Aug. 26th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 7:00pm (sunset is at 7:59pm that night). If it is cloudy on Saturday night, the backup will be the previous nigh...

Most state parks are closed to non-campers from 10pm - 5am.

Suresh

Hi all, Unfortunately, all of the weather forecasts are predicting clouds with possible rain for Friday night, and heavy rain for Saturday night... so we decided to reschedule the next Beginner Astronomy Observing session (BSIG) to Saturday Aug. 26th . We'll start at 7:00pm that night. I apologize f...

Hi everyone, Just a reminder that our next MAS beginner outdoor observing session is scheduled for this Saturday August 5th , at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy, near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 7:30pm (sunset will be at 8:34pm). We will continue to keep an eye on the weather fo...

Hi everyone, The next MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session will be on Saturday Aug. 5th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 7:30pm (sunset is at 8:35pm that night). If it is cloudy on Saturday night, the backup night will be the previous...

Hi all, 63 people came out last night for the first BSIG event of 2023 on a beautiful mainly clear evening at Metcalf Field. Of these, 31 were not MAS members! We counted at least 30 telescopes set up across the observing field, of all shapes and sizes. There were some nice refractors, reflectors an...

Hi everyone, The weather forecasts for Saturday July 8th, at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy continue to look great... so the beginner astronomy event at Metcalf Field is a GO!!!! We'll will start up at 8:00pm that evening. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s overnight, so please brin...

Hi everyone, The next MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session will be on Saturday July 8th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 8:00pm (sunset is at 9:02pm that night). If it is cloudy on Saturday night, the backup night will be the previous...

Hi Jesse,

Yes, those screws should be tightened. Or at least, they should be secure enough that the secondary mirror isn't moving and stays in alignment.

If you bring it to the next BSIG event on July 8th, we can take a look at it and try to fix the problem.

Suresh

Hi all,

The BSIG event scheduled for tonight has been cancelled due to poor weather forecasts. Saturday night looks to be even worse.

We've scheduled a make-up event for Saturday July 8th.

We hope you can join us then!

Suresh

Hi all, I came across this free lecture, hosted by Sky & Telescope, discussing the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) first year of operation in space. It is scheduled for Tues. July 11th at 6:00pm CT . Synopsis: Hamptons Observatory, and co-host Suffolk County Community College, are pleased to...

Hello everyone, After reviewing the weather forecasts for both Friday and Saturday nights this weekend, we have decided to cancel the BSIG observing session at Metcalf Field. The forecasts are unanimous in calling for cloudy skies with a chance of storms on both nights. We seem to be in a strange we...

Hi all,

After reviewing the weather forecasts for tonight, we've decided to cancel tonight's planned BSIG event at Metcalf Field. We've rescheduled it to Saturday May 13th, back at Metcalf Field.

We hope you can join us then!

Suresh

Hi everyone, The first 2023 outdoor MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session has been rescheduled for Saturday May 13th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 7:00pm (sunset is at 8:33pm that night). If it is cloudy on Saturday night, the backu...

Hello everyone, The weather forecasts for both nights this weekend are trending bad. But 2 weather models (CSC and Astrospheric) appear to be suggesting that there's a reasonable chance for decent sky conditions on Saturday night. I'm going to wait till early Saturday afternoon to see how the models...

Hi Jessi, yes you can park on the field.

Suresh

Hi all, My friend David in the Geological Society of Minnesota forwarded me an invite to an upcoming presentation by the State Microscopial Society of Illinois titled " Exoplanets in Resonant Chains ", by Dr. Daniel Febrycky, Assoc. Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Universi...

Hi everyone, The first outdoor MAS Beginner group (B-SIG) observing session of 2023 is scheduled for Saturday April 29th at Metcalf Field at Belwin Conservancy , near Afton (weather permitting). It will start at 7:30pm (sunset is at 7:55pm that night). If it is cloudy on Saturday night, the backup n...

Hi all, I just received this notice for the next in a series of online Global Star Parties, hosted by Explore Scientific and paneled by several astro luminaries, including David Eicher of Astronomy Magazine. It starts at 6:00pm this evening. I thought I'd forward, in case any of you are interested. ...